Scientific Interests
The expertise in applied organic chemistry and sustainable
approaches to organic synthesis is now focused on the following
topics:
1) Synthesis of bioactive molecules, in particular of new
antimalarial hits.
2) Synthesis of sensors for bioanalytical applications.
3) Development of new catalysts and experimental procedures in
organocatalysis and organometallic catalysis.
- Design and development of new organometallic reagents. A novel
class of alfa-hydroxyallylating agents developed in our lab will be
applied to the total synthesis of bioactive molecules, such as
fungicides and antibiotics.
- Synthesis of bioactive molecules. As an example, a new
synthesis has been developed of
3,4,6-trisunstituted 1,2-dioxanes, whose biological activity
against Plasmodium falciparum strains has been assessed.
- New sustainable chemical processes. Known syntheses will be
re-examined on the basis of eco-compatibility concepts. The
reduction of energy consumption by using microwave heating, the
reduction of chemical wastes by adopting solvent-less conditions or
water as solvent, the use of ionic liquids as non volatile solvents
are examples of technologies under development in our lab. For
example, a new microwave-promoted approach to azacrowns modified
with two hydroxyquinoline substituents has been developed. The new
ligands have been used for sensing magnesium
directly in cells.
- Design and synthesis of task-specific ionic liquids in
organocatalysis and in metal-promoted catalysis. Over the last two
years the most explored field in our lab was the design of
metal-based catalysts and organocatalysts capable to work under
sustainable conditions, e.g. in ionic liquids, in water or in
aqueous biphasic conditions. Our strategy involves the installation
of a permanent ionic group into the skeleton of known catalysts in
such a way to combine efficiency and stereoselectivity with the
catalyst recyclability, ensured by an efficient trapping of the
catalyst in the ionic liquid or aqueous phase.
