Project description
Making chiral primary amines more sustainably using light and organocatalysis
Chiral primary amines are important building blocks in chemistry, whose three-dimensional structure determines the biological activity and properties of many drugs, agrochemicals and materials. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the CESAm-HAT project will develop a more sustainable and efficient approach to chiral primary amines by combining light-driven hydrogen-atom transfer with chiral carbonyl catalysis. This multicatalytic strategy will enable the mild C–H activation of racemic amines and the subsequent stereoselective bond formation, while avoiding the use of stoichiometric Brønsted bases or heavy metals. CESAm-HAT will establish a versatile catalytic platform for the asymmetric synthesis of primary amines, providing sustainable and selective access to these fundamental building blocks for applications in chemistry and beyond.
Objective
Chiral primary amines are fundamental building blocks in pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and advanced materials. Because their optical purity critically influences biological activity, the asymmetric synthesis of these privileged scaffolds has become a central goal in modern chemistry. Diverse asymmetric catalytic methods have been developed, such as hydrogenation and nucleophilic addition to imines, reductive amination of carbonyls, and direct C-H amination. Among these, carbonyl catalysis stands out as a transition-metal-free strategy for the enantioselective construction of chiral primary amines via formation of azaallyl anion intermediate. Yet, current strategies require stoichiometric amounts of strong Brønsted base, which hampers broader synthetic applications.
CESAm-HAT will develop a multicatalytic system for enantioselective functionalization of unactivated primary amines, combining chiral carbonyl and photoinduced Hydrogen-Atom Transfer (HAT) catalysis. This platform will enable the mild and selective generation of chiral azaallyl radicals via HAT activation of transiently formed imine intermediates, thereby avoiding the need for stoichiometric Brønsted bases. The ensuing stereocontrolled bond formation from these open-shell catalytic species will provide access to structurally diverse, enantioenriched primary amines.
To achieve this goal, CESAm-HAT will target two synthetic applications. First, the asymmetric α-C–H alkylation of unprotected primary amines, providing one-step access to enantioenriched α-tertiary primary amines under a ternary catalytic system. Second, the dynamic kinetic resolution (DKR) of α-secondary unprotected primary amines promoted by a quaternary catalytic system.
Overall, CESAm-HAT is expected to advance sustainable synthetic chemistry and expand the frontiers of enantioselective radical catalysis. More broadly, it will contribute to industry and society by fostering the development of more sustainable and efficient transformations
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.
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy pharmaceutical drugs
- natural sciences chemical sciences catalysis
- natural sciences chemical sciences organic chemistry amines
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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)
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Topic(s)
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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
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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.
08007 Barcelona
Spain
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.