ELECTRO-ASYMMETRIC

Nature-inspired compounds via enantioselectivity control in electrochemical radical processes

Abstract

Identifying successful lead drug candidates is a significant and current challenge to society. The ELECTRO-ASYMMETRIC project seeks to provide some solutions through assisting the development of more effective drug discovery technologies. Specifically, we aim to use electricity-driven organocatalytic cascade processes for the stereocontrolled synthesis of chiral lactones and polyfunctionalized heterocycles, which are common motifs in biologically active molecules. Asymmetric organocatalysis and electrochemistry, two powerful strategies of modern chemical research, have extraordinary potential for sustainably preparing the novel organic molecules required for driving innovation in the pharmaceutical industries. However, the control of enantioselectivity in electrochemical radical processes poses a fundamental scientific challenge. ELECTRO-ASYMMETRIC asks whether asymmetric organocatalytic electrochemical cascades could be an effective tool for rapidly synthesising novel chiral nature-inspired building blocks with high stereocontrol. The chiral molecules prepared in this project will be screened for biological activity in a multidisciplinary collaboration with Janssen, increasing the probability of success in identifying successful drug candidates. This fellowship brings a new industrial collaboration to the host institution, and transfers expertise of advanced techniques in asymmetric catalysis to the candidate and knowledge of electrochemistry to the host group. The project’s multidisciplinarity and intersectoral nature will broaden the fellow’s competencies and will place him in a competitive position for his next career move.

Project details

Unibo Team Leader: Paolo Melchiorre

Unibo involved Department/s:
Dipartimento di Chimica Industriale "Toso Montanari"

Coordinator:
ALMA MATER STUDIORUM - Università di Bologna(Italy)

Other Participants:
Fundacio Privada Institut Catala D'Investigacio Quimica (Iciq) (Spain)

Total Eu Contribution: Euro (EUR) 165.312,96
Project Duration in months: 17
Start Date: 01/03/2023
End Date: 31/07/2024

Cordis webpage

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101062393 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101062393