Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Our research group is engaged in the development of new and useful synthetic organic reactions and the application of these reactions to the synthesis of complex bioactive molecules. In the past decade or so we have a) discovered a fundamentally new cycloaddition reaction, b) developed a convenient method for the synthesis of complex indoles, c) found new ways of functionalizing heterocyclic systems, d) expanded the chemistry of donor/acceptor cyclopropanes and e) prepared 16 natural products by total synthesis. In this proposal we put forth a plan to build on these accomplishments since many are still quite new and underdeveloped. We will seek to apply them to more complex synthetic targets in an effort to showcase their utility and to provide useful routes to the target molecules themselves. Our research program will be of interest to those in both the medicinal and process chemistry fields. The problems we solve will be not unlike those encountered in the pharmaceutical industry and the methods we develop will be of great interest to those preparing compounds oftherapeutic value. The researchers carrying out the projects within our program will be well trained and highly sought after by companies that rely on chemical synthesis.