Unique properties of boron compounds will help in the development of new drugs and diagnostic tools

The Bor element is now a rapidly growing and growing research interest and an extensive source of investment in the pharmaceutical industry in its search for innovative drugs that will fight cancer and various infections, while relying on their ability to overcome limitations and side effects of existing products.

2- boron atoms - pink, oxygen atoms - red, hydrogens - white. two boron atoms (at the edges) in the center of a planar triangle and two boron atoms (bridges) in the centers of tetrahedrons"]

Researchers are on the verge of unleashing the power of the boron element in the development of a new generation of drugs and healing methods, as decades of research begin to bear fruit. The Bor element is now a rapidly growing and growing research interest and an extensive source of investment in the pharmaceutical industry in its search for innovative drugs that will fight cancer and various infections, while relying on their ability to overcome limitations and side effects of existing products.
Europe's response to the challenges and opportunities of boron chemistry in medicine became a discussion in a workshop held recently and its name - "Bio-Bor - Examining new opportunities of boron chemistry in medicine".

"Indeed, during the workshop it became clear that there is now enough information and enough compounds to start an extensive screening program in search of anti-cancer and anti-viral drugs that mainly contain elements of the element boron," said researcher Lesnikowski. Now there is also room to improve the application of BNCT (Boron neutron capture therapy, which is an experimental form of radiotherapy that uses a neutron beam that reacts to boron compounds injected into the patient) against cancer diseases, but boron has a wide potential as a basis for compounds in the fields of diagnosis and biosensing, as well as for innovative bioorganic materials , says the researcher.

The possible applications for biosensing, biomaterials and drug development all stem from the fundamental chemical properties of the element boron. All life ultimately stems from the element carbon, which is placed next to the element boron in the periodic table with their atomic numbers six and five, respectively. Boron compounds have some parallels to carbon compounds but they also have important differences. It is this combination of differences and similarities that gives Bor its unique potential in the field of medicine.

The important similarity lies in the fact that boron, like carbon, binds to hydrogen atoms to form stable compounds capable of participating in biochemical reactions. The key difference lies in the fact that these compounds have a distinct spatial structure and electronic charge distribution of greater spatial complexity than their carbon-based counterparts.

According to the researcher, while carbon-based organic compounds tend to form rings and chains, boron compounds, known as boron hydrides (compounds containing mainly boron and hydrogen) tend to form clusters and "cages". This spatial structure enables the design of compounds with a specific charge distribution by changing their internal structure and this, in return, allows determining and adjusting how each part of the structure will react with water compounds and other bio-compounds that exist in the soil - if the component is hydrophobic ("water repellent") it is will be able to relatively easily penetrate the cell through its walls; If it is hydrophilic ("water loving") it will be able to dissolve in an aqueous environment. The interrelationships between the hydrophilic and hydrophobic components also affect the reaction and "communication" of the compound with proteins and nucleic acids that constitute the medical goal.

The fact that boron compounds are unknown to animal systems has many advantages while using them as antibiotic drugs since pathogens will not be able to develop resistance against them. "Also, the type of interactions will be slightly different from the familiar "key-lock" systems that have existed in cells living in nature for millions of years," says Lesnikowski. "Therefore, we are able to predict that active substances will be less exposed to the development of resistance against them," says the researcher. "This is a clear advantage of boron-based drugs."

Although eventually pathogens, such as bacteria and viruses, will be able to develop resistance against almost any compound that attacks them, the researcher believes that this will take much longer in the case of boron-based compounds and this result will allow humanity to always stay one step ahead instead of the current struggle to catch up with the development of pathogens .

Besides the lack of information regarding their practical ability, the development of boron compounds for medicine has been delayed until now due to the high price of the boron-based catalysts and intermediates used in their synthesis. Today, amid the welcome and rapid development of their research, their price is decreasing.

The news from the European Science Foundation