Light is becoming a key element for future drugs, thanks to the important role it has shown to have in making small molecules more stable and resistant, especially for the production of drugs against tumors or genetic diseases.

The result, published in the journal Nature Catalysis, was coordinated by the University of Padua and involved the Universities of Ferrara and Parma.

To build molecules to be used in drugs, a method called 'tension release' is used, which allows compounds that have high energy due to the tension created between the atoms that make them up to react.

It is a situation similar to what happens when you stretch a rope all the way and a blade breaks it. In the case of molecules, a bond is broken to form a new one. Used to make molecules made up of carbon-based rings, this technique has so far not been as effective for making nitrogen-based rings called azetidines, which are particularly useful for anticancer drugs and disease treatments. genetic.

The result obtained now allows us to take a step forward in the production of azetidine. In this study we present a new strategy that uses simple sunlight to create azetidines in a simple and sustainable way", notes Luca Dell'Amico, of the Department of Chemical Sciences of the University of Padua.

"This method uses an organic photosensitizer, which is a molecule capable of activating the components of a chemical reaction and making them react together through this voltage release approach," he adds.

To give an example, it is as if light serves to tighten a rope; in our case it serves to try to bring the atoms of the molecules to the desired reactivity. By using only light, no waste products are created, moreover light is an abundant reagent at zero cost to us," he adds. /ANSA/