In the classical approach to the development of homogeneous catalysts, chemists typically aim to minimize the number of components in the flask in order to avoid potential off-cycle intermediates and subsequent catalyst poisoning. Yet, life and its many complex catalytic reactions almost certainly arose from complex mixtures. Do certain types of catalysis fare better in complex mixtures? The talk will describe our efforts to generate, screen and deconvolute complex mixtures of catalysts, a technique that can dramatically reduce the number of reactions required to obtain a lead result if employed rationally.[1] Mechanistic investigations into the “hits” obtained from this process are then leveraged to develop second-generation transformations and multicatalytic sequences.[2,3] Finally, preliminary impressions about what types of catalysis work best in complex mixtures will be discussed.
References
1. E. Wolf, E. Richmond, J. Moran, Chem. Sci. 2015, 6, 2501.
2. E. Richmond, J. Moran, J. Org. Chem. 2015, 80, 6922.
3. M. Dryzhakov, M. Hellal, E. Wolf, F. Falk, J. Moran, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2015, 137, 9555.
Contact local IBMM : Dr. Robert Pascal, D.R. CNRS (équipe DSBC)