Question

In: Chemistry

Even though strychnine can easily be isolated from the Nux Vomicus tree, chemists have been working...

Even though strychnine can easily be isolated from the Nux Vomicus tree, chemists have been working on the problem of synthesizng strychnine in the laboratory since the 1950s. As of 2012, the molecule had been synthesized using 17 different strategies.

Please comment on the motivation for all of this research- why did chemists originally want to synthesize strychnine?
Why did chemists continue to pursue strychnine synthesis research years after it had been done the first time?
Should chemists still be working on the problem today (why or why not?)

Solutions

Expert Solution

Strychnine with its specific ararrangement of rings, stereocenters, and nitrogen functional groups is a complex synthetic target, and hence a challenge for organic chemist to synthesis it in laboratory.

Strychnine is highly toxic, colorless, bitter, crystalline alkaloid used as a pesticide, particularly for killing small vertebrates such as birds and rodents.

Because of complex steps involved in the synthesis, the challenge still remains to simplify the synthetic route of this compound.

Chemist should still be working on the problem today as it will open up development of new strategy in the field of synthetic organic chemistry.


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