CAREER: Small Molecule Synthesis via Iterative Cross-Coupling

有了这个职业奖，有机和高分子化学项目将支持伊利诺伊大学马丁·D·伯克教授的研究。该项目将开发一种新的小分子合成策略，类似于多肽偶联，涉及B保护的卤代硼酸构建块的迭代交叉偶联。在这种方法中，利用一个温和的反应将所有所需官能团预先安装在正确的氧化状态并且具有所需的立体化学关系的双功能构建块聚集在一起。拟议的研究将确定这一新反应的范围、局限性和潜力，并将允许简单和灵活地构建具有重要生物活性的广泛的复杂天然产物。这个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适用，从而使合成的力量最大限度地获得，即使是非化学家。伯克教授还将启动一个名为Lab Partners的新推广计划，旨在让来自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，将把高中生带到UIUC校园进行一天的实验室练习。这一初步试点计划将扩大到高中理科教师和附近研究型大学之间的合作伙伴关系，结果将通过互联网传播。预计这些活动将揭开大学经历的神秘面纱，并鼓励来自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.