A happy medium: the synthesis of medicinally important medium-sized rings via ring expansion

Medium-sized rings have much promise in medicinal chemistry, but are difficult to make using direct cyclisation methods. In this minireview, we highlight the value of ring expansion strategies to address this long-standing synthetic challenge. We have drawn on recent progress (post 2013) to highlight the key reaction design features that enable successful ‘normal-to-medium’ ring expansion for the synthesis of these medicinally important molecular frameworks, that are currently under-represented in compound screening collections and marketed drugs in view of their challenging syntheses.

Ring expansion strategies are ideally suited to make synthetically challenging, medium-sized rings with much potential in medicinal chemistry.