Grants and Contributions:

Grant or Award spanning more than one fiscal year. (2017-2018 to 2022-2023)

Chemical compounds and their derivatives are of tremendous importance in everyday life. It is therefore not surprising that substantial and continuous investments have been made in the chemistry research field over the years to generate new knowledge and develop new applications. It is worth noting that researchers in the field of organic chemistry play an important role in this general process. Although synthetic chemists currently have access to a variety of methods to produce organic compounds, there still exists a need for new synthetic tools allowing reactions to proceed with better efficiency and selectivity, and for new processes allowing access to original structural motifs or addressing the current questions of sustainability and environmental impact.
The present research program is structured around three main themes: homogeneous gold catalysis, hydrogen transfer reactions and carbene chemistry, which are among the most active areas in organic chemistry and all offer opportunities to address the above-mentioned issues. In the recent years, homogenous gold catalysis has received considerable attention by the scientific community. The ability of gold complexes to selectively bind to carbon pi-systems in the presence of other functional groups provides a unique opportunity for the discovery of novel selective transformations. Our research in this field will focus on the design and synthesis of new gold catalysts, and on the development of efficient and selective gold-catalyzed transformations for the synthesis of valuable structural motifs. Transfer of hydrogen under electrophilic activation or under radical conditions represents a useful method to functionalize organic molecules and rapidly increase their structural complexity. In this domain, we will develop new access to heterocyclic molecules of interest to the pharmaceutical industry by functionalization of C-H bonds and study the hydrofunctionalization of alkenes for the synthesis of important chiral structural motifs. Finally, by capitalizing on the exceptional reactivity of carbenic species and on their broad applicability in organic chemistry, we will work on the development of unconventional carbene precursors and study their chemistry.
Overall, the outcomes of this diversified research program are expected to directly impact the field of chemical synthesis by providing new ways to design the construction of organic molecules.