Project description
Enantioselective arylation of carbonyls using abundant materials under mild conditions
Arylation of carbonyl compounds (adding carbon rings to compounds like ketones, aldehydes or esters) in an enantioselective way is a powerful but challenging step in pharmaceutical and agrochemical discovery. Current methods rely on costly, prefunctionalised reagents and chiral rare metal catalysts. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the PEARL project aims to develop a simpler, more sustainable alternative. Its multi-catalytic platform will use visible-light-driven catalysis to decarboxylate abundant aryl carboxylic acids to produce aryl thianthrenium salts. Chiral amine catalysis will achieve precise, enantioselective arylation using the salts under mild conditions and releasing only CO₂ as a by-product. This approach could significantly streamline sustainable drug and agrochemical discovery.
Objective
The enantioselective arylation of carbonyl compounds is a powerful yet demanding transformation with broad applications in pharmaceutical and agrochemical discovery. Current methods typically require prefunctionalised aryl reagents and costly chiral metal complexes, limiting both scope and sustainability. This project proposes a multicatalytic platform that combines visible-light-driven Cu-catalysed decarboxylation of aryl carboxylic acids to generate aryl thianthrenium salts in situ with chiral amine catalysis via electron donor–acceptor (EDA) complex activation. This strategy employs abundant carboxylic acids as renewable aryl sources, releases only CO2 as a by-product, and delivers high enantioselectivity under mild conditions. Mechanistic investigations will probe radical intermediates and the role of EDA complexes in asymmetric bond formation, providing fundamental insights into multicatalytic photochemical systems. The methodology will enable direct α- and γ-functionalisation of carbonyl compounds, streamline access to enantioenriched scaffolds, and expand the synthetic utility of carboxylic acids as sustainable building blocks.
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.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
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.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy drug discovery
- natural sciences chemical sciences physical chemistry photochemistry
- natural sciences chemical sciences catalysis
- natural sciences chemical sciences organic chemistry aromatic compounds
- social sciences economics and business economics sustainable economy
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
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.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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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) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
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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.
CB2 1TN CAMBRIDGE
United Kingdom
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.