CAREER: Catalytic Activation of Alkenyl C-H Bonds

在化学部化学催化(CAT)计划的支持下，斯克里普斯研究所的Keary Engle正在开发新的催化工艺，将含有烯烃(含有碳-碳双键(C=C)的分子)的化学原料升级为更复杂的增值分子，用于材料、农业化学和化学生物/药物化学应用。人们正在研究能够选择特定的烯烃碳-氢键(C-H)键并激活这些键以形成C-X键的钯基催化剂。对这些催化剂如何工作的洞察也在研究中，以区分关键特征和相关的催化转化。与此同时，Engle博士和他的研究团队正在领导协同活动，以扩大贫困学生获得尖端教育体验的机会，并增强科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)劳动力的多样性和全球竞争力。这些努力包括开发开放获取的研究生课程和学习资源，通过STEM管道联盟扩大提供的课程，该联盟为圣地亚哥当地两年制和四年制大学的不同本科生提供服务，并让来自历史上服务不足群体的本科生和高中实习生参与研究活动。总体而言，这项研究计划有助于提高工业相关化学过程的效率和可持续性，同时支持美国未来的STEM劳动力。与传统方法相比，催化反应将碳-氢键转化为新的碳-碳和碳-杂原子键，从而能够快速合成有价值的目标化合物，减少废物产生。斯克里普斯研究所的Keary Engle和他的团队正在开发钯催化的C(烯基)-H活化反应，并研究与通常出现在烯烃-钯(II)物种中的其他反应形式相比，促进C(烯基)-H活化的因素。同时，这些催化转化正在进行优化，以将容易获得的单取代和双取代烯烃起始原料转化为更高取代度的烯烃产品，否则很难用特定的区域和立体化学来制备。进一步的活动包括机理研究、指导性基团调查和使用烯烃异构化策略来了解催化过程并扩大反应活性，以包括这些催化体系的大量烯烃底物。这个多学科项目将整合机械有机金属化学和有机合成的见解，为不同群体的高中生、本科生、博士生和博士后提供全面和创新的培训体验。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

With support from the Chemical Catalysis (CAT) Program in the Division of Chemistry, Keary Engle of the Scripps Research Institute is developing new catalytic processes to upgrade chemical feedstocks containing alkenes (molecules that contain a carbon–carbon double bond (C=C)) to more complex value-added molecules for materials, agrochemical, and chemical biology/medicinal chemistry applications. Palladium-based catalysts that are capable of selecting specific alkene carbon-hydrogen bonds (C-H) bonds and activating these for C-X bond formation are being studied. Insight into how these catalysts work is also being investigated to differentiate key features from related catalytic transformations. In parallel, Dr. Engle and his research team are leading synergistic activities to expand access to cutting-edge educational experiences for underserved students and to enhance the diversity and global competitiveness of the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce. These efforts include developing open-access graduate courses and learning resources, expanding programming offered through a STEM pipeline consortium that serves diverse undergraduate students from local two- and four-year colleges in San Diego, and involving undergraduate and high school interns from historically underserved groups in research activities. Overall, this research program is helping to improve the efficiency and sustainability of industrially relevant chemical processes, while bolstering the future STEM workforce of the United States.Catalytic reactions that convert carbon–hydrogen bonds into new carbon–carbon and carbon–heteroatom bonds enable the rapid synthesis of valuable target compounds with reduced waste generation compared to traditional approaches. Keary Engle and his team at the Scripps Research Institute are developing palladium-catalyzed C(alkenyl)–H activation reactions and studying the factors that promote C(alkenyl)–H activation versus other reaction manifolds that typically emerge from alkene–palladium(II) species. These catalytic transformations are simultaneously being optimized to convert readily accessible mono- and disubstituted alkene starting materials into more highly-substituted alkene products that are otherwise difficult to prepare with defined regio- and stereochemistry. Activities further include mechanistic studies, directing group investigations, and the use of alkene isomerization strategies to understand the catalytic process and to broaden the reactivity to include a significant variety of alkene substrates for these catalytic systems. This multidisciplinary project will integrate insights from mechanistic organometallic chemistry, and organic synthesis, providing a holistic and innovative training experience for a diverse group of high school students, undergraduates, Ph.D. students, and postdoctoral fellows.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.