Tags: Organic Seminar


Proximity Inducing Molecules: Molecular Glues and Their Mimics for Targeted Protein Degradation

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,…


Organic Chemistry Literature Seminar: Weizhi Bai


Guest Speaker: Prof. Indrajeet Sharma


Asymmetric C-H Functionalization Through Cobalt-Salox Catalysis

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,…


Organic Chemistry Research Seminar: Po-Sen Tseng


Proton-coupled Electron Transfer (PCET) in Synthesis

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…


Guest Speaker: Prof. Daniel Werz


New Methods in Diastereo- and Regiodivergent Transition Metal-Catalyzed Functionalization of Dienes


Symmetry Breaking Routes to Natural and Unnatural Ladderanes

Breaking symmetry to generate asymmetry, commonly termed desymmetrization, is a remarkably powerful strategy for building molecular complexity. Successful implementation of this strategy holds the potential to forge multiple stereogenic centers in a single step. In fact, stereocenters can also be created away from the reaction site.  During the past few years, we have developed a number of organocatalytic enantioselective desymmetrization…


Asymmetric Deoxygenative Functionalization of Carboxylic Acids and Alcohols

Given that carboxylic acid derivatives and alcohols are abundant in a wide range of building blocks and complex molecules, catalytic diversification of these functional groups is highly sought-after.  To this end, recently employing a deoxygenative approach for modifying these oxygenated species has gained momentum.  However, to date, asymmetric variants of these methods have been underdeveloped and often require precious metal…
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