Chemistry Weekly Seminar - Dr. David Palmer, University of Saskatchewan
Dr. David Palmer, Professor in the Department of Chemistry, University of Saskatchewan, will present a seminar at 1:30 pm via Zoom.
Topic
A Pivotal Sabbatical: Our Adventures in Preparative-Scale Chemoenzymatic Synthesis
For many years my laboratory has been studying enzyme catalysis: discovering new functions, studying reaction mechanisms, and designing inhibitors. This regularly involved the multistep synthesis of small molecules using traditional techniques of organic chemistry. We have recently turned our attention to the application of enzymes for practical scale organic synthesis. The application of enzymes in organic synthesis has been known for many years but has recently found increased application in places like the pharmaceutical industry. Advantages of using enzymes as catalysts include lower toxicity and simpler techniques, but their application may be limited by stability, solubility, scalability, and other practical considerations. In this seminar I will discuss how our knowledge of enzyme structure-function relationships has allowed us to carry out efficient aldol transformations and invent novel approaches to molecules of interest.
Date: Friday, February 18, 2022
Time: 1:30 pm
Zoom link available by request to chem.dept@usask.ca