Sebastien Laulhe
Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis, IN·Chemistry
Many medicines are built by joining small carbon-based pieces together. Two of the most common starting points are carbon-hydrogen (C-H) bonds, which appear throughout organic molecules, and alkyl halides, cheap carbon chains carrying a halogen atom such as bromine.
- Fields
Chemistry
- Topics
organic synthesis
photochemistry
electron-donor-acceptor complexes
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Apr 2028
What they work on
- Design aryl radicals with tuned steric bulk and electronic properties, generated from light-activated electron-donor-acceptor (EDA) complexes, to remove hydrogen atoms selectively from specific C(sp3)-H bonds.
- Develop metal-free cross-dehydrogenative couplings in which alkyl radicals formed by hydrogen-atom transfer (HAT) are joined into new carbon-carbon bonds with control over which mirror-image product forms.
- Use halogen-atom transfer (XAT) from EDA-derived aryl radicals to activate bulky tertiary alkyl halides that cannot react by SN2 substitution, then couple them to form challenging C(sp3)-C(sp3) bonds.
- Apply computational models to support and accelerate the discovery of new arene-based EDA complexes for photo-induced radical reactions.
More about the research
Turning these into new bonds usually requires metal catalysts. Metals add cost to drug manufacturing, and regulators limit how much metal may remain in a finished medicine. Bulky alkyl halides are also hard to use because they resist standard substitution reactions. This project proposes light-driven, metal-free ways to activate both kinds of bonds.
Why it matters
Because regulators restrict metal residues in drugs, metal-free bond-forming methods could lower drug-manufacturing costs and improve pharmaceutical safety. Chemists could use these reactions to modify complex drug candidates late in a synthesis, and to turn abundant, inexpensive feedstocks such as alkanes and bulky tertiary alkyl halides into compounds relevant to human health.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Vladimir Gevorgyan
University of Texas at Dallas, TX·Chemistry
Develop a visible light–induced hybrid method that combines a transition-metal catalyst with radical steps to convert unactivated C(sp3)–H bonds, the single carbon–hydrogen bonds common in drugs, without acids or added oxidants.
Christopher Sandford
University of Texas at San Antonio, TX·Chemistry
Develop an organometallic catalyst whose site selectivity switches when irradiated with different wavelengths of visible or ultraviolet light, so one catalyst can react at different sites on a molecule.
Jeffrey Lipshultz
Stony Brook University, NY·Chemistry·Early-career
Develop bench-stable bipyridinyl titanium chloride complexes that, when excited by light through ligand-to-metal charge transfer, generate chlorine radicals that functionalize C–H bonds through hydrogen atom transfer.
The school
Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis: 25 labs on PI Pages, $89M a year on research, 120 research doctorates a year.
More about Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis
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