The development of powerful new methods for the generation of carbon-carbon bonds has an impact on a wide array of disciplines that require the synthesis of organic compounds (e.g., biological chemistry, pharmaceutical chemistry, and biology). Transition metals can catalyze carbon-carbon bond-forming processes, such as cross-couplings of organic electrophiles and nucleophiles, that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to achieve. During the next grant period, this program will pursue a largely unexplored dimension of cross-coupling reactions-processes that employ alkyl electrophiles as substrates. Efforts will focus on the development of versatile catalysts, including chiral catalysts, for a wide range of powerful bond-forming processes. Such reactions have the potential to simultaneously generate a carbon-carbon bond and to define up to two new stereocenters. Mechanistic studies will play an important role in this project, since an improved understanding of metal-based reactivity could facilitate catalyst development. This research area offers an exciting opportunity to have a substantial impact on synthetic chemistry, as well as to enrich our understanding of once-unexpected chemical reactivity.
In order to probe many biological questions and to develop new therapeutic compounds, there is a need to be able to synthesize organic molecules efficiently and to control the chirality (handedness) of the target compounds. This proposal is directed at addressing both of these challenges.
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