Project description
Advanced chiral catalysis
Chiral molecules exist in two mirror-image forms, and their correct structure is essential in pharmaceuticals, fragrances and agrochemicals. To produce them efficiently, chemists use catalysts and chiral ligands that enable key chemical transformations. However, the structural diversity of available ligands is limited, restricting their applications, and their production is often costly and time-consuming. To address this, the ERC-funded AziPhos project builds on a breakthrough discovery of a new class of chiral phosphine ligands that can be synthesised in just a couple of steps via a robust catalytic process. This approach is expected to significantly advance asymmetric synthesis opening the way towards new chiral drugs.
Objective
The search for innovative and efficient chiral catalysts and ligands for producing enantiopure molecules remains a vital priority across the pharmaceutical, flavours and fragrances, and agrochemical sectors. A significant majority of newly developed drugs are chiral, creating an increasing demand for advancements in asymmetric synthesis and the development of chiral ligands and metal complexes, which is driving substantial progress in asymmetric catalysis. Despite these advances, the number of chemical transformations required to produce chiral molecules continues to grow, while only a small fraction of the hundreds of chiral ligands developed for use in chiral catalysts have been commercialized, and even fewer have been successfully scaled for industrial applications.
The most successful ligands, often referred to as ‘privileged phosphine ligands,’ have achieved notable success in various transformations. However, their structural diversity is limited, constraining further expansion of reactivity, and their production costs remain high. Most of these successful chiral phosphine ligands require multi-step, time-consuming, and costly non-catalytic synthetic routes.
In this context, this proposal aims to build upon a recent breakthrough—the discovery of a completely new class of highly efficient chiral phosphine ligands. Notably, these ligands offer a significant advantage by being producible via a robust catalytic synthesis that requires only 1-2 steps. Moreover, the structure of this new ligand family is highly modular, allowing for rapid diversification and the creation of a library of related ligands.
These promising features suggest that our discovery holds the potential to develop a product with a compelling value proposition, representing a significant advancement over current competing solutions in the market.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC-POC - HORIZON ERC Proof of Concept Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2024-POC
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
9712CP Groningen
Netherlands
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.