Catalysis: "Awakening Affinities" for Organic Synthesis

Abstract

The use of catalysis is now ubiquitous in organic synthesis. In this talk, I will discuss how we have employed both Brønsted and Lewis acid catalysis, as well as transition metal catalysis, for the synthesis of alkaloid natural products. We have also begun to explore the use of bimetallic catalysis to enhance the reactivity of some substrates in substitution reactions. In this form of catalysis, two metals are used to perform different roles within a single catalytic system. In addition, we have developed a new design principle to enhance selectivity in organometallic catalysis. This has already been found useful for the synthesis of drug molecules. The development of this new concept illustrates how hypotheses must evolve as new experiments are conducted.