Despite the power of modern organic chemistry, efficient synthesis of complex molecular scaffolds remains an unmet challenge. Their intricate ring systems and stereochemical arrays require too many synthetic operations to rapidly produce libraries of analogs. New technological approaches are needed to forge their varied bonds to provide scalable access to libraries of these molecular architectures. Through detailed mechanistic study, such technologies can be developed.
The development of general construction reactions has broad utility in a range of fields that rely on the synthesis of small molecules and functional materials. One particular area that we focus on is the total chemical synthesis of frameworks that are known to elicit powerful neurological effects. These substances serve as chemical probes to study fundamental aspects of neurological function and to address neurological dysfunction.
