Scientists at Lancaster University (LU) and the University of Manchester (UoM) have unveiled a powerful new tool for building complex molecules, potentially transforming drug discovery and materials innovation. Conducted by Dr Jamie Docherty (LU) and Professor Igor Larrosa (UoM), the team developed a method to “clip on” versatile chemical handles − called silylmethyl groups − onto molecules at just the right positions.

These newly attached handles function like customisable attachment points, allowing researchers to swap them out or transform them into a range of useful chemical features. Think of it like adding a universal adaptor to a Lego brick: once it’s there, you can snap on new pieces with ease. This opens the door to rapidly creating drug candidates, functional materials, and more − all while cutting down on both time and cost.

One major demonstration involves the pharmaceutical compound Losmapimod, a drug studied for a rare genetic disorder. By using their method, the team showed how efficiently build Losmapimod, illustrating the synthetic methods promise in accelerating drug discovery. Beyond medicine, these same strategies could help scientists make new materials for electronics, energy storage, and beyond.

At the heart of the discovery is a special catalyst based on the metal ruthenium, which guides the placement of these synthetic handles with pinpoint precision − something previous approaches struggled to achieve. By offering a simpler, greener route to key molecular building blocks, this work stands to accelerate progress in diverse scientific fields and spark new breakthroughs in tailoring molecules for real-world applications. The findings of their research were recently published in Nature Catalysis, the highest impact journal in the field.

On the publication of their research, Dr Docherty commented: “We hope these insights into site-selectivity will encourage the broader chemical community to extend this approach to a wider range of organic fragments. By simplifying access to greater chemical space, these transformations will significantly aid rapid library synthesis and accelerate medicinal discovery campaigns.”

Doi: 10.1038/s41929-025-01309-6