Deuterated drugs have seen a continuous interest in pharmaceutical industry. While the gold-rush mood from the early 21<sup>th</sup> century has faded a bit, there is a proven evidence that the substitution of hydrogen by its isotope deuterium can have a significant positive effect for patients. With the first deuterated drugs on the market and further ones in clinical trials the need for the development of convenient deuteration methods became evident. The possible applications reach from small milligram reactions for medicinal chemistry optimization to large industrial batches with tons of material in process chemistry. All these efforts combine the need for cost-efficient, easy to handle and selective deuteration reactions. One approach to fulfill all these criteria can be the late stage deuteration reaction of complex molecules.<br/><br/>Late stage deuterations follow the concept of the Hydrogen Isotope Exchange (HIE) reactions, which are considered as the most fundamental of all C-H functionalization’s. In the presentation an overview and perspective of the most convenient late stage deuteration methods is given and discussed.

Recent progress in late stage deuterations of complex molecules

ACS Spring 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.