With this CAREER Award, the Chemical Synthesis program is supporting the research of Professor Erik J. Alexanian of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Professor Alexanian will develop new transition-metal-catalyzed [2+2+2] cycloadditions capable of providing direct access to valuable classes of complex carbocycles from simple, readily accessed unsaturated hydrocarbons. These cycloaddition reactions avoid many key drawbacks of common approaches to complex carbocycles, which rely on lengthy multi-step sequences, substrate-based stereocontrol, and involve highly reactive reagents and intermediates. The carbocyclic products of these cycloadditions are present in many important classes of bioactive natural products, yet remain a challenge to construct using current methods. Accessible products include trans-fused hydrindanes and decalins, which constitute the core of higher terpenes, steroids, and related natural products. Through the rapid generation of structural and stereochemical complexity in the form of useful carbocycles, the successful development of the proposed reactions would have broad impact in synthetic chemistry.
As part of this project, Professor Alexanian will also establish an outreach program that will involve graduate students in the Chemistry department giving presentations at local high schools that connect synthetic chemistry to its impact on our everyday life. In order to maximize the potential benefit, the presentations will be videotaped and made available over the Internet. The program will also provide an opportunity for students to experience research firsthand by working in the department for an eight-week period. The complementary research and educational goals of Professor Alexanian's program are specifically aimed at motivating students at multiple educational levels to continue on a path of discovery in science.
