Expanding the Fundamental Reactivity of Isocyanides

有了这个奖项，NSF化学部的化学合成计划正在支持德雷克塞尔大学化学系的Fraser Fleming教授的研究，他正在开发新的方法来制造和使用一种称为异氰化物的化学构件。该项目的主要目标是制备更多独特类型异氰化物的例子，并增加异氰化物用于形成分子的方式。目前，只有七种市售的异氰化物，这限制了可以用这些结构单元制备的化合物的数量。该计划正在创造简单的方法来制造更多的异氰化物，并使用它们来形成药物和材料应用的新的理想分子。弗莱明教授与研究生和本科生的多元化群体合作，并领导学生务虚会专注于工作与生活的平衡，以确保未来的领导者学习在化工行业高绩效领导所需的实践。异氰化物是组装杂环化合物和肽模拟物的重要关键，这些化合物在材料和医药应用中具有特殊的结构。使用异氰化物来获得这些所需产品的主要限制是只有七个可商购的实例。这项研究计划正在努力通过设计新的反应来扩展这些系统，这些反应形成了这些重要构件的更复杂的例子，并增加了异氰化物可用于制备的键连接类型。具体而言，该项目正在设计方法：烯基异氰化物进行共轭加成反应，芳基异氰化物参与多组分过程以形成复杂的杂环，以及硼烷基异氰化物的制备和用于交叉偶联反应以形成更复杂的异氰化物产品。该研究项目也是研究生和本科生研究人员的一个很好的培训基地，他们也参加务虚会，磨练他们的工作与生活平衡技能，并为未来在化学职业中的领导角色做好准备。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

With this award, the Chemical Synthesis Program of the NSF Division of Chemistry is supporting the research of Professor Fraser Fleming of the Department of Chemistry at Drexel University who is developing new ways to make and use a chemical building block called an isocyanide. Key goals of this project are to prepare more examples of unique types of isocyanides and to increase the number of ways isocyanides are used to form molecules. Currently, there are only seven examples of commercially available isocyanides, which limits the number of compounds that can be made with these building blocks. This program is creating simple ways to make more isocyanides and to use them to form new desirable molecules for pharmaceutical and material applications. Professor Fleming works with a diverse group of graduate and undergraduate students and is leading student retreats focused on work-life balance to ensure that future leaders learn the practices required for high-performing leadership in the chemical industry. Isocyanides are valuable linchpins for assembling heterocycles and peptidomimetics, which are privileged structures in material and medicinal applications. A major limitation to the implementation of isocyanides for accessing these desirable products is that there are only seven commercially available examples. This research program is working expand these systems by designing new reactions that form more complex examples of these important building blocks and increase the types of bond connections that isocyanides can be used to prepare. Specifically, this project is designing methods for: alkenyl isocyanides to undergo conjugate addition reactions, aryl isocyanides to participate in multicomponent processes to form complex heterocycles, and boroalkylisocyanides to be prepared and used in cross coupling reactions to form more complex isocyanide products. This research program also serves as an excellent training ground for graduate and undergraduate researchers who are also participating in retreats to hone their work-life balance skills and to prepare for future leadership roles in chemistry careers.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.