The primary objectives of this project are (1) invention of catalytic, enantioselective reactions of enoxysilane nucleophiles and isonitriles under catalysis by chiral Lewis base activated Lewis acids, (2) the extension of the concept of nucleophilic activation of electrophilic character to other elements in the periodic table such as tin, gallium, and indium, and (3) structural and mechanistic investigation of the reactions catalyzed by chiral Lewis bases. Allied with those objectives are the fundamental mechanistic investigations of the solid and solution state structures of complexes of various Lewis bases with silyl halides and the full kinetic analysis of aldol and epoxide opening reactions.
With this award, the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program is supporting the research of Professor Scott E. Denmark, of the Department of Chemistry at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Professor Scott E. Denmark's research efforts revolve around the discovery, development, and exploitation of novel, asymmetric reactions catalyzed by chiral Lewis bases. Given the emphasis on single enantiomer substances in many areas of the chemical enterprise, new general and selective processes that provide such materials are of great current interest.
