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Topic · Organic Chemistry

Chemical synthesis and alkaloids

Chemical synthesis and alkaloids is a research topic within Organic Chemistry. Science Explorer counts 32k research works in it since 1950. 10.0% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on the chemistry, pharmacology, synthesis, and biological activities of Amaryllidaceae alkaloids such as galanthamine, narciclasine, and lycorine. These natural compounds show potential as anticancer agents, acetylcholinesterase inhibitors, and have medicinal significance. The research also explores their structure-activity relationships and potential therapeutic applications.

  • Amaryllidaceae
  • Alkaloids
  • Galanthamine
  • Narciclasine
  • Lycorine
  • Anticancer
  • Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitors
  • Synthesis
  • Biological Activity
  • Medicinal Potential
Research works
32k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
3.2k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.0%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+19%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
29% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Chemical synthesis and alkaloids

Which countries lead Chemical synthesis and alkaloids research?

By volume, China and the United States publish the most (678 and 570 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 678 works
  2. 2 United States 570 works
  3. 3 India 408 works
  4. 4 Japan 138 works
  5. 5 United Kingdom 113 works
  6. 6 Germany 101 works
  7. 7 Brazil 97 works
  8. 8 Canada 85 works
  9. 9 Russia 80 works
  10. 10 France 77 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

China: 28.9%United States: 24.3%India: 17.4%Japan: 5.9%6 others listed: 23.6%29%largest
China678 · 28.9%United States570 · 24.3%India408 · 17.4%Japan138 · 5.9%6 others listed553 · 23.6%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Chemical synthesis and alkaloids research?

By volume in 2022-now, Chinese Academy of Sciences publishes the most Chemical synthesis and alkaloids research, followed by Russian Academy of Sciences and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 62 works
  2. 2 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 37 works
  3. 3 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 29 works
  4. 4 Council of Scientific and Industrial ResearchIndia 22 works
  5. 5 Johns Hopkins UniversityUnited States 19 works
  6. 6 Lanzhou UniversityChina 14 works
  7. 7 Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical CollegeChina 13 works
  8. 8 Academy of Scientific and Innovative ResearchIndia 13 works
  9. 9 University of TorontoCanada 12 works
  10. 10 Harvard UniversityUnited States 12 works

Who are the leading researchers in Chemical synthesis and alkaloids?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Chemical synthesis and alkaloids include Dan J. Stein, Xiaogang Wang and Amirhossein Sahebkar.

  1. 1 Dan J. Stein South Africa 306k citations
  2. 2 Xiaogang Wang China 260k citations
  3. 3 Amirhossein Sahebkar Iran 258k citations
  4. 4 Peter John Barnes United Kingdom 225k citations
  5. 5 Stefan Grimme Germany 224k citations
  6. 6 George M. Sheldrick Germany 220k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Chemical synthesis and alkaloids?

The most cited paper in Chemical synthesis and alkaloids is "Palladium‐Catalyzed Cross‐Coupling: A Historical Contextual Perspective to the 2010 Nobel Prize" (Carin C. C. Johansson Seechurn, Matthew O. Kitching, Thomas J. Colacot et al., 2012), with 3,024 citations. Next come "Staurosporine, a potent inhibitor of phospholipidCa++dependent protein kinase" (2,475) and "The advent and development of organocatalysis" (2,407).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Palladium‐Catalyzed Cross‐Coupling: A Historical Contextual Perspective to the 2010 Nobel Prize Carin C. C. Johansson Seechurn, Matthew O. Kitching, Thomas J. Colacot et al. · Angewandte Chemie International Edition Open access 9 May 2012 3,024
2 Staurosporine, a potent inhibitor of phospholipidCa++dependent protein kinase Tatsuya Tamaoki, Hisayo Nomoto, ISAMI TAKAHASHI et al. · Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications Mar 1986 2,475
3 The advent and development of organocatalysis David W. C. MacMillan · Nature Sep 2008 2,407
4 Amide bond formation: beyond the myth of coupling reagents Eric Valeur, Mark Bradley · Chemical Society Reviews Review 4 Dec 2008 2,203
5 Copper-Mediated Coupling Reactions and Their Applications in Natural Products and Designed Biomolecules Synthesis Gwilherm Evano, Nicolas Blanchard, Mathieu Toumi · Chemical Reviews Review Aug 2008 2,142
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Chemical synthesis and alkaloids research done?

The largest centres of Chemical synthesis and alkaloids research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Shanghai (China), Tokyo (Japan) and London (United Kingdom). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Kunming.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 109 works
  2. 2 ShanghaiChina 43 works
  3. 3 TokyoJapan 41 works
  4. 4 LondonUnited Kingdom 39 works
  5. 5 GuangzhouChina 36 works
  6. 6 KunmingChina 31 works
  7. 7 HangzhouChina 29 works
  8. 8 ParisFrance 29 works
  9. 9 New YorkUnited States 28 works
  10. 10 NanjingChina 28 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. KunmingCN · 31.3 works4.2×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Chemical synthesis and alkaloids than the world average.

See Chemical synthesis and alkaloids on the map

Where is the best place to study Chemical synthesis and alkaloids?

Among universities, judged by research, Johns Hopkins University, Imperial College London and University of Oxford score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 19.89%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Imperial College Lon…Johns Hopkins Univer…University of OxfordUniversity of Toronto
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Johns Hopkins UniversityUnited States 90.431.8%3.9×19 +140.7%
2Imperial College LondonUnited Kingdom 61.941.4%2.7×8 +51.5%
3University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 53.726.1%2.4×10 +42.1%
4University of TorontoCanada 52.314.9%2.0×12 +369.7%
5Harvard UniversityUnited States 51.514.0%1.2×12 +156.5%
6University of California San DiegoUnited States 45.126.0%2.8×8 +74.8%
7Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical CollegeChina 44.112.4%4.0×13 +5.6%
8Lanzhou UniversityChina 43.14.6%6.5×14 +13.1%
9Academy of Scientific and Innovative ResearchIndia 41.85.2%13.1×13 +38.0%
10Yale UniversityUnited States 41.322.5%2.5×8 +31.5%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Chemical synthesis and alkaloids, country by country

Is Chemical synthesis and alkaloids research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 19% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2006. The fastest-growing topics are Chemical synthesis and alkaloids.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Chemical synthesis and alkaloids as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.016% in 2024.

still counting0.025%0.050%0.075%Chemical synthesis and alkaloids0.016% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Chemical synthesis and alkaloids over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Chemical synthesis and alkaloids10.4% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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