New catalytic reduction and coupling methods

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Catalysis is involved in a large number of industrial processes in the petroleum, energy production, chemicals production, and the food industry sectors. It is essential in areas as diverse as gasoline production, control of auto emissions, production of polymers, synthesis of pharmaceuticals and food processing. Catalysis is a very important phenomenon, accounting (by some estimates) directly and indirectly for 20-25% of GDP of industrialised countries. Many of these catalytic processes are mediated by late transition metals, such as rhodium and platinum, that suffer from increasing prices and recognized toxicity (e.g. Speier's hydrosilylation catalyst H2PtCl6 and Wilkinson's hydrogenation catalyst (Ph3P)3RhCl). Our research programme is concerned with the development of new catalysts and catalytic methods for transforming organic compounds into useful products. One goal is to discover new methods for reductions that are normally difficult to accomplish, such as those of nitriles, amides, esters and heteroaromatic compounds like pyridine or quinolone. We are also interested in making these methods chemoselective, that is, being able to perform the desired reduction on only one part of the molecule when other sensitive groups are present. This helps increase the yield of the product, simplifies its isolation, and minimizes waste. We shall also study the use of less toxic and less expensive early transition metals, such as molybdenum, for catalysis. In addition we shall perform mechanistic studies in order to understand how our new catalysts work. This will help us design better, predictable catalysts for specific applications. Our research will lead to powerful new synthetic tools for more efficient preparation of a variety of products with industrial, household and laboratory applications.