High-throughput experimentation (HTE) has revolutionized the pharmaceutical industry, most notably allowing for rapid screening of compound libraries against therapeutic targets. The past decade has also witnessed the extension of HTE principles toward the realm of small-molecule process chemistry. Today, most major pharmaceutical companies have created dedicated HTE groups within their process development teams, invested in automation technology to accelerate screening, or both. The industry's commitment to accelerating process development has led to rapid innovations in the HTE space. This review will deliver an overview of the latest best practices currently taking place within our teams in process chemistry by sharing frequently studied transformations, our perspective for the next several years in the field, and manual and automated tools to enable experimentation. A series of case studies are presented to exemplify state-of-the-art workflows developed within our laboratories.

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A concise second-generation total synthesis of the fungal-derived alkaloid (+)-gliocladin C (11), in ten steps and 11% overall yield from isatin, is reported. In addition, the ETP natural product (+)-gliocladine C (6) is prepared in six steps and 29% yield from the di-(tert-butoxycarbonyl) precursor of 11. The total synthesis of (+)-gliocladine C (6) constitutes the first total synthesis of an ETP natural product containing a hydroxyl substituent adjacent to a quaternary carbon stereocenter in the pyrrolidine ring.

A common strategy for preparing tryptophan-derived epidithiodioxopiperazine (ETP) natural product containing a hydroxyl substituent adjacent to a quaternary carbon stereocenter is reported. This strategy is exemplified by enantioselective total syntheses of four heptacyclic ETP natural products — gliocladine C (6), leptosin D (7), T988C (8), and bionectin A (9)—starting with the di-(tertbutoxycarbonyl) derivative 17 of the trioxopiperazine natural product gliocladin C, which is readily available by enantioselective chemical synthesis. In addition, total syntheses of the enantiomer of gliocladine C (ent-6) and gliocladin A (11), the di(methylthio) congener of bionectin A, are reported. These syntheses illustrate a synthetic strategy wherein diversity in the dioxopiperazine unit of ETP natural products is introduced at a late stage in a synthetic sequence. In vitro cytotoxicity of compounds in this series against invasive human prostrate (DU145) and melanoma (A2058) cancer cell lines is described and compared to that of chaetocin A (4).

Thiazolylalanine, in appropriately functionalized form, has been found to function as an enantioselective catalyst for an intramolecular Stetter reaction. Incorporation of the residue in a number of environments has resulted in a family of catalysts that promote the cyclization of a test substrate with up to 81% enantiomeric excess.

A Perspective of our work in the development of innovative synthetic methods within the discipline of Process Research and Development is presented. Through an overview of some of the programs that we have worked on during the past decade, we have selected cases studies to illustrate the challenges faced in development of robust chemical processes for molecules on a multi-kilogram scale. The examples have been selected to demonstrate the innovative chemistry being developed within our laboratories with a focus on fragment design, asymmetric synthesis, new synthetic reagents, and the methods that have allowed us to deliver cost-effective syntheses under reduced timelines in an increasingly competitive environment. The technical challenges are presented in the context of molecule complexity that while increasing in the portfolio of small molecules being developed inspires us to deliver new solutions. Overall, our goal is to highlight the exciting work that can be done within our field to support the discovery and delivery of medicines to patients.

Catalytic asymmetric cross-coupling reactions between aldehydes and N-acylimines have been discovered that employ thiazolylalanine derivatives as catalysts. Alkylation of the thiazolyl moiety, followed by in situ generation of the derived thiazolium ylide using a tertiary amine base, leads to the active catalyst. alpha-Amidoketone products are isolated in up to 90% yield with up to 87% enantiomeric excess (>98% ee after a single recrystallization). The use of a hindered base to suppress product racemization was stimulated by a mechanistic study that revealed an isotope effect on the racemization rate of the product.

Studies on the macrocyclization of alpha,omega-dialdehydes have revealed a strong dependence on ring size with respect to the ultimate efficiency of the reaction. Strong catalyst dependence was observed, as thiazolium salts led to no detectable product formation, whereas electron-deficient triazolium salts served as precatalysts for the cyclization. Surprisingly, the N-pentafluorophenyl triazolium variant led to cyclization at room temperature within a short 90-min reaction time. These findings were applied to a range of substrates, including the synthesis of a key intermediate in a rapid synthesis of trans-resorcylide.