4 min readNew DelhiJul 16, 2026 03:19 AM IST
Scientists at IIT Bombay have found a novel and efficient way to convert simple, abundantly-available, straight-chain carbon compounds into complex ring-shaped molecules that can be building blocks for medicinal or other valuable chemicals.
Their new method claims to solve a long-standing problem in synthetic chemistry: Conversion of long, straight-chain carbon molecules into ring-shaped molecules, which, at present, involves a multi-step process that is time-consuming and expensive. The research, led by Professor Debabrata Maiti of IIT Bombay, has been published in the prestigious Nature journal. Maiti said the newly-developed method could make drug discovery faster, cheaper and more sustainable.
Straight-chain carbon compounds like fatty acids are some of the most commonly available chemicals in nature. On the other hand, many of the biologically-relevant organic compounds, including several drugs, have ring-shaped molecular structures. Scientists often go through a multi-step process to convert the easily-available fatty acids into more useful molecules with a variety of applications.
In simple fatty acids, several carbon atoms are linked to each other in a long straight chain. Many of these carbon atoms are indistinguishable from each other. This makes it extremely difficult to chemically target any specific carbon atom in the chain from where the sequence leading to ring formation could be initiated. Usually, multiple sites in the chain could be affected. Because of this, conversion could be achieved only through a long process involving multiple steps.
The research team at IIT Bombay, which included Maiti’s students Tanay Pal, Md Saimuddin Sk, Animesh Ghosh and Yazhinimuthu CM, was able to make a breakthrough with the development of a new chemical compound which proved to be crucial in the selective targeting of the desired carbon atom in the long chain. The use of this new chemical entity achieved the conversion in fewer steps, with much greater efficiency and significantly reduced chemical wastage. Somnath Kar from Bhabha Atomic Research Centre collaborated on the research.
Solving a problem in synthetic chemistry
Straight-chain carbon compounds such as fatty acids are some of the most commonly available chemicals in nature. On the other hand, many of the biologically-relevant organic compounds, including several drugs, have ring-shaped molecular structures. Scientists often go through a multi-step process to convert the fatty acids into more useful molecules. The new method solves this long-standing problem in synthetic chemistry.
Maiti told The Indian Express that the significance of the breakthrough lay in the fact that the method was not limited to conversion of any specific single molecule into a desired compound, but was a general process applicable to a wide array of organic compounds. “The method acts as a platform that can quickly convert simple saturated fatty acids into many different bioactive molecules. This could help scientists study and improve compounds used in traditional medicine systems such as Ayurveda, and speed up their development into modern drugs,” he said.
In fact, researchers used their new method to synthesize more than 10 biologically and industrially relevant molecules that have applications in medicinal chemistry, chemical biology and the perfume and flavour industries. These included a molecule called muricatacin, which is naturally found in Laxman phal (soursop) and is believed to have anti-cancer properties. Extracting muricatacin from naturally-occurring substances is considered extremely difficult and inefficient. Only about 15 mg of muricatacin is obtained from about 15 kg of plant material, and that too is mixed with other substances, Maiti said.
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The researchers were able to synthesize muricatacin in the laboratory in an easy and more efficient manner by converting other fatty acids. They were then able to modify this compound in such a manner that it exhibited anti-cancer properties comparable to muricatacin obtained from natural plants.
