Abstract:

Molecular editing, including peripheral and skeletal editing, is an area of interest in the field of organic synthesis. Typically, the peripheral editing of C―H bonds is conventionally used for molecular editing. By contrast, skeletal editing is a novel method, which has broader applications in total synthesis and drug development, with advantages of easy operation, high specificity, and simple synthetical routes. This review introduces two skeletal editing examples using common reactions. By comparisons with conventional methods, the applications of molecular editing in drug synthesis are revealed. Moreover, this review predicts the future applications of molecular editing by presenting some state-of-the-art developments in this field.

Key words: Molecular editing, Skeletal editing, Drug synthesis, Drug development