Strategies for Innovation in Multicomponent Reaction Design

By generating structural complexity in a single step from three or more reactants, multicomponent reactions (MCRs) make it possible to synthesize target compounds with greater efficiency and atom economy. The history of such reactions can be traced to the mid-19th century when Strecker first produced alpha-aminonitriles from the condensation of aldehydes with ammonia and hydrogen cyanide. Recently, academic chemists have renewed their interest in MCRs. In part, the pharmaceutical industry has fueled this resurgence because of the growing need to assemble libraries of structurally complex substances for evaluation as lead compounds in drug discovery and development programs. The application of MCRs to that…