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Medicinal Chemistry Lab
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The lab develops new catalytic reactions for the efficient synthesis of pharmaceuticals and natural products.
AboutAbout the lab
Making drug synthesis shorter through catalytic reactions.
The Medicinal Chemistry Lab studies efficient methods of molecular transformation that are useful for synthesizing pharmaceuticals.
Using metal catalysts and organocatalysts, the lab develops new ways of forming bonds and new methods of asymmetric synthesis.
The lab is also working to shorten synthetic routes, for example through cascade reactions in which multiple reactions occur in succession.
Based on the methods it has developed, the lab also works on the total synthesis of biologically active natural products.
Key terms
- Asymmetric synthesis
- A synthetic method that selectively produces only one of two molecules that are mirror images of each other, like a right hand and a left hand
- Cascade reaction
- A reaction in which one reaction is followed by the next, so that multiple steps of change proceed in a single operation
- Total synthesis
- Building a complex molecule found in nature from simple, readily available starting materials through chemical reactions
NewsLab news
A student received an Excellent Presentation Award at the 146th Annual Meeting of the Pharmaceutical Society of Japan
A student received an Excellent Presentation Award at the master's thesis presentation session
A paper on a new fluorescent dye for bioimaging was published in a university press release
A master's student received an Excellence Award at the 2025 Research Exchange Meeting of Medicine, Pharmacy, Horticulture, and the Medical Mycology Center
A master's student received an Excellent Presentation Award at the 51st Symposium on Progress in Reactions and Synthesis
ResearchResearch themes
To efficiently synthesize complex molecules such as pharmaceuticals and biologically active natural products, the lab develops new catalytic reactions and synthetic methods. Based on these methods, it also works on the total synthesis of natural products and on molecular design guided by theoretical calculations.
*Illustrative imageMolecular transformations useful for drug synthesis
Using metal catalysts and organocatalysts, the lab develops new methods for bond formation and skeleton construction, as well as catalytic asymmetric synthesis. Representative examples are dearomatization through ipso-Friedel-Crafts-type reactions and molecular transformations using carbenoid and nitrenoid species.
*Illustrative imageCatalytic reactions that shorten synthetic routes
The lab reduces the number of synthetic steps by using cascade reactions and relay catalysis. Taking advantage of the multifunctionality of catalysts and the ability to use several catalysts at the same time, it develops new organic synthesis reactions.
*Illustrative imageSynthesis of biologically active compounds and natural products
Based on its own catalytic organic synthesis methods, the lab works on the total synthesis of biologically active natural products and related compounds.
*Illustrative imageMolecular design based on theoretical calculations
The lab is synthesizing small molecules that absorb visible light and trigger single-electron reactions, and pursuing the total synthesis of natural products through radical cascade reactions. Molecular design and synthetic strategies are based on theoretical calculations carried out before experiments.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Medicinal Chemistry Lab are faculty, project researchers, and doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- ProfessorTetsuhiro Nemoto
- Associate ProfessorShingo Harada
- Associate ProfessorShigeru Arai
- Assistant ProfessorTakahito Kuribara
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Student in University of Washington chemistry laboratory , ca 1925 (MOHAI 6219)” Webster & Stevens / Public domain (cropped)
- Molecular transformations useful for drug synthesis: “Catalytic cycle of the Stille reaction” Crshugrue / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Catalytic reactions that shorten synthetic routes: “Chemical reaction Nimbin to Isonimbin” LisaWeng / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Synthesis of biologically active compounds and natural products: “Commercialisation plantes et médécine traditionnelle au Cameroun33” Minette Lontsie / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Molecular design based on theoretical calculations: “D-d-pi-MO-solid-3D-balls” Ben Mills / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (天然物創薬化学): “Picture from an organic chemistry laboratory” Sil.d / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (薬品合成化学): “Molecular model of the pre-pore form of a MACPF protein based upon the structure of pneunolysin” Jcwhizz at English Wikipedia / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (分子機能化学): “Molecular Modeling” derivative work: Dhatfield (talk) MM_PEF.svg: Edboas / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (実務薬学): “Julie Zinihite at the pharmacy at the National Referal Hospital in Honiara, Solomon Islands 2012. Photo- AusAID ( )” Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
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