Green Chemistry Challenge: 2021 Greener Reaction Conditions Award
Bristol Myers Squibb Company
Five sustainable reagents
The chemical process development team at Bristol Myers Squibb has developed a new, sustainable class of reagents. Their work demonstrates that innovative advances in chemistry lead to more efficiency and greener processes. These reagents are also easy for other chemists to use and are broadly applicable to multiple systems.
Summary of Technology:
Bristol Myers developed five mutually compatible reagents. A reagent is a compound or mixture added to a system to cause a chemical reaction. The reagents created allow access to phosphodiesters, phosphorodithioates, homochiral and racemic phosphorothioates, homochiral phosphonates, and chiral tertiary phosphines.
These reagents can be used in solid phase synthesis. Solid phase synthesis is a widely-used method where molecules are bound to a solid support material and synthesized step-by-step in a single reaction. One key element of Bristol Myers’ technology is the use of phosphorous reagents in solid phase synthesis instead of the traditional non-strategic oxidation reaction. Using phosphorus reduces the amount of reagent and solvent required and improves the stability of the reagent and intermediate products, leading to substantial environmental benefits. The enhanced air and moisture tolerance of the phosphorous reagents also eliminates the need for expensive technology and specialized shipping and storage. Additionally, these reagents are derived from limonene, a sustainable waste product from discarded citrus peels.
Lastly, these new reagents are highly versatile. They can be used with a variety of chemical and biological systems. For example, these reagents allow rapid synthesis of products relevant to chemical catalyst and biological probes used in studying diseases, such as COVID-19.
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