CAREER: Development and Application of Oxidative Biocatalysts for Chiral Resolutions and Increasing Student Success in Organic Chemistry

Sam Houston State University, Huntsville TX

Investigators

Abstract

With the support of the Chemical Synthesis Program in the Division of Chemistry, Professor Meagan Hinze in the Department of Chemistry at Sam Houston State University is studying the development of enzymes, which are Nature’s catalysts (catalysts are additives that help to make organic reactions more efficient and/or faster), for the selective synthesis of small molecules having a particular three-dimensional arrangement. The strategies employed provides access to molecular building blocks for a variety of further transformations and applications that will be useful in a range of industries from pharmaceuticals to chemicals and agriculture. Students participating in these objectives are primarily undergraduates and receive cross-disciplinary training while strengthening their scientific acumen. The educational initiatives focus on undergraduate student success and their retention in organic chemistry courses through complementary modes of support. The broader impacts of this work consist of recruiting undergraduates from under-served groups and developing educational resources to cultivate growth mindsets. Specific educational activities will include bridge workshops, video training modules, and curated tutoring activities. Overall, the research and educational goals aim to lessen barriers to student engagement in science disciplines and strengthen their growth as scientists in preparation for future careers in STEM. The interests of the Hinze group are focused on the development and application of oxidative biocatalysts for the chiral resolution of small molecules with chemo- and stereo-selectivity. This approach is generally underutilized and is poised to make a significant impact while having broad utility for the selective generation of chiral synthons. The tactics that will be employed leverage oxidative processes and differ from more common chemical methods that utilize reductive biocatalysis. The proposed chemoenzymatic approaches complement existing methodology and facilitate transformations that lack comparable chemical methods. Overall, this multidisciplinary program will expand the capabilities and utility of an underexplored class of biocatalysts. The diverse array of substrate scaffolds that will be surveyed will provide functional handles for further transformations and offer the ability to lead to bioactive targets or valuable chiral synthons. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.