CAREER: Small Molecule Synthesis via Iterative Cross-Coupling

有了这个职业奖，有机和大分子化学项目支持伊利诺伊大学的Martin D. Burke教授的研究。本项目将开发一种类似于肽偶联的小分子合成新策略，涉及b保护卤素硼酸构建块的迭代交叉偶联。在这种方法中，双功能构建块具有所有所需的官能团预先安装在正确的氧化态，并具有所需的立体化学关系，利用一个温和的反应将它们聚集在一起。拟议的研究将确定这种新反应的范围、局限性和潜力，并将允许简单而灵活地构建具有重要生物活性的广泛复杂天然产物。该项目的最终目标是使复杂的小分子合成尽可能简单和广泛应用，从而使合成的力量最大限度地接近，甚至是非化学家。伯克教授还将发起一项名为“实验室伙伴”的新拓展计划，旨在让附近农村社区的高中生接触到有机合成的兴奋和力量。与学生、UIUC的教育同事和农村高中的教师合作，将开发一个有机化学迷你课程，让高中生到UIUC校园进行一天的实验练习。初步试点计划将扩大为高中科学教师和附近研究型大学之间的伙伴关系，并通过互联网传播结果。预计这些活动将揭开大学经历的神秘面纱，并鼓励贫困农村社区的学生考虑接受化学科学方面的大学教育。

With this CAREER Award, the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry program is supporting the research of Professor Martin D. Burke of the University of Illinois. This project will develop a new strategy for small molecule synthesis, analogous to peptide coupling, involving the iterative cross coupling of B-protected haloboronic acid building blocks. In this approach, bifunctional building blocks having all of the required functional groups preinstalled in the correct oxidation state and with the desired stereochemical relationships are brought together utilizing one mild reaction. The proposed research will define the scope, limitations, and potential of this novel reaction and will allow the simple and flexible construction of a broad range of complex natural products with important biological activities. The ultimate goal of this project is to make complex small molecule synthesis as simple and widely applicable as possible, thereby making the power of synthesis maximally accessible, even to the non-chemist.Professor Burke will also initiate pioneering a new outreach program entitled Lab Partners, which is designed to expose high school students from nearby rural communities to the excitement and power of organic synthesis. In collaboration with students, educational colleagues at UIUC, and teachers at rural high schools, a mini-curriculum in organic chemistry will be developed which will bring high school students to the UIUC campus for a day of laboratory exercises. This initial pilot program will be expanded to a partnership between high school science teachers and nearby research universities and results will be disseminated via the Internet. It is anticipated that these activities will demystify the college experience and encourage students from underprivileged rural communities to consider a college education in the chemical sciences.