In our latest research publication, Hui-Qi, Por, and collaborators from the Piercey lab at Purdue University and Pfizer, Inc. report a new method for olefin cyclopropanation under Pd(II)/Pd(IV) catalysis. Compared to previous methods, the reaction can directly employ C–H pronucleophiles, such as 1,3-diketones, without the need for activation as a diazo or other carbenoid progenitor. Additionally, with internal alkenes, the reaction provides unusual anti-selective addition due to the underlying directed carbopalladation mechanism. Congrats to the entire team on this collaborative effort.

For a link to the pre-print in ChemRxiv, click here: https://chemrxiv.org/engage/chemrxiv/article-details/641a9863dab08ad68f818947

Congrats to the Engle Lab’s newest doctors Ziqi Li and Taeho Kang!

Ziqi’s Ph.D. focused on the development of a series of regio- and enantioselective hydroarylation reactions. Additionally, she pioneered the development of a collection of reagents and ligand-enabled carbosulfenylation reactions.  Ziqi will soon follow in the footsteps of Keary and other Engle Lab alumni starting her postdoc at Caltech. There, she will pursue research in the lab of Prof. Frances Arnold.

Taeho’s Ph.D. work spanned across various research fields in nickel, copper, and palladium chemistry. In particular, his research focused on nickel-catalyzed 1,2-difunctionalization reactions directed by native functional groups such as free alcohols, amines, and carboxylic acids. Taeho will start a position as a joint postdoc in the labs of Prof. Geoffrey Coates and Prof. Yadong Wang at Cornell University. 

Together with Prof. Paul Chirik at Princeton and Drs. Eric Simmons and Steve Wisniewski from Bristol Myers Squibb, Keary authored a Perspective in Org. Process Res. Dev. on the importance of academia–industry collaboration in advancing the state of the art in base metal catalysis. The article outlines the various factors that motivate research in base metal catalysis within the pharmaceutical industry and discusses how these challenges can spur innovations reaction, catalyst, and ligand development, such as in the case of our collaborative work on bench-stable Ni(0) pre-catalysts.

For a link to the article, click here: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.oprd.3c00025