New Platforms for Catalysis

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With this award, the Chemical Catalysis program of the Division of Chemistry is funding Professor Tristan Lambert of Columbia University to develop new catalysts that improve the construction of complex molecules for areas such as drug discovery and materials research. The catalysts being investigated are expected to increase the efficiency of a variety chemical reactions and also help reduce waste during the synthesis of important molecular targets. A planned approach to student training is in process which makes use of technology and recent findings in educational research to enable students to maximize their self-directed journey to master synthetic chemistry. Graduate students, both within and outside the Lambert group, as well as undergraduate chemistry students, participate in this program, providing these students with both practical and intellectual training in modern organic synthesis, of value for the careers in industry and academe.One aim of this project is the development of a new acid catalyst based on an aromatic cyclopentadienyl anion scaffold, which is thus highly orthogonal to established platforms. The development of a deep understanding of the structure-activity relationship of this platform will set the stage for its application to a range of important problems. The second major aim addresses an unmet challenge in organic synthesis, namely catalysis of carbonyl-olefin metathesis reactions. The proposed plan to develop such catalysts entails two orthogonal strategies, one involving metal catalysis and the other relying on simple organic molecules (organocatalysis). These two approaches represent pioneering investigations into a chemical transformation that has the potential to become a significant enabling technology in fields ranging from small molecule synthesis to materials and beyond. This is a high risk, high payoff aim; this class of reactions is potentially very powerful, as noted, but has resisted attempts at catalysis heretofore.