NSF-ANR CHE: Cycloadditions of azines and their N-oxides

With the support of the Chemical Catalysis program in the Division of Chemistry, Professors Oleg Larionov and Michael Doyle of the University of Texas at San Antonio are studying new ways to construct common chemical building blocks used to make drugs, agrochemicals, and advanced materials. New catalytic methods will be developed that will facilitate construction of these building blocks from simple precursors by using sustainable and earth-abundant catalysts. The project involves an international collaboration with French Professors Nicolas Blanchard (University of Upper-Alsace Mulhouse) and Jean-François Brière (University of Rouen Normandy) and funding provided by the French National Research Agency (ANR). Professors Blanchard and Brière are experts in chemical reactivity essential to the project and complimentary to the expertise provided by the two US researchers. These research activities will provide opportunities to train students and postdoctoral scholars in modern chemical methods and prepare them for careers in the chemical sciences and positions in academia and industry. With the support of the Chemical Catalysis program in the Division of Chemistry, Professors Oleg Larionov and Michael Doyle of the University of Texas at San Antonio in collaboration with Professors Nicolas Blanchard and Jean-François Brière from France are studying new catalytic methods of construction of heterocycles based on catalytic cycloaddition reactions of azines and azine N-oxides. The research will facilitate chemo- and stereoselective access to important and synthetically challenging classes of heterocycles using earth-abundant metal and organic catalysts. Furthermore, it will also provide important insights into the underlying catalytic mechanisms through a synergistic combination of experimental and predictive modeling techniques and will inspire the development of new and more sustainable catalytic cycloaddition reactions. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.