IIT Delhi Innovates Light-Powered Strategy for Advanced Amino Acids

Researchers at IIT Delhi have pioneered a novel visible-light-driven method to synthesize unnatural amino acids, enhancing drug design and biomolecular engineering. Led by Prof Ravi P Singh, this strategy leverages a chiral copper catalyst to control molecular transformations, promising innovative applications in medicine, biotechnology, and beyond.

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi have forged a groundbreaking chemical strategy that employs visible light to synthesize unnatural amino acids (UAAs) and peptides. This innovative advancement is set to revolutionize the design of next-generation medicines and biomolecules.

Under the leadership of Prof Ravi P Singh from the Department of Chemistry, the team utilizes light energy along with a chiral copper catalyst-ligand system, achieving high selectivity in chemical transformations. Unnatural amino acids, superior versions of their natural counterparts, are gaining traction in medicine for their stability and target selectivity.

Addressing the challenge of molecular chirality, the researchers have successfully devised a method to selectively generate single enantiomers of amino acids, pivotal in biological recognition. Their approach starts with natural amino acids, efficiently introducing new groups to synthesize a wide array of UAAs.