Sustainable Technologies for Building Molecules: Ethers, Phosphines, and Amino Acids

在化学系化学催化项目的支持下，加州大学欧文分校的董唯教授正在研究新的催化反应的发展，以加快有机分子的合成，提高效率，减少浪费。地球上富集的镍催化剂将用于构建C-O键和精确控制三维分子形状的非天然氨基酸。利用光催化和铜催化，探索将硒引入小分子和构建新的不对称膦配体。该项目旨在促进对如何构建具有挑战性的化学键的理解，同时减少对贵金属的依赖。精确控制分子的形状对于优化和微调药物和材料的性能至关重要；因此，这项提议正在为分子构建创造工具，使其他领域的科学家能够设计未来的治疗方法和材料技术。这些活动进一步有望为研究生、本科生和高中生研究人员的不同群体提供培训。董教授还带头倡议通过社交媒体让学生和公众参与化学讨论，并为化学领域的女性增加榜样的可见度和交流机会。开发新的催化剂，使有机分子的对映选择性合成方法具有可持续性，对于实现药物、材料和生物探针制备的持续进步至关重要。该计划的特点是催化策略，以解决合成中的现代挑战。在这个奖项下，董教授和她的研究团队将追求以下目标：(1)激活硫原进行氢功能化；(2)设计和构建膦；(3)建立氨基酸和环肽的新途径。这三个主要目标以过渡金属催化剂为特征，包括那些从地球丰富的第一排金属中提取的催化剂（例如，ni催化的不对称醇添加，cu -磷酸转化和ni催化的氰基酯和烯偶联）。在这些方向上的努力集中在获取目前不对称催化技术难以制备的有机结构，包括手性醚、膦和肽。这些活动的机械方法将有助于参与的研究生获得批判性分析和故障排除技能，也将使本科生和高中生在基础水平上参与化学研究。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

With the support of the Chemical Catalysis Program in the Division of Chemistry, Professor Vy Dong of the University of California, Irvine is studying the development of new catalytic reactions to expedite the synthesis of organic molecules with improved efficiency and reduced waste. Earth-abundant nickel catalysts will be investigated for the construction of C-O bonds and unnatural amino acids with precise control of three-dimensional molecular shape. The introduction of selenium into small molecules and the construction of new asymmetric phosphine ligands will also be explored using photocatalysis and copper catalysis. This project sets out to advance understanding of how to build challenging chemical bonds, while also reducing reliance on precious metals. Precisely controlling the shape of molecules is critical for optimization and fine-tuning the performance of medicines and materials; therefore, this proposal is creating tools for molecular construction to empower scientists in other fields to design future therapies and materials technologies. These activities are further expected to provide training for a diverse group of graduate, undergraduate, and high school student researchers. Professor Dong is also leading initiatives to engage students and the public in chemistry discussions via social media and increasing the visibility of role models and networking opportunities for women in chemistry.The development of new catalysts that enable sustainable methods for the enantioselective synthesis of organic molecules is essential to achieve continued advances in the preparation of medicines, materials, and biological probes. This program features catalytic strategies to address modern challenges in synthesis. Under this award, Professor Dong and her research team will pursue the following goals: (1) activating chalcogens for hydrofunctionalization, (2) designing and constructing phosphines and (3) forging novel routes to amino acids and cyclic peptides. These three primary objectives feature transition metal catalysts, including those derived from earth abundant first row metals (e.g., Ni-catalyzed asymmetric alcohol additions, Cu-phosphido transformations, and Ni-catalyzed cyano-ester and allene couplings). Efforts in these directions are focused on accessing organic structures that have been difficult to prepare by current asymmetric catalysis technologies, including chiral ethers, phosphines, and peptides. The mechanistic approach to these activities will help enable the participating graduate students to gain critical analysis and troubleshooting skills and will also engage undergraduate and high school students in chemical research at a fundamental level.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.