In this project funded by the Chemical Synthesis Program of the Chemistry Division, Professor Don Coltart of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Houston will explore the development of approaches to the challenging and long-standing problem of asymmetric alpha-functionalization of ketones. The central hypothesis of the research is that activated hydrazones and oximes will provide the basis for a variety of new approaches to the asymmetric alpha-alkylation/functionalization of aldehydes and/or ketones. For ketone derived systems, fundamentally new substitution patterns that cannot be generated using existing technology will be accessible in an asymmetric manner. For both aldehydes and ketones, it will be possible to conduct asymmetric alpha-alkylation/functionalization in an umploung sense relative to typical methods, thus enabling the incorporation of functionality that cannot be introduced using enolate based methods.

This project focuses on developing more efficient methods for the preparation of complex organic molecules. The methods that will be developed are designed to be very general, and will therefore be directly applicable to the asymmetric synthesis of a wide range of biologically important natural products, drugs, and related compounds. Consequently, they stand to find wide use by researchers in academic, government, and private sectors. In addition, this project will provide excellent training of students, from pre-undergraduate to post-doctoral, including those from groups historically underrepresented in the sciences.

Agency
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Institute
Division of Chemistry (CHE)
Type
Standard Grant (Standard)
Application #
1300652
Program Officer
Tingyu Li
Project Start
Project End
Budget Start
2013-09-01
Budget End
2017-08-31
Support Year
Fiscal Year
2013
Total Cost
$405,000
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Houston
Department
Type
DUNS #
City
Houston
State
TX
Country
United States
Zip Code
77204