Silicon switch: Carbon-silicon Bioisosteric replacement as a strategy to modulate the selectivity, physicochemical, and drug-like properties in anticancer pharmacophores

Bioisosterism is one of the leading strategies in medicinal chemistry for the design and modification of drugs, consisting in replacing an atom or a substituent with a different atom or a group with similar chemical properties and an inherent biocompatibility. The objective of such an exercise is to produce a diversity of molecules with similar behavior while enhancing the desire biological and pharmacological properties, without inducing significant changes to the chemical framework. In drug discovery and development, the optimization of the absorption, distribution, metabolism, elimination, and toxicity (ADMETox) profile is of paramount importance. Silicon appears to be the right choice as a carbon isostere because they possess very similar intrinsic properties. However, the replacement of a carbon by a silicon atom in pharmaceuticals has proven to result in improved efficacy and selectivity, while enhancing physicochemical properties and bioavailability. The current review discusses how silicon has been strategically introduced to modulate drug-like properties of anticancer agents, from a molecular design strategy, biological activity, computational modeling, and structure-activity relationships perspectives.

Phosphorus-containing amino acids with a P–C bond in the side chain or a P–O, P–S or P–N bond: from synthesis to applications

Strategies for the preparation of phosphorus-containing amino acids and their utility in the organic chemistry, physico-chemistry, agrochemistry, and pharmacology fields are reported.

Highly hindered 2-(aryl-di-tert-butylsilyl)-N-methyl-imidazoles: a new tool for the aqueous 19F- and 18F-fluorination of biomolecule-based structures

A new class of silicon-based fluoride acceptors with a C-linked heterocycle as the leaving group was synthesized in one step from commercial chemicals, and linked to biomolecules. The resulting conjugates were efficiently 19F-fluorinated in aqueous mixtures, and switching to 18F-labelling provided nucleoside- and peptide-based bioconjugates with excellent molar activities suitable for biological applications.