Chirality in natural and synthetic materials

Much of the function of biologically active molecules depends on fit, on an exquisite lock-and-key connection between molecules that allows some biochemical activity to turn on or off. In the evolutionary process, chirality—handedness—came to be a critical part of the lock-and-key fit. The principle behind this notion is simple. A left-hand glove does not fit a right hand, and, in the same way, one member of an enantiomeric pair of molecules might fit another molecule whereas the other member would not. The specificity of biological reactions and their dependence on fit have both benefits and penalties.

As presented above, combinations of 20 possible amino acids make up proteins, and the proteins are responsible for biological function. Precise fit is critical. The lock-and-key mechanism has evolved to be extremely precise, and much of that precision is the result of the handedness of the amino acids. Precision is one of the benefits of specificity.

A classic and tragic example of the penalties of specificity is thalidomide, a compound originally marketed as a sedative in Europe in 1956. Thalidomide contains a stereogenic carbon, and therefore the compound can exist in both R and S forms. Most synthesizing procedures generate equal mixtures of enantiomers (i.e., equal amounts of the R and S forms—a racemic mixture); special care must be taken to make a pure enantiomer, and the company involved in the original promotion of thalidomide saw no reason to bear the cost of this process. The result was the marketing of a racemic mixture of the R and S forms. (S)-Thalidomide turned out to be a powerful teratogen: it causes all manner of external and internal abnormalities in fetuses if it is given to pregnant women in the first trimester. The R enantiomer is far more benign—although even it is dangerous, as the R form racemizes under physiological conditions and thus produces some of the dangerous S enantiomer.

In the example of thalidomide, the societal consequences of a bad molecular fit, as it were, have been instructional. There has been much pressure on the drug industry worldwide to do far more thorough testing and follow much better scientific procedures than was the case for thalidomide. There has also been demand for the development of the synthetic techniques necessary to produce enantiomerically pure drugs. Most syntheses in the laboratory begin with achiral materials, and the complex end products of these synthetic procedures are built up through sequences of reactions. Unless an optically active agent is introduced or a separation into enantiomers deliberately performed, any chiral end products of the synthetic sequence will be racemic mixtures. The example of thalidomide and many other similar, if not so tragic, examples have revealed the desirability of enantiospecific syntheses in drug research. Of course, it will always be necessary to test both enantiomers in case the physiological racemization discovered with thalidomide is repeated with another compound. Ironically, the notorious thalidomide is making a comeback, as it turns out to be an effective agent against several extremely difficult diseases, including leprosy and multiple myeloma. These unexpected developments are further examples of the benefits of enantiospecific synthesis.