Stereoselective Hydrofunctionalization Reactions of Olefins

开发化学反应来制备手性有机分子，即作为不可重叠的镜像存在，对于解决人类医疗保健问题至关重要。这是因为大多数药物分子都是手性的。在这个项目中，Meek博士正在开发新的催化反应来制造手性分子，使用含有碳-碳双键的有机化合物作为构建单元。米克博士和他的团队利用他实验室设计的新型过渡金属催化剂，证明了即使是不反应的双键也可以转化为重要而有用的手性产物。Meek博士积极参与外展活动，这些活动建立在他的研究基础上，并在有兴趣从事STEM职业的学生之间建立沟通渠道，并更广泛地为科学教育公众服务。这些活动，包括编辑在线文章和增加本科生的参与，旨在改善科学教育，鼓励各种背景的学生接触STEM职业道路的机会。在这个由化学部化学合成项目资助的项目中，Meek博士和他的北卡罗来纳大学教堂山分校的研究生和本科生团队设计并开发了新的坚固的铑（Rh）基催化剂，这种催化剂易于获取，并促进了常见有机亲核试剂对烯烃的立体选择性加成。这种氢化方法提供了多功能和原子经济的方法，以最小的浪费形成新的碳-碳和碳-氮键。一般来说，这些过程包括激活现成的pi键，并解决有关反应位点和立体选择性的问题。高水平的选择性对于合成具有特定生物和物理特性的无环和环分子支架至关重要，同时也使合成过程更具时间和成本效益。Meek博士积极参与STEM外展活动，重点是扩大科学概念的传播，增加代表性不足群体对科学的参与。

The development of chemical reactions to prepare organic molecules that are chiral, i.e., exist as non-superimposable mirror images, is vital to addressing human healthcare. This is because most pharmaceutical molecules are chiral. In this project, Dr. Meek is developing new catalytic reactions to make chiral molecules, using organic compounds containing carbon-carbon double bonds as building blocks. Using new transition metal catalysts designed in his laboratory, Dr. Meek and his team are demonstrating that even unreactive double bonds can be transformed into important and useful chiral products. Dr. Meek is actively engaged in outreach activities that build upon his research and open lines of communication between students interested in pursuing STEM careers, and more broadly serve to scientifically educate the general public. These activities, which include editing online articles and increasing undergraduate participation, are directed at improving science education and encouraging students of all backgrounds to be exposed to the opportunities of STEM career pathways.In this project, funded by the Chemical Synthesis Program of the Chemistry Division, Dr. Meek and his team of graduate and undergraduate students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, design and develop new robust rhodium (Rh)-based catalysts that are easily accessible and promote the stereoselective addition of common organic nucleophiles to olefins. Such hydrofunctionalization methods provide versatile and atom-economical approaches for the formation of new carbon-carbon and carbon-nitrogen bonds with minimal waste. In general, these processes involve activation of readily available pi-bonds, and address issues concerning reaction site- and stereoselectivity. High levels of selectivity are critical to synthesizing acyclic and cyclic molecular scaffolds that exhibit specific biological and physical properties, as well as rendering the resulting processes more time and cost effective. Dr. Meek is actively engaged in STEM outreach activities that focus on broadening the dissemination of scientific concepts and increasing the participation of underrepresented groups in science.