Supported Chemistry on Solid Phase

Since Merrifield's pioneering work in solid-phase peptide synthesis, which won him the Nobel Prize in 1963, supported organic synthesis has enjoyed steady popularity and development. The solid phase was first used for the oligomeric synthesis of natural products such as polypeptides, polysaccharides and oligonucleotides. It was the work of Fréchet and Leznoff in the late 1970s that initiated its use in the synthesis of small molecules by carrying out organic reactions in which a substrate, reagent or catalyst was grafted onto an insoluble solid polymer. Another application is the purification of reaction mixtures using scavengers attached to solid supports. A large number and variety of organic reactions have been successfully transposed to the solid phase, leading to the development of combinatorial and then parallel synthesis in the 1990s.

This article will help the reader to choose the support, select the method and identify the possible analyses for better reaction monitoring according to his synthesis objectives, through numerous selected examples. Recycling the support by simple solid/liquid filtration reduces costs and risks. Reactions activated (microwave, high-pressure, ultrasound) or carried out in ionic liquid will also be described, confirming that solid-phase chemistry is an accessible and effective tool for the development of green chemistry.

A glossary of terms is provided at the end of the article.