Project description
New approach to synthesising saturated organic molecules
Carbon–carbon bond formation is a fundamental transformation of synthetic organic chemistry. Understanding the nature of these transformation processes is essential to improving our knowledge of chemical phenomena. Funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the overall aim of the CatToSat project is to devise new organic chemical methods to access general, modular C(sp3)–C(sp3) bond-forming reactions that should result in highly saturated organic molecules. Transition metal catalysts and abundant reagents, such as ubiquitous alkyl carboxylic acids and feedstock olefins, will be used in the reactions. The resulting highly saturated compounds may prove to be of great significance to the pharmaceutical industry.
Objective
The construction of C-C bonds represents the foundation of synthetic organic chemistry. Specifically, the installation of (sp3)-hybridized carbons is among the most important transformations in an organic chemist’s toolbox due to the prevalence of alkyl-alkyl bonds in organic molecules. Furthermore, compounds featuring a high degree of saturation grant access to greater chemical space and are more likely to yield clinical success in drug discovery and development. The overall aim of the proposed research is to devise new technologies in organic chemistry to access general, modular and applicable C(sp3)-C(sp3) bond-forming reactions, providing high degrees of saturation in organic molecules. Transition metal catalysis will be the foundation for this proposal, in which the most accessible sources for reagents will be used, such as ubiquitous alkyl carboxylic acids and feedstock olefins. In order to accomplish the overarching goal of this research program, the outgoing phase of this fellowship will take place during the first two years in the laboratory of Prof. Phil Baran at Scripps Research, La Jolla, USA. The incoming phase will take place during the final third year in the laboratory of Prof. Bill Morandi at ETH Zürich, Switzerland.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinator
8092 Zuerich
Switzerland