New Catalytic Chemistry: Capturing reactive and unreactive functional groups for novel heterocycle synthesis

这项拟议的研究旨在创造使用催化剂制造分子的新方法--催化化学。催化剂是在反应中加入少量的东西，使反应速度更快，在现代化学中起着非常重要的作用。高达90%的化学生产材料在生产过程中使用了催化剂--例如，洗衣粉中的酶是一种生物催化剂，有助于分解衣服上的有机污渍。汽车中的催化转化器含有贵金属催化剂，有助于将有害的氮氧化物烟雾转化为无害的氮气。催化剂可以极大地加速化学反应，以至于一些极其缓慢的过程在催化条件下变得非常高效。诀窍是将正确的催化剂与正确的化学反应相匹配。这项研究计划将着眼于用于生成一类被称为杂环的分子的化学反应。杂环化合物在我们的社会中具有巨大的重要性：DNA、糖、蛋白质、自然分子、药物、杀虫剂和维生素只是我们生活方式所必需的杂环的一部分。因此，发现新的和改进的方法来合成新的和改进的杂环是现代化学研究的前沿。成功的研究项目将使用催化过程生产新分子，这些过程比现有方法更快、更便宜、更环保。我们将把这些反应应用于医药、工程和农业等领域的新型杂环化合物的生产。

The proposed research looks to create new ways of making molecules using catalysts - catalytic chemistry. A catalyst is something added in very small amounts to a reaction that will make it faster, and they play a very important in modern chemistry. Up to 90% of chemically produced materials have used a catalyst in their production - the enzymes in washing powder are a type of biological catalyst that helps break down organic stains on clothes, for example. The catalytic converter in a car contains precious metal catalysts that help convert harmful nitrogen monoxide fumes into harmless nitrogen gas.Catalysts can dramatically accelerate chemical reactions, to the extent where some impossibly slow processes become highly efficient when performed under catalytic conditions. The trick is matching up the right catalyst with the right chemical reaction. This research proposal will look at the chemical reactions that are used to make a class of molecule called heterocycles. Heterocyclic compounds have enormous importance in our society: DNA, sugars, proteins, the molecules of nature, drugs, insecticides and vitamins represent just some of the classes of heterocycle essential to the way we live our lives. As a result, the discovery of new and improved ways to synthesise new and improved heterocycles is at the forefront of modern chemistry research. The successful research project will produce new molecules using catalytic processes that are quicker, cheaper and more environmentally friendly than existing methods. We will take these reactions and apply them to the production of new heterocycles for application in medicine, engineering and agriculture.