Researchers have achieved the first stereoselective total synthesis of skew-tetramantane, a chiral diamond-like molecule previously only isolable from fossil fuels. Using a strategy that combines visible-light photocatalysis to control radical reactions with catalyst-directed C–H insertions, the team built this complex, cage-like hydrocarbon with precise three-dimensional control. This kinetic, cage-extension method opens a reliable synthetic pathway to higher-order diamondoids, moving beyond the simple adamantane structures.
Why it might matter to you:
The ability to synthetically access complex, three-dimensionally defined carbon scaffolds like diamondoids could provide novel, rigid core structures for drug design. For a medicinal chemist, this offers a potential new toolbox for creating compounds with unique spatial orientations and enhanced metabolic stability, which are critical parameters in developing new therapeutics.
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