Modern multicomponent reactions for better drug syntheses

Multicomponent reaction (MCR) technology is now widely recognized for its impact on drug discovery projects and is strongly endorsed by industry as well as academia. However, still relatively few products based on MCRs are marketed or under development. This provides tremendous opportunities for organic chemists to shorten synthetic pathways, thus reducing the cost-of-goods considerably. A recent example of the HCV drug Telaprevir is highlighted where introduction of two MCRs could lead to a shortening of the synthesis route by more than 50%.