Catalytic chemistry for methanol oxidation: a study into mechanism and utility

化学是一门充满活力的学科，是许多不同科学进步的中心。有机化学研究各种不同形式的碳的反应性，可以看作是发生在生物体内的化学反应。化学家们一直在寻找设计和构建分子的新方法（合成化学就是分子结构），而这一提议描述了一种使用新型催化剂制造有价值分子的简短而有力的新方法。该提议的核心分子是含有碳氧双键（羰基）的化合物，这些化合物具有特殊性质，是许多已知药物制剂的基本成分。这里提出的新化学将提供一种新的、有效的、强大的方法来制造羰基化合物，利用催化来控制所形成产物结构的各个方面：这将对学术界和工业界都有很大的好处，他们将能够以新的方式制造有趣的分子（有些是无法获得的）。我们还计划筛选我们制造的具有广泛生物活性的化合物。综上所述，我们必须有新颖、高效和强大的方法来制造新的含羰基化合物，以便我们能够研究和利用它们。此外，新催化剂和催化系统的开发和应用也很重要，因为催化使化学反应进行得更快，更清洁，浪费更少：这显然对工业和环境都是一件好事。该提案的奖学金方面旨在让首席研究员有时间研究和发展新的研究方向。已制定计划，与能够提供专业知识的其他学者以及两个项目伙伴（一个是跨国制药公司，另一个是美利坚合众国的主要学术机构）进行互动和合作，以便在项目的所有阶段查明和处理工业问题和机械细节。该项目将聘请三名博士后助理进行实验工作，并将在科学及其相关的交流/展示和创造力领域提供全面而全面的培训。这将使他们为以后的就业市场做好准备。

Chemistry is a dynamic subject that is at the centre of many different scientific advances. Organic chemistry is concerned with the reactivity of carbon in all its different forms and can be viewed as the chemistry taking place within living things. Chemists are constantly looking for new ways of designing and building molecules (synthetic chemistry is molecular architecture) and this proposal describes a short and powerful new way of making valuable molecules using a new type of catalyst. The molecules at the heart of the proposal are compounds containing a carbon-oxygen double bond (a carbonyl group) which have special properties and are the building blocks of many known pharmaceutical agents. The novel chemistry proposed here will provide a new, efficient and powerful way of making carbonyl compounds using catalysis to control all aspects of the structures of the products formed: this will be of great benefit to both academia and industry who will be able to make interesting molecules (some that were otherwise inaccessible) in new ways. Plans have also been made to screen the compounds that we make for a wide range of biological activity.Given all of the above, it is imperative that we have novel, efficient and powerful methods for making new carbonyl containing compounds so that we can study and use them. In addition, the development and application of new catalysts and catalytic systems is also important because catalysis makes chemical reactions run faster, and become cleaner with less waste: this is clearly a good thing for industry and also for the environment. The Fellowship aspect of this proposal is designed to allow the principal investigator the time to study and develop a new research direction. Plans have been made to interact and collaborate with other academics who can provide specialist knowlege and also with two project partners (one a multi-national pharmaceutical company and the other a leading academic in the United States of America) so that industrial problems and mechanistic details can be identified and addressed at all stages of the project. Three post-doctoral assistants will be employed to carry out the exprimental work, and the project will provide a thorough and comprehensive training in science and the attendant areas of communication/ presentation and creativity. This will equip them very well for the job market afterwards.