New and tandem processes in asymmetric organocatalysis

毫无疑问，世界上的资源正变得越来越稀缺，人类将不得不找到更多有效和谨慎地使用不可再生材料的方法。除此之外，还有一项关切是，任何新工序，无论效率如何或效率如何，都应尽可能与环境相容。该项目将关注符合这些价值的化学方法的发展，同时解决制造具有重要药用价值的强效化合物的巨大问题。催化剂的定义是“一种能提高反应速率而自身不被破坏的物质”。这意味着它可以以非常小的数量使用，这符合更环保的方法。然而，在许多情况下，这些催化剂含有金属来协调和编排特定的反应过程，这当然有可能消耗金属储备，并将这些金属引入生态系统中。因此，出现了有机催化领域。这是一个不依赖金属催化反应的化学领域，也是本项目所涉及的领域。有机催化的一个特殊应用是它在不对称合成中的应用。这个非常重要的化学领域源于这样一个事实：一个碳原子被四个不同的基团包围，可以有一个不可重叠的镜像，比如左手是右手，而不对称合成试图只制造这两个“手”中的一个。原因是不同的手性分子可以以不同的方式与生物系统相互作用（想象一下用左手和别人握手/这要困难得多！）。这方面的一个例子是香芹酮分子，由于每只“手”与鼻腔受体的相互作用不同，一只“手”闻起来像绿薄荷，但另一只闻起来像香芹籽。在药物化合物中，这种差异可能意味着一种化合物具有较低的活性或具有完全不同的效果。所以，很明显，我们需要能够制造出单手性的分子，这样我们就知道特定的生物反应是由一种特定的已知化合物引起的。这个项目将关注化学这一领域的发展，并将使人们对它的理解和应用超越今天的水平。目前，有机催化反应的范围有限，本研究旨在向化学家的工具箱中引入一系列新的反应。最终，这项研究将调查和建立新的化学领域，可以帮助制药和农用化学品等工业建立药物和生物活性化合物的有效合成，减少对环境的损害或对世界上现有的，但正在减少的金属供应。

There is no doubt that the world's resources are becoming increasingly scarce and that mankind will have to find more ways of being efficient and scrupulous in its use of nonrenewable materials. In addition to this, there is the concern that any new processes, however efficient or inefficient, should be as environmentally compatible as possible. This project will be concerned with the development of chemical methodology that is compliant with these values, whilst at the same time addressing the huge issue of making potent compounds which are medicinally, very important.The definition of a catalyst is 'a substance which increases the rate of a reaction without itself being destroyed'. This means that it can be used in very small quantities, which is compliant with a more environmentally aware approach. However, in many cases these catalysts contain metals to co-ordinate and orchestrate specific reaction processes and this of course has the potential to both consume metal reserves as well as introducing an imbalance of such metals into the ecosystem. As a result, the area of organocatalysis has arisen. This is an area of chemistry concerned with the catalysis of reactions without any reliance on metals and one that this project addresses. One specific application of organocatalysis that has received much attention is its use in asymmetric synthesis. This immensely important area of chemistry stems from the fact that a carbon atom which is surrounded by four different groups, can have a non-superimposable mirror image, such as the left hand is of the right and asymmetric synthesis attempts to exclusively make one of these two 'hands'. The reason for this is that different handed molecules can interact with biological systems in different ways (imagine trying to shake someone's hand with your left hand / it's much more difficult!). An example of this is the molecule carvone, where one 'hand' smells of spearmint, but the other smells of caraway seed due to the different interaction of each 'hand' with the nasal receptors. In drug compounds, the difference can mean that one compound has a lower activity or have a completely different effect. So, clearly there is a need to be able to make molecules of one handedness, so that we know a specific biological response is given by one specific and known compound. This project will be concerned with the development of this area of chemistry and will take the understanding and applicability of it beyond today's level. Currently, there are a limited range of organocatalytic reactions and this research aims to introduce a new range of reactions to the chemist's toolbox. Ultimately, this research will investigate and establish new areas of chemistry which could help industries such as pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals to establish the efficient synthesis of drugs and biologically active compounds with less detriment to the environment or to the existing, but diminishing supplies of metals in the world.