Tags: Organic Seminar

Total synthesis remains a relevant cornerstone topic of organic chemistry, serving as a ground for new synthetic strategies and methods to access complex natural products that inspire biological discovery. Beyond the construction of complex molecules, modern total synthesis embodies a philosophy of ideality, popularized by Phil Baran, which is the pursuit of routes that are concise, efficient, and impactful, minimizing unnecessary steps while…

The critical role that carbohydrates and their conjugates play in biological interactions is of interest in medicinal research, making the chemical synthesis of these molecules essential.1 The complexity of carbohydrates, due to their configuration, connectivity, and composition, makes the chemical synthesis lengthy and complicated.1 All these factors make synthesizing the stereoselective oligosaccharide a significant challenge.  Here, we…

The formation of carbon-carbon bonds is a long-standing challenge in synthetic organic chemistry primarily addressed in recent decades via cross-couplings. Cross-coupling has grown to be a powerful tool in organic synthesis in both research and industrial settings, winning the Nobel Prize in 2010. Traditional cross-couplings are primarily held back by the sensitivity of their reagents, and their limitations in forming saturated carbon-…

Over the past century, one of the most enduring challenges in drug discovery has been the large proportion of the human proteome considered “undruggable.” The key reasons are twofold: most protein surfaces are relatively flat, and many proteins are unstructured and highly flexible. As a result, over 85% of human proteins remain inaccessible to traditional small-molecule inhibitors. Furthermore, conventional inhibitors are typically reversible,…

Asymmetric C–H functionalization offers a direct and efficient approach for constructing chiral C–C and C–X bonds, streamlining access to complex molecules. Traditionally, this transformation relies on transition metal catalysis using noble metals such as iridium and rhodium, however their scarcity and high cost limit widespread application. To address these challenges, the Cramer group explored cobalt(III) as a more abundant alternative,…

Proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) has emerged as a powerful mechanistic framework for driving challenging bond activations in organic synthesis. By coupling proton and electron transfer in a single kinetic step, PCET allows access to reactive radical intermediates under mild conditions that would otherwise require strongly reducing reagents. This seminar will trace the development of PCET in synthetic chemistry, beginning with the landmark…