Xue-Min Cheng is a medicinal chemist, author and pharmaceutical executive best known as the co-author of ''The Logic of Chemical Synthesis'', which formalized

retrosynthesis Retrosynthetic analysis is a technique for solving problems in the planning of organic syntheses. This is achieved by transforming a target molecule into simpler precursor structures regardless of any potential reactivity/interaction with reagents. ...

. The concept for this

Elias J. Corey Elias James Corey (born July 12, 1928) is an American organic chemist. In 1990, he won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his development of the theory and methodology of organic synthesis", specifically retrosynthetic analysis. Regarded by many ...

won the 1990

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

in Chemistry.

Education and Postdoctoral research

Cheng earned her BS in chemistry from

Peking University Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charter ...

, and a doctoral degree in synthetic chemistry from Alan Kozikowski at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

. Her work studied applications of nitrile oxides, for example cycloadditions to form C-glycosides, or utilization of nitrile oxides as precursors to functionalized heterocycles. While a postdoctoral scholar at Harvard, Cheng co-authored ''The Logic of Chemical Synthesis'' with Corey, the first three chapters of which explore computational and logic-based approaches to disassemble

organic molecule In chemistry, organic compounds are generally any chemical compounds that contain carbon-hydrogen or carbon-carbon bonds. Due to carbon's ability to catenate (form chains with other carbon atoms), millions of organic compounds are known. The s ...

"targets" (TGTs) through various transforms, leading to "retrons" and "

synthon In retrosynthetic analysis, a synthon is a hypothetical unit within a target molecule that represents a potential starting reagent in the retroactive synthesis of that target molecule. The term was coined in 1967 by E. J. Corey. He noted in 19 ...

s", e.g. simpler molecules that could be used to access the TGT. Noteworthy here is the Preface, which indicates that all structures found in the book were drawn "by computer", that is, with the then-new ''

ChemDraw ChemDraw is a molecule editor first developed in 1985 by David A. Evans and Stewart Rubenstein (later by the cheminformatics company CambridgeSoft). The company was sold to PerkinElmer in the year 2011. ChemDraw, along with Chem3D and ChemFinde ...

'' software package adapted by Stewart Rubenstein,

David A. Evans David A. Evans (January 11, 1941 – April 29, 2022) was an American chemist who was the Abbott and James Lawrence professor of chemistry at Harvard University. He was a prominent figure in the field of organic chemistry and his research focus ...

, and Sally Evans.

Research career

After Harvard, Cheng took a position at Warner-Lambert Research, later

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfizer ...

, in Michigan, USA. Work there included ketopiperazine-based

renin Renin (etymology and pronunciation), also known as an angiotensinogenase, is an aspartic protease protein and enzyme secreted by the kidneys that participates in the body's renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system (RAAS)—also known as the r ...

inhibitors,

HMG-CoA β-Hydroxy β-methylglutaryl-CoA (HMG-CoA), also known as 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A, is an intermediate in the mevalonate and ketogenesis pathways. It is formed from acetyl CoA and acetoacetyl CoA by HMG-CoA synthase. The research of M ...

inhibitors, and molecules against multiple other cardiovascular targets. Cheng contributed to the development of

Lipitor Atorvastatin is a statin medication used to prevent cardiovascular disease in those at high risk and to treat abnormal lipid levels. For the prevention of cardiovascular disease, statins are a first-line treatment. It is taken by mouth. Common ...

, Pfizer's best selling product. In 2006, Cheng moved to the University of Michigan as a research associate professor. Around this time, Cheng and fellow Pfizer chemist Helen T. Lee formed AAPharmaSyn, a global chemistry contract research organization. Since 2011, Cheng and colleagues at Michigan have focused their efforts on

DARPA The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is a research and development agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military. Originally known as the Adv ...

-backed dendrimeric drug delivery systems for battlefield use. As of 2008, Cheng is the inventor or coinventor on 18 patents.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheng, Xue-Min Chinese women scientists University of Michigan faculty University of Pittsburgh alumni Harvard University people Year of birth missing (living people) Living people