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Topic · Organic Chemistry

Synthesis and biological activity

Synthesis and biological activity is a research topic within Organic Chemistry. Science Explorer counts 58k research works in it since 1950. 9.9% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on the synthesis, biological activities, and therapeutic potential of heterocyclic compounds, particularly in the context of drug discovery. The research covers a wide range of applications, including the development of anticancer agents, tubulin inhibitors, vascular targeting agents, and anti-inflammatory/antioxidant compounds.

  • Heterocyclic Compounds
  • Medicinal Chemistry
  • Anticancer Agents
  • Tubulin Inhibitors
  • Vascular Targeting Agents
  • Chalcones
  • Coumarins
  • Pyrazoles
  • Thiazoles
  • Benzimidazoles
Research works
58k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
5.8k
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.9%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+17%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
India
39% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Synthesis and biological activity

Which countries lead Synthesis and biological activity research?

By volume, India and China publish the most (3.1k and 1.1k works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 India 3.1k works
  2. 2 China 1.1k works
  3. 3 Egypt 759 works
  4. 4 Türkiye 578 works
  5. 5 Saudi Arabia 522 works
  6. 6 United States 443 works
  7. 7 Russia 431 works
  8. 8 Iran 426 works
  9. 9 Iraq 424 works
  10. 10 Pakistan 248 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.

India: 38.8%China: 14.0%Egypt: 9.4%Türkiye: 7.1%6 others listed: 30.7%39%largest
India3,149 · 38.8%China1,137 · 14.0%Egypt759 · 9.4%Türkiye578 · 7.1%6 others listed2,495 · 30.7%

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

Which institutions lead Synthesis and biological activity research?

By volume in 2022-now, Russian Academy of Sciences publishes the most Synthesis and biological activity research, followed by Cairo University and National Research Centre.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 168 works
  2. 2 Cairo UniversityEgypt 106 works
  3. 3 National Research CentreEgypt 100 works
  4. 4 King Saud UniversitySaudi Arabia 84 works
  5. 5 University of BaghdadIraq 78 works
  6. 6 Islamic Azad University, TehranIran 69 works
  7. 7 Al-Azhar UniversityEgypt 62 works
  8. 8 Ain Shams UniversityEgypt 58 works
  9. 9 Council of Scientific and Industrial ResearchIndia 57 works
  10. 10 Mansoura UniversityEgypt 55 works

Who are the leading researchers in Synthesis and biological activity?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Synthesis and biological activity include Richard A. Gibbs, Michael Karin and Hagop M. Kantarjian.

  1. 1 Richard A. Gibbs United States 292k citations
  2. 2 Michael Karin United States 276k citations
  3. 3 Hagop M. Kantarjian United States 273k citations
  4. 4 George M. Whitesides United States 267k citations
  5. 5 Wei Huang China 267k 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 Synthesis and biological activity?

The most cited paper in Synthesis and biological activity is "Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Pathways Mediated by ERK, JNK, and p38 Protein Kinases" (Gary L. Johnson, Razvan Lapadat, 2002), with 4,334 citations. Next come "Multicomponent Reactions with Isocyanides" (4,073) and "A Knowledge-Based Approach in Designing Combinatorial or Medicinal Chemistry Libraries for Drug Discovery. 1. A Qualitative and Quantitative Characterization of Known Drug Databases" (3,107).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Pathways Mediated by ERK, JNK, and p38 Protein Kinases Gary L. Johnson, Razvan Lapadat · Science 5 Dec 2002 4,334
2 Multicomponent Reactions with Isocyanides Alexander S. S. Dömling, Ivar Ugi · Angewandte Chemie International Edition 15 Sep 2000 4,073
3 A Knowledge-Based Approach in Designing Combinatorial or Medicinal Chemistry Libraries for Drug Discovery. 1. A Qualitative and Quantitative Characterization of Known Drug Databases Arup K. Ghose, Vellarkad N. Viswanadhan, John J. Wendoloski · Journal of Combinatorial Chemistry 18 Dec 1998 3,107
4 Identification of a Novel Inhibitor of Mitogen-activated Protein Kinase Kinase Margaret F. Favata, Kurumi Y. Horiuchi, Elizabeth J. Manos et al. · Journal of Biological Chemistry Open access Jul 1998 3,045
5 Targeting the Raf-MEK-ERK mitogen-activated protein kinase cascade for the treatment of cancer Patrick J. Roberts, Channing J. Der · Oncogene 14 May 2007 2,821
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Synthesis and biological activity research done?

The largest centres of Synthesis and biological activity research in 2022-now are Cairo (Egypt), Giza (Egypt), Hyderabad (India) and Riyadh (Saudi Arabia). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Shimoga, Rajkot and Sohag.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 CairoEgypt 216 works
  2. 2 GizaEgypt 215 works
  3. 3 HyderabadIndia 168 works
  4. 4 RiyadhSaudi Arabia 167 works
  5. 5 ChennaiIndia 150 works
  6. 6 BaghdadIraq 144 works
  7. 7 MoscowRussia 130 works
  8. 8 TehranIran 125 works
  9. 9 New DelhiIndia 117 works
  10. 10 BengaluruIndia 100 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. ShimogaIN · 27.3 works37×
  2. RajkotIN · 42.1 works30×
  3. SohagEG · 27.5 works21×
  4. AurangabadIN · 21.8 works20×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Synthesis and biological activity than the world average.

See Synthesis and biological activity on the map

Where is the best place to study Synthesis and biological activity?

Among universities, judged by research, Cairo University, King Saud University and Jouf University score highest, combining citation 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 24.63%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Jouf UniversityCairo UniversityKing Saud UniversityKing Khalid University
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.

Citation 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
1Cairo UniversityEgypt 79.122.5%14.8×106 +20.0%
2King Saud UniversitySaudi Arabia 78.319.4%9.2×84 +59.8%
3Jouf UniversitySaudi Arabia 76.730.5%15.8×20 +27.2%
4King Khalid UniversitySaudi Arabia 76.016.1%15.6×54 +89.7%
5Al-Azhar UniversityEgypt 74.025.7%17.3×62 -3.9%
6Abbottabad University of Science and TechnologyPakistan 71.829.5%34.0×11 +226.7%
7Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman UniversitySaudi Arabia 71.618.5%13.1×31 +226.6%
8Imam Mohammad ibn Saud Islamic UniversitySaudi Arabia 71.521.6%13.6×24 +274.7%
9Islamic University of MadinahSaudi Arabia 71.530.2%19.5×10 +136.5%
10King Faisal UniversitySaudi Arabia 70.732.3%5.7×13 +94.4%

Universities only. The score blends citation 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 Synthesis and biological activity, country by country

Is Synthesis and biological activity research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 17% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2024. The fastest-growing topics are Synthesis and biological activity.

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 Synthesis and biological activity as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.048% in 2024.

still counting0.025%0.050%0.075%Synthesis and biological activity0.043% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Synthesis and biological activity 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%Synthesis and biological activity10.0% 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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