Gregory Fu
California Institute of Technology, CA·Chemistry
Many molecules come in two mirror-image forms, called enantiomers, much like left and right hands. The two forms of a drug can act very differently in the body, so chemists need ways to build just one form.
- Fields
Chemistry
- Topics
organic synthesis
asymmetric catalysis
enantioselective synthesis
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through May 2027
What they work on
- Develop nickel- and copper-catalyzed substitution reactions that couple families of alkyl electrophiles and nucleophiles not previously shown to react together, including highly hindered substrates.
- Achieve enantioconvergent couplings that turn racemic (50:50 mirror-image) electrophiles and nucleophiles into mostly one mirror-image product, controlling up to two stereocenters without needing directing groups.
- Use the conversion of alkyl electrophiles into organic radicals by chiral transition-metal catalysts to form carbon–carbon, carbon–nitrogen and carbon–oxygen bonds under mild conditions.
- Carry out mechanistic studies of the new metal-catalyzed substitution reactions to reveal how they proceed and guide the design of further reactions.
More about the research
This program develops new catalytic reactions that join carbon to carbon, nitrogen or oxygen while controlling which mirror-image form is made. These bonds make up the backbone of most organic molecules.
Why it matters
Single-mirror-image molecules are central to biology and drug discovery because DNA, proteins and sugars are themselves "handed." Easier ways to make such compounds could give biologists, biochemists and pharmaceutical chemists faster access to known families of molecules. They could also open access to new classes of molecules for testing new hypotheses and finding bioactive compounds.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Mark Biscoe
CUNY City College, NY·Chemistry
Develop palladium- and copper-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions that transfer handedness from enantioenriched secondary alkylboron reagents to new carbon centers with predictable retention or inversion.
Patrick Walsh
University of Pennsylvania, PA·Chemistry
Develop enantioselective nickel-catalyzed cross-electrophile coupling, which joins sulfur electrophiles with aryl or alkyl halides, to make diaryl and alkyl aryl sulfoxides enriched in one mirror-image form.
Mary Watson
University of Delaware, DE·Chemistry
Develop enantioselective copper-catalyzed additions of alkynes to cyclic oxocarbenium and iminium ions, positively charged ring intermediates, to make oxygen and nitrogen heterocycles with tri- and tetrasubstituted stereocenters next to the heteroatom.
The school
California Institute of Technology: 18 labs on PI Pages, $445M a year on research, 200 research doctorates a year.
Reach out
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