Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Chemical compounds and their derivatives are of tremendous importance in everyday life. It is therefore not surprising that substantial and continuous investments have been made in the chemistry research field over the years to generate new knowledge and develop new applications. It is worth noting that organic chemistry plays an important role in this general process. Although synthetic chemists currently have access to a variety of methods to produce organic compounds, there is still a need for new synthetic tools allowing reactions to proceed with better efficiency and selectivity, and for new processes allowing access to original structural motifs or addressing the current questions of sustainability and environmental impact. My research program is structured around three main themes: homogeneous gold catalysis, (3+2) cycloaddition processes, and photochemistry, which all offer opportunities to address the above-mentioned needs for new synthetic tools. In recent years, homogenous gold catalysis has received considerable attention by the scientific community. The ability of gold complexes to selectively bind to carbon pi-systems in the presence of other functional groups provides a unique opportunity for the discovery of novel selective transformations. In the next five years, our research in this field will focus on 1) the design and synthesis of new gold complexes for electrophilic activation and for redox catalysis, in an approach combining classical synthesis and artificial intelligence, and on 2) the development of efficient and selective (multicomponent) gold-catalyzed transformations. The second part of our program concerns (3+2) cycloadditions, which are a class of transformations with important applications in various domains including drug discovery, material and life science. In this field, we propose to study 1) the development of new Three Atom Components (TAC) as reaction partners, and 2) the use of TACs in thermal or metal-catalyzed cycloaddition processes. These new transformations will be valorized 3) with the synthesis of polyaromatic building blocks for new organic materials, and with new click reactions for bioorthogonal chemistry. The last part of the proposal involves studies in the field of photochemistry. We propose to investigate 1) the reactivity of various cyclic sulfonyl derivatives under light irradiation to produce small-sized cycles of high value in organic synthesis in general and for the pharmaceutical industry, in particular. New photochemical processes will be developed 2) using either direct excitation or, more conveniently, by triplet energy transfer. Applications 3) of the new transformations in flow chemistry and to the synthesis of (spirocyclic) bioisosteres and valuable heterocyclic motifs will also be pursued. Overall, the outcomes of this diversified research program are expected to directly impact the field of chemical synthesis by providing new ways to design the construction of organic molecules.