This award will support the participation of six U.S. scientists in a joint seminar on "Selectivity in Synthetic and Bio-organic Chemistry," to be held in Tokyo, Japan, June 2-7, 1991. The focus of the meetings will be on the dynamic scientific advances in the area of asymmetric synthesis, which spans the entire spectrum of organic and inorganic chemistry. A U.S.-Japan seminar on this subject in 1981 served as an opportunity for research groups in the two countries to share ideas and information. During the last decade, however, there has been a virtual explosion in the discovery of reactions that deliver levels of stereocontrol once thought to be impossible to achieve via non-enzymatic means. The impact of these new tools, coupled with the new enzymatic and microbial technologies, has dramatically redefined the way absolute stereochemical, regiochemical and functional group selectivity issues in synthesis are being addressed in both academic and industrial environments. A multitude of new chiral reagents and catalysts now exist that are capable of exerting near-perfect control over those bond constructions where new stereochemical relationships are established. The development of these new technologies are based on recent, deep understanding of fundamental issues of selectivity and molecular recognition. The enormous importance of this area is manifested in the highly international and cross-disciplinary nature of the primary contributions in the literature. The co-organizers of the seminar are Professor Robert M. Williams of Colorado State Unversity and Professor Kenji Koga of the University of Tokyo. The main topics to be discussed are new asymmetric synthetic methodologies; enzymatic, whole cell and cell-free bio-reactor technologies; total synthesis of natural products; biosynthesis; catalytic antibodies; and reaction mechanisms. In addition, a poster session will be organized for young Japanese industrial chemists.
