Identifying successful lead drug candidates is a significant and current challenge to society. The ELECTRO-ASYMMETRIC project seeks to provide some solutions through assisting the development of more effective drug discovery technologies. Specifically, we aim to use electricity-driven organocatalytic cascade processes for the stereocontrolled synthesis of chiral lactones and polyfunctionalized heterocycles, which are common motifs in […]
FPI Fellowship – Laura Kqiku
Electrochemical stereoselective radical cascades for accessing natural-like compounds
CSC Fellowship – Wei Zhou
CSC Fellowship – Shuo Wu
FI Fellowship – Thomas Hin-Fung Wong
Photoexcitation for New-to-Nature Enzymatic Reactions
Enzymatic catalysis plays a centrally important role for the preparation of chiral molecules and in the transition towards a more sustainable chemistry. In spite of their potential, natural enzymes use only a relatively small section of ‘reaction space’. This implies that only a limited number of stereocontrolled reaction classes, which are characterized by a similar […]
Merging enantioselective isothiourea catalysis with visible-light photoactivation for the synthesis of biologically-relevant chiral molecules
The quest for successful lead candidates in drug discovery has challenged synthetic chemists to develop innovative strategies to rapidly generate screening collections of chiral molecules. In this context, cascade processes provide a powerful tool for rapidly increasing, in one step, structural and stereochemical complexity, while fulfilling the requirements for atom and step economy. The development […]
FPU Fellowship- Adriana Faraone
New Synthetic Methods Enabled by the Photochemistry of Organic Molecules and Their Use in Drug Discovery and Bioconjugation
Drug discovery must identify successful lead candidates. This requirement has challenged synthetic chemists to develop innovative strategies to rapidly generate screening collections of chiral molecules. PHOTO-N-TOOLS seeks to provide some solutions by developing more effective technology to rapidly generate, in one single step, biologically relevant, natural-like compounds. Specifically, we aim to exploit the powerful synthetic […]
Visible Light-Activated Photoinitiators for Applications in Domestic Coatings
The use of light to trigger and control radical polymerisation is a powerful strategy for rational polymer synthesis and advanced materials. Photoinitiated polymerisation is today widely used in industry for several applications. Essential for the continued progress of the field is the discoveries of novel photoinitiators endowed with tailored properties, such as high activity at […]
Photocatalysis in Drug Discovery – Asymmetric Preparation of Bioactive Chiral Lactones and Cyclohexanols
We are in a changing era for drug discovery: the growing perception is that basic chemical research will play a greater role in pharmaceutical development. One current challenge is to develop a new kind of chemistry that yields a screening collection of optimal chiral molecules that increase the probability of success in identifying drug-candidate structures. […]
FPI Fellowship – Eduardo de Pedro
Enantioselective Carbon-Fluorine Bond Formation: A Molecular Editing Approach toward Drug Discovery
The unique properties of the carbon-fluorine (C-F) bond explain why organofluorine compounds play a central role in biopharmaceuticals. One current challenge in drug discovery is the selective installation of C-F stereogenicity within the active site of lead candidates, such molecular editing may greatly help in increasing potency and understanding metabolic degradation paths. However, the limited […]
Melchiorre Group
Photochemical Enantioselective Organic Catalysis: Making Biologically Relevant Chiral Molecules with Light
Despite the changing face of chemistry, the importance of enantioselective catalytic synthesis (the ability to generate chiral molecules in a controlled fashion) has not diminished. But new reactivity concepts and strategies are needed to solve the increasingly complex synthetic problems being posed by Nature, medicine, and materials. In drug discovery, one current challenge is to […]
Photochemical Cascade Reactions by Merging organo- and Iridium Catalysis: A Stereocontrolled entry to Molecular Complexity
The requirement for drug discovery to facilitate the identification of successful lead candidates has challenged synthetic chemists to develop innovative strategies to rapidly generate screening collections of chiral molecules. Recently, the application of asymmetric aminocatalysis to cascade reactions has addressed this target enabling extraordinary levels of sophistication and stereocontrol, while fulfilling the requirements for both […]
Photocatalysis to crop protection: asymmetric cascades for chiral heterocycles
Food security and sustainable agriculture is a significant and current challenge to society in the face of growing global consumption. PHOTOCHIRO seeks to provide some solutions through assisting the development of more effective crop protection technology. Specifically, we aim at the synthesis of novel chiral amines, which are common motifs in biologically active molecules, by […]