Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38107176›Full record

ArticleRSC medicinal chemistry2023

Enabling synthesis in fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD): microscale high-throughput optimisation of the medicinal chemist's toolbox reactions.

Chloe Townley, Davide Branduardi, Gianni Chessari, Benjamin D Cons, Charlotte Griffiths-Jones, Richard J Hall, Christopher N Johnson, Yuji Ochi, Stuart Whibley, Rachel Grainger

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in RSC medicinal chemistry, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
1.2field-weighted citation impact, top 23% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 11 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Frugal Sampling Strategies for Navigating Complex Reaction Spaces.Organic process research & development · 2026
    Article
  2. Review
  3. Parallel and High Throughput Reaction Monitoring with Computer Vision.Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English) · 2025
    Article
  4. Fragment-based drug discovery: A graphical review.Current research in pharmacology and drug discovery · 2025
    Review
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Chloe TownleyAstex Pharmaceuticals 436 Cambridge Science Park Cambridge CB4 0QA UK rachel.grainger@astx.com.
Davide BranduardiAstex Pharmaceuticals 436 Cambridge Science Park Cambridge CB4 0QA UK rachel.grainger@astx.com.
Gianni ChessariAstex Pharmaceuticals 436 Cambridge Science Park Cambridge CB4 0QA UK rachel.grainger@astx.com.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8151-7778
Benjamin D ConsAstex Pharmaceuticals 436 Cambridge Science Park Cambridge CB4 0QA UK rachel.grainger@astx.com.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9670-6670
Charlotte Griffiths-JonesAstex Pharmaceuticals 436 Cambridge Science Park Cambridge CB4 0QA UK rachel.grainger@astx.com.
Richard J HallAstex Pharmaceuticals 436 Cambridge Science Park Cambridge CB4 0QA UK rachel.grainger@astx.com.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8578-9458
Christopher N JohnsonAstex Pharmaceuticals 436 Cambridge Science Park Cambridge CB4 0QA UK rachel.grainger@astx.com.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8618-9729
Yuji OchiAstex Pharmaceuticals 436 Cambridge Science Park Cambridge CB4 0QA UK rachel.grainger@astx.com.
Stuart WhibleyAstex Pharmaceuticals 436 Cambridge Science Park Cambridge CB4 0QA UK rachel.grainger@astx.com.
Rachel GraingerAstex Pharmaceuticals 436 Cambridge Science Park Cambridge CB4 0QA UK rachel.grainger@astx.com.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3944-0201

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Miniaturised high-throughput experimentation (HTE) is widely employed in industrial and academic laboratories for rapid reaction optimisation using material-limited, multifactorial reaction condition screening. In fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD), common toolbox reactions such as the Suzuki-Miyaura and Buchwald-Hartwig cross couplings can be hampered by the fragment's intrinsic heteroatom-rich pharmacophore which is required for ligand-protein binding. At Astex, we are using microscale HTE to speed up reaction optimisation and prevent target down-prioritisation. By identifying catalyst/base/solvent combinations which tolerate unprotected heteroatoms we can rapidly optimise key cross-couplings and expedite route design by avoiding superfluous protecting group manipulations. However, HTE requires extensive upfront training, and this modern automated synthesis technique largely differs to the way organic chemists are traditionally trained. To make HTE accessible to all our synthetic chemists we have developed a semi-automated workflow enabled by pre-made 96-well screening kits, rapid analytical methods and in-house software development, which is empowering chemists at Astex to run HTE screens independently with minimal training.

Identifiers

PMID38107176
PMCPMC10718589
OpenAlexW4388982628

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.