J.W.T. Spinks Lecture Series - Prof. M. Christina White
The J.W.T. Spinks Lecture Series will be given by Prof. M. Christina White, University of Illinois @ Urbana-Champaign.
Lecture 1: Hydrocarbons to Natural Products
Classically, the practice of chemical synthesis has focused on building hydrocarbon scaffolds while concurrently introducing oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon functionality. Allylic C—H oxidations are routinely utilized by nature to directly install oxygen into hydrocarbon frameworks with exquisite selectivity. This talk describes the discovery of palladium/sulfoxide catalysts for allylic C—H functionalizations with a range of nucleophiles, well beyond those demonstrated in nature (nitrogen, carbon, fluorine) with high levels of reactivity and selectivity. Harnessing the inertness of a-olefin hydrocarbons, the streamlining capacity of allylic C—H functionalization is demonstrated via minimizing the installation and maintenance of pre-oxidized functionality that is otherwise required for traditional C—X and C—C bond forming reactions. This lecture aims to provide an overview of these areas in addition to current advances in asymmetric C—H
oxidations.