Michel Gagne
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC·Chemistry
New medicines are limited by the molecules chemists can actually make. If a reaction is hard or impossible, a whole family of potential drugs stays out of reach.
- Fields
Chemistry
Pharmacology
- Topics
photoredox catalysis
organic photocatalysis
organic synthesis
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through May 2030
What they work on
- Develop site-selective and functional group-directed C-H functionalization reactions, which convert specific carbon-hydrogen bonds into new groups, using light-activated organic photoredox catalysts.
- Create direct bioisostere replacement chemistry that swaps a functional group in a drug-like molecule for one with similar biological behavior, using photoredox catalysis.
- Use light-harvesting organic dyes as single-electron oxidants to generate reactive radicals for rapid modification of medicinal agents.
- Apply photochemical methods as new tactics in programmable and target-oriented synthesis of complex molecules, including known pharmacophores.
More about the research
This program develops new chemical reactions that open up fresh molecular structures for drug discovery. They also let medicinal chemists quickly make variations of a drug candidate to see which changes improve activity, known as structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies.
Why it matters
Faster, simpler ways to modify drug-like molecules could help pharmaceutical researchers explore new chemical structures and run SAR studies more quickly. These light-driven methods may shorten the early stages of drug discovery and development by giving chemists direct access to useful molecular fragments.
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.
Tomislav Rovis
Columbia University, NY·Chemistry
Develop reactions that build nitrogen-containing rings (heterocycles) directly from simple feedstocks such as alkenes and alkanes, forming carbon–carbon and carbon–nitrogen bonds in one step without later manipulation.
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
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: 72 labs on PI Pages, $1.6B a year on research, 523 research doctorates a year.
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