SusChEM: New Concepts for Multifunctional Asymmetric Catalysis

Rutgers University New Brunswick, New Brunswick NJ

Investigators

Abstract

In this project funded by the Chemical Synthesis Program of the Chemistry Division, Professor Daniel Seidel of the Department of Chemistry at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, will attempt to advance the field of asymmetric catalysis through exploration of conceptually new and underdeveloped methods of substrate activation. A major goal is the development of reactions that produce enantiomerically enriched products through intervention of chiral anionic and zwitterionic intermediates. Catalytic amounts of chiral anion receptors will be used in combination with simple nucleophilic catalysts, Bronsted acids and other co-catalysts and promoters to facilitate unprecedented enantioselective processes. These strategies will be used to address challenging problems such as the kinetic resolution and desymmetrization of amines and diamines. The ability to prepare complex chiral molecules in the most cost-effective way possible is directly dependent on the availability of sustainable synthetic methodologies. The new synthetic methods that will emerge from this work will provide enhanced access to biologically significant, chiral nitrogen containing compounds such as amines, diamines, natural and unnatural amino acids, tetrahydroquinoline alkaloids, carbolines and other indole containing substances, which should, in turn, help advance the chemical industry. Furthermore, this project provides an ideal training ground to prepare the next generation of researchers in the chemical sciences.