12/23/2022 – Congratulations to Myriam and Sara on their work on heteroarene hydrocarboxylation reaction that translates 2D heterocycles into versatile 3D analogs. Out on the rxiv now!

The rapid preparation of complex three-dimensional (3D) heterocyclic scaffolds is a key challenge in modern medicinal chemistry. Small molecule therapeutic candidates with increased 3D complexity, on average, possess a higher probability of clinical success. However, …

6/22/2021 – Congratulations to Dylan, Diana, and Minji on their work on aziridine synthesis through coupling unactivated alkenes and primary amines via metastable dicationic intermediates. Out in Nature now!

Aziridines, three-membered nitrogen-containing cyclic molecules, are important synthetic targets. Their significant ring strain and resultant proclivity towards ring opening reactions makes them versatile precursors to diverse amine products and, in some cases, the aziridine functional group itself imbues important …

6/10/2021 – Congratulations to Alyah, Oliver, and Colleen on their work exploiting non-innocent radical anion intermediates in photoredox catalysis for promoting diverse coupling reactions of classically inert aryl chlorides. Out on JACS now!

We describe a photocatalytic system that elicits potent photoreductant activity from conventional photocatalysts by leveraging radical anion intermediates generated in situ. The combination of isophthalonitrile and sodium formate promotes diverse aryl radical coupling reactions from abundant …

6/2/2021 – Congratulations to Colleen and Alyah on their work expanding the pool of photoactive radical anions by electron-priming conventional photocatalysts. Out on ACIE now!

Herein, we leverage electrochemistry to examine the photocatalytic activity of a range of structurally diverse persistent radical anions and find that many are effective electrophotocatalysts. These studies uncover a new electron-primed photoredox catalyst capable of …