Carbon-Hydrogen bond activation via a new charge control approach

Introduction

Organic synthesis stands as the beating heart of technological and societal advancement, driving breakthroughs in drug discovery, agrochemistry, materials design, and the pursuit of a more sustainable world. In a world where C–H bonds are the main functional groups available, the field of C–H functionalisation has experienced exponential growth over the past two decades.

Current Limitations

While state-of-the-art methods have led to remarkable achievements, they remain confined by the dominance of substrate-controlled reactions driven by directing group logic, and by being largely reliant on precious metal catalysts.

Proposal Overview

C-HANCE proposes to open a new page in C–H functionalisation, exploiting the emerging concept of charge control as a mode to influence and steer reactivity of C–H bonds. This will usher in a new logic for C–H bond functionalisation, where:

1. Reagent control can address substrates devoid of directing groups.
2. Entirely novel reactions will emerge.

Expected Impact

This will not only reshape our fundamental understanding of C–H functionalisation, but also yield valuable products for downstream applications.

Unique Expertise

Given my unique expertise and documented track-record of achievements – especially in the exploration of out-of-the-box, non-mainstream fields of synthetic chemistry – I am in a unique position to lead in the unfolding of this new era.