• May 30, 2025

The Breakthrough

The research team, led by Associate Professor Koh Ming Joo from NUS's Department of Chemistry, in collaboration with Professor Eric Chan from the Department of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Professor Liu Peng from the University of Pittsburgh, developed a method that facilitates the insertion of a difluorocarbene species into three-membered epoxide rings. This process, catalyzed by an inexpensive copper catalyst, results in the formation of α,α-difluoro-oxetanes. 

This innovative approach addresses the longstanding challenge of synthesizing fluorinated oxetanes, which have been difficult to produce due to the lack of suitable fluorine-containing precursors and the propensity for side reactions like ring rupture and defluorination. 

Implications for Drug Discovery

Fluorinated oxetanes are highly sought after in medicinal chemistry due to their unique properties, including enhanced metabolic stability and favorable lipophilicity. These characteristics make them promising scaffolds for the development of new pharmaceuticals. The NUS team's method not only simplifies the synthesis of these compounds but also opens avenues for creating analogs of existing drugs with potentially improved efficacy and safety profiles.

Relevance to Mendel Chemicals' Product Catalog

At Mendel Chemicals, we offer a diverse range of epoxide compounds that serve as ideal starting materials for this newly developed synthesis method. Our catalog includes various epoxides that can be utilized in the copper-catalyzed transformation to produce fluorinated oxetanes.

Explore Our Epoxide Offerings:

• Vitamin K1 2,3-epoxide

  • CAS Number: 25486-55-9

  • Purity: 98.0% (HPLC)

  • Form: Liquid or Viscous Liquid

  • Applications: Precursor in vitamin K metabolism studies and potential substrate for fluorinated oxetane synthesis.

  • Product Link: Vitamin K1 2,3-epoxide

• Vitamin K3 2,3-epoxide

  • CAS Number: 15448-59-6

  • Purity: 98.5% (HPLC)

  • Form: Powder

  • Applications: Utilized in coagulation research and as a potential intermediate in synthetic pathways.

  • Product Link: Vitamin K3 2,3-epoxide

• Heptachlor endo-epoxide

  • CAS Number: 28044-83-9

  • Purity: Not specified

  • Form: Solid

  • Applications: Analytical standard in environmental studies; potential for structural analog synthesis.

  • Product Link: Heptachlor endo-epoxide

• (+)-trans-Limonene 1,2-epoxide

  • CAS Number: 6909-30-4

  • Purity: 95.0% (sum of enantiomers, GC)

  • Form: Liquid

  • Applications: Chiral building block in organic synthesis; potential substrate for enantioselective fluorination.

  • Product Link: (+)-trans-Limonene 1,2-epoxide

• 1,2-Epoxyhexane

  • CAS Number: 1436-34-6

  • Purity: 97%

  • Form: Liquid

  • Applications: Intermediate in organic synthesis; suitable for studying regioselective ring-opening reactions.

  • Product Link: 1,2-Epoxyhexane

By leveraging our high-purity epoxide reagents, researchers and pharmaceutical developers can readily apply this cutting-edge synthesis technique to advance their drug discovery projects.

Conclusion

The NUS research team's innovative catalytic method represents a significant advancement in the field of synthetic chemistry, particularly in the efficient production of fluorinated oxetanes. Mendel Chemicals is poised to support this scientific progress by providing the essential epoxide starting materials required for this transformation.

For more information on our epoxide products and how they can facilitate your research endeavors, please visit our website or contact our technical support team.