With this CAREER award sponsored by the Chemical Catalysis Program of the Chemistry Division, Professor Brenner-Moyer of the Department of Chemistry at the City University of New York at Brooklyn College will investigate the development of new cascade reactions catalyzed by organocatalysts, which are environmentally benign alternatives to traditional Lewis acid- and transition metal catalysts. The proposed cascade reactions represent new approaches to two persistent problems in organic synthesis: 1) how to rapidly build molecular complexity, and 2) how to achieve efficient, asymmetric conjugate additions of simple alcohols. The proposed cascade reactions will also provide direct access to useful synthetic intermediates that are currently accessed using multiple step syntheses, expensive chiral starting materials, and/or hazardous metals.
Development of efficient organocatalytic methods to produce useful synthetic intermediates will have positive implications for the synthesis of natural products and medicinal compounds by increasing the availability of catalysts in greener laboratories and reducing waste streams and also lowering costs. These activities will benefit society, from research chemists to communities that house academic institutions and industrial plants. In addition, the research activities will help train undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral student researchers and will aim at increasing retention of females in the sciences through participation in the program Women In Science and Engineering (WISE). The principal investigator will 1) coordinate peer mentoring for students struggling in the sciences, and explore careers in green chemistry and other green sciences, via a WISE-sponsored seminar series and research fair, as an alternative to careers in medicine for students who are excelling in the sciences.
