Organic Syntheses, Inc.
The lecture is sponsored by the journal, Organic Syntheses, to feature innovative scientists working in synthetic organic chemistry today.
2009-2010 Speaker |
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Texas A&M University Bioactive Natural Products as Enduring Forums for Chemical Synthesis, Cellular Probe Discovery, and Identification of Therapeutic Targets November 9, 2009 |
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"Natural products continue to be versatile forums for synthetic strategy development, for identification of probes for basic cell biology, and lead discovery for human disease intervention. In this regard, the marine sponge isolate, pateamine A (PatA) from Mycale sp., has allowed us to explore each of these facets of natural products chemistry.
In more recent chemical synthesis efforts, we have developed novel strategies to gymnodimine, the seemingly simplest member of a class of spirocyclic imine-containing toxins for use as an immunogen for development of an ELISA assay for ocean toxin monitoring. Recent advances in our development of the nucleophile catalyzed aldol-lactonization (NCAL) process leading to bicyclic b-lactones has enabled a concise, A1,3-strain enabled, enantioselective synthesis of the potent proteasome inhibitor, salinosporamide and designed derivatives." |
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2008-2009 Speaker |
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University of Wisconsin, Madison New Approaches to Redox Catalysis April 13, 2009
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“Oxidations and reductions are among the most fundamental reactions in organic chemistry, and we are interested in using our understanding of these processes to design novel catalytic reactions. Current researchin our group focuses on two general areas of investigation. First, given the key role that polar functional groups play in mediating interactions between bioactive small molecules and their target proteins, reactions that effect the oxidative functionalization of otherwise unfunctionalized organic molecules are of particular importance in organic synthesis. We are interested in understanding how transition metal catalysts can modulate the reactivity of oxaziridines in a variety of oxidation reactions. To date, we havedeveloped methods to synthesize a range of structures, including 1,2- aminoalcohols, 1,3-aminoalcohols, isoxazolidines, piperidines, pyrrolidines, tetrahydroisoquinolines, and other structural motifs that are commonly found in biologically active compounds. Second, we are also developing reactions that do not lead to an overall change in the oxidation state of the substrate but are initiated by one-electron redox processes. In particular, we have developed a strategy that exploits the reactivity of transition metal photocatalysts to perform [2+2] cycloaddition reactions using visible wavelengths of light. By enabling the use of direct sunlight in synthetically useful reactions, we hope to establish a new, environmentally responsible approach to synthetic organic photochemistry." |
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