Oleksandr Grygorenko




Oleksandr Grygorenko

POSITION

Professor

WORK EXPERIENCE

2005–2007

Teacher of chemistry

Ukrainian Physical Mathematical Liceum at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv (Ukraine)

2007–2008

Engineer

Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv (Ukraine)

2008–2013

Assistant Professor

Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv (Ukraine)

2009–Present

Scientific Advisor

Ukrainian chemical vendors and CROs, mainly Enamine Ltd., Kyiv (Ukraine)

2013–2021

Associate Professor (Docent)

Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv (Ukraine)

2019– Present

Senior Researcher

Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv (Ukraine)

2021–Present

Professor, Leading Researcher

Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv (Ukraine)

EDUCATION AND TRAINING

1999–2004

Master degree in Chemistry

Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv (Ukraine)

2004–2007

Ph.D.

Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv (Ukraine)

2015

Docent (Associate Professor)

Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv (Ukraine)

2019

Dr. Sci.

Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv (Ukraine)

Chemical tools for early drug discovery

Research Fields:
Chemistry
Health

Previous and Current Research

We mainly focus on design and synthesis of chemical building blocks (i.e., functionalized derivatives used to introduce a required structural fragment into the target compound) for early drug discovery. Other areas of interest include ultra-large chemically accessible compound libraries and cheminformatics tools to assess the compound’s lead-likeness.

Our design of building blocks is based on a combination of design concept that appeared at the edge organic and medicinal chemistry recently (Figure 1). Most significant to us, lead-oriented synthesis, focuses on the compound’s physicochemical and structural properties at the earliest steps of the study. That is why we aim at low-molecular-weight hydrophilic sp³-enriched carbo- and heterocyclic or heteroaromatic derivatives with one or two functional groups useful for parallel synthesis. We started research in this area with design and synthesis of bicyclic saturated amino acids and their analogs. Currently, the range of chemotypes we are interested in is very large; some recent examples include (Figure 2):

  • fluorinated sp³-enriched compounds;

  • sp³-enriched boronic derivatives;

  • saturated organosulfur building blocks;

  • novel mono- and spirocyclic derivatives of small rings;

  • motifs previously underrated in medicinal chemistry, e.g. phosphine oxides, sulfoximines, etc.

Figure 1. Our approach to building block design


Figure 2. Recent examples of the synthesized building blocks

We have strong collaborations with Enamine Ltd., Chemspace, as well as Institute of Organic Chemistry and V.P. Kukhar Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry and Petrochemistry, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, all based in Kyiv (Ukraine).

    

Future Projects and Goals

First of all, we aim at further extending the scope of chemical building blocks for early drug discovery by developing new chemotypes that follow (or possibly even create) the newest trends in medicinal chemistry, as well as by filling the “gaps” in the existing chemical space. Also, we want to understand the effect of the developed building blocks or their major structural elements on the relevant physico-chemical properties (such as pKa and LogP), as well as chemical reactivity in further parallel synthesis. We already started doing that for the fluorinated sp³-enriched derivatives. In the field of chemically tractable ultra-large compound libraries, we are interested in applications of machine learning methods to the chemical space created (in collaboration with specialists in the respective areas).

Methodological and Technical Expertise

  • organic synthesis

  • design of compounds for early drug discovery (medicinal chemistry)

  • characterization of organic compounds

  • exit vector plot analysis

Selected Publications

1. Andriashvili, V. A.; Zhersh, S.; Tolmachev, A. A.; Grygorenko, O. O. Synthesis of α-C-stereochemically pure secondary sulfonamides. J. Org. Chem. 2022, 87, 6237–6246. DOI: 10.1021/acs.joc.2c00480 (Featured by a Cover Picture).

2. Chernykh, A. V.; Chernykh, A. V.; Radchenko, D. S.; Chheda, P. R.; Rusanov, E. B.; Grygorenko, O. O.; Spies, M. A.; Volochnyuk, D. M.; Komarov, I. V. A stereochemical journey around spirocyclic glutamic acid analogs. Org. Biomol. Chem. 2022, 20, 3183–3200. DOI: 10.1039/D2OB00146B.

3. Holovach, S.; Melnykov, K. P.; Skreminskiy, A.; Herasymchuk, M.; Tavlui, O.; Aloshyn, D.; Borysko, P.; Rozhenko, A. B.; Ryabukhin, S. V.; Volochnyuk, D. M.; Grygorenko, O. O. Effect of gem-difluorination on the key physicochemical properties relevant to medicinal chemistry: the case of functionalized cycloalkanes. Chem. Eur. J. 2022, e202200331. DOI: 10.1002/chem.202200331 (Featured by a Cover Picture).

4. Volochnyuk, D. M.; Gorlova, A. O.; Grygorenko, O. O. Saturated boronic acids, boronates, and trifluoroborates: an update on their synthetic and medicinal chemistry. Chem. Eur. J. 2021, 27, 15277–15326. DOI: 10.1002/chem.202102108. (Featured by a Cover Picture).

5. Grygorenko, O. O.; Volochnyuk, D. M.; Vashchenko, B. V. Emerging building blocks for medicinal chemistry: recent synthetic advances. Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2021, 6478–6510. DOI: 10.1002/ejoc.202100857. (Featured by a Cover Picture)

6. Chernykh, A. V.; Olifir, O. S.; Kuchkovska, Yu. O.; Volochnyuk, D. M.; Yarmolchuk, V. S.; Grygorenko, O. O. Fluoroalkyl-substituted cyclopropane derivatives: synthesis and physicochemical properties. J. Org. Chem. 2020, 85, 12692–12702. DOI: 10.1021/acs.joc.0c01848 (Featured by a Cover Picture).

7. Grygorenko, O. O.; Vashchenko, B. V.; Blahun, O. P.; Zhersh, S. Saturated bicyclic sultams. Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2020, 5787–5800. DOI: 10.1002/ejoc.202000603.

8. Grygorenko, O. O.; Moskvina, V. S.; Hryshchuk, O. V.; Tymtsunik, A. V. Cycloadditions of alkenylboronic derivatives. Synthesis 2020, 52, 2761–2780. DOI: 10.1055/s-0040-1707159.

9. Demchuk, O. P.; Hryshchuk, O. V.; Vashchenko, B. V.; Kozytskiy, A. V.; Tymtsunik, A. V.; Komarov, I. V.; Grygorenko, O. O. Photochemical [2 + 2] cycloaddition of alkenyl boronic derivatives: an entry into 3-azabicyclo[3.2.0]heptane scaffold. J. Org. Chem. 2020, 85, 5927–5940. DOI: 10.1021/acs.joc.0c00265.

10. Blahun, O. P.; Rozhenko, A. B.; Rusanov, E.; Zhersh, S.; Tolmachev, A. A.; Volochnyuk, D. M.; Grygorenko, O. O. Twisting and turning the sulfonamide bond: synthetic, quantum chemical and crystallographic study. J. Org. Chem. 2020, 85, 5288–5299. DOI: 10.1021/acs.joc.9b03394 (Featured by a Cover Picture).

Contacts

Phone: +38(044)2393315

E-mail: gregor@univ.kiev.ua; o.grygorenko@knu.ua

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/OleksandrGrygorenko

Twitter: @DrGregor2

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/grygorenko.oleksandr

ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Oleksandr-Grygorenko