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A recent article in the journal Science discusses a new photochemical reaction that allows for the swapping of an oxygen atom with a nitrogen atom in complex organic molecules. This reaction, called "skeletal editing," is significant because it enables precise editing of molecules by adding, deleting, or changing a single atom within their structure. The researchers propose a method that uses photo-catalysis to activate a furan ring, allowing for the exchange of the oxygen atom with a nitrogen atom. This single-step transformation has the potential to streamline chemical synthesis, transform complex molecules, and advance drug discovery. [Extracted from the article]

One of the most active current areas of chemical research is centered on how to synthesize handed (chiral) compounds in a selective manner, rather than as mixtures of mirror-image forms (enantiomers) with different three-dimensional structures (stereochemistries). Nature points the way in this endeavor: different enantiomers of a given biomolecule can exhibit dramatically different biological activities, and enzymes have therefore evolved to catalyze reactions with exquisite selectivity for the formation of one enantiomeric form over the other. Drawing inspiration from these natural catalysts, chemists have developed a variety of synthetic small-molecule catalysts that can achieve levels of selectivity approaching, and in some cases matching, those observed in enzymatic reactions., Although the principles underlying asymmetric catalysis with enzymes and small molecules are fundamentally the same (1), some striking and rather surprising differences have been noted. William S. Knowles, a pioneer [...]