Chemical Methodologies and Library Development (CMLD)

The Broad Institute CMLD (Centers of Excellence in Chemical Methodology and Library Development) is a National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)-funded center dedicated to innovation in the area of synthetic organic chemistry. Chief among the goals of the CMLD is the development of new synthetic methods that can expand the chemical diversity of small-molecule libraries.

To execute on these goals, the CMLD works collaboratively with the Therapeutics Platform whose capabilities include large-scale library production in diversity-oriented synthesis, high-throughput screening, and informatics. This collaboration of graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and professional staff scientists ensures maximal impact of the research arising from within the CMLD.

Our community meets to discuss critical topics related to the application of state-of-the-art synthetic organic chemistry towards the synthesis of an optimal small molecule-screening collection. Ongoing projects include the development of new diversity-oriented synthesis pathways based on the build/couple/pair strategy, the elucidation of effective catalysts that promote enantioselective transannular reactions, and the development of new cheminformatics tools that illuminate the relationship of small-molecule diversity to biological performance.

CMLD Project Leaders

Stuart Schreiber, Principal Investigator (DOS pathway development)
Paul Clemons, Project Leader (cheminformatics)
Eric Jacobsen, Project Leader (enantioselective catalysis) Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University
Damian Young, Project Leader (DOS pathway development)