review · RSC Medicinal Chemistry
Silicon sits directly beneath carbon in the periodic table, leading to frequent comparisons between the two elements. However, distinct differences also exist between them, which frequently result in substantially different physicochemical and biological characteristics. Because of these distinct attributes, the use of silicon within drug discovery has gathered substantial interest and seen rapid expansion over the last decade. Recent progress in synthetic organosilicon chemistry demonstrates how researchers are incorporating silicon into medicinal design. Examining these developments reveals how silicon functions as a strategic alternative or complement to carbon frameworks, helping to generate molecules with altered behaviours. Understanding these chemical variations provides valuable insight into how synthetic modifications can influence target interactions, metabolic stability, and overall compound performance during the ongoing exploration and design of potential therapeutic candidates.
Most pharmaceutical molecules rely primarily on carbon-based structures. By exploring silicon as an alternative element, medicinal chemists can alter how molecules behave biologically and physically. Gaining a better understanding of organosilicon chemistry allows researchers to expand the chemical diversity available for creating new treatments, potentially overcoming challenges encountered with traditional carbon-centred compounds.
The abstract highlights synthetic organosilicon chemistry as an expanding approach for drug discovery, which could assist pharmaceutical companies and medicinal chemists seeking novel molecular designs. However, because the text outlines general chemical advances and examples rather than specific clinical candidates, this work is positioned at an early, discovery-stage phase of development.
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This review aims to highlight the role of silicon in drug discovery. Silicon and carbon are often regarded as being similar with silicon located directly beneath carbon in the same group in the periodic table. That being noted, in many instances a clear dichotomy also exists between silicon and carbon, and these differences often lead to vastly different physiochemical and biological properties. As a result, the utility of silicon in drug discovery has attracted significant attention and has grown rapidly over the past decade. This review showcases some recent advances in synthetic organosilicon chemistry and examples of the ways in which silicon has been employed in the drug-discovery field.
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DOI: 10.1039/d4md00169a
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