research about organic chemistry

Organic Chemistry

UNDERSTANDING CARBON-BASED SUBSTANCES AND DEVELOPING ECONOMIC, GREEN STRATEGIES TO PRODUCE USEFUL NEW MOLECULES, REACTIONS AND MATERIALS 

Stanford chemists are developing more efficient and sustainable chemistries by exploring the structure, properties and reactions of organic compounds and materials. New reagents and catalysts are enabling greener industrial processes. Growing understanding of natural product properties, activities and synthesis are leading to potential new therapeutics, in close collaborations with researchers in the School of Medicine. These cutting-edge efforts build on a strong departmental history in organic synthesis.

Organic Synthesis

Invention of new tools and methods make it possible to create complex molecules from simple starting materials, more rapidly and cost-efficiently. Stanford chemists are developing new methods to synthesize target molecules with  potential applications as novel catalysts, antibiotics and antitumor therapies ; atomically efficient methods to create new  transition-metal-based non-protein catalysts ; new  atom and group transfer-type reaction processes  for natural product synthesis and chemical biology; and novel approaches to the  design and synthesis of exotic small and giant molecules for custom properties . Elusive, selective reactions at the  boundaries of modern organic synthesis  take inspiration from natural products – and answer questions about their properties and activities.

Molecular Design

Stanford chemists are crafted designers of a wide variety of molecules for applications in chemical synthesis, materials science, and biomedicine. Advancements in synthetic capabilities and efficiency allow for freedom of molecular design. Stanford chemists are designing new reactions, catalysts, and reagents for more efficient, selective, and robust chemical transformations; new molecular strategies to develop more effective drugs; new imaging agents, optical reporters, and molecular delivery vehicles to allow integration of biological systems and delivery of therapeutics into cells; new classes of biological probes for the study of cell surface glycans; fluorescent probes of DNA repair enzymes in cells and tissues; and novel classes of unusual molecular and polymeric materials with tailored optical, electronic, thermal, and mechanical properties.

Green Chemistries

Using mechanistic principles to develop new catalytic strategies, Stanford chemists synthesize complex, useful macromolecular architectures,  including sustainable polymers, synthetic fuels, and bioactive molecules ;  and develop cost-efficient catalysts and chemical reactions that  recycle CO2 into fuels and commodity chemicals  using renewable energy sources. To understand and reproduce the remarkable specificity and energy efficiency of metalloenzymes, Stanford chemist are studying the mechanism of  dioxygen activation by  copper-containing enzymes.

Biomedicine

Stanford researchers are employing organic methods to  explore the roles of cell-surface sugars and glycosylation in health, aging and illness , including cancer; to study and engineer enzymatic assembly lines that catalyze the biosynthesis of antibiotics in bacteria; and to  design nucleotides with unusual properties  such as fluorescence, enzyme reactivity, or altered shape and bonding ability, as tools to study nucleotide function and potential new probes for cancer diagnosis.

Computer Modeling

Computer studies of target molecules with desirable properties are finding ways to create  functionally similar species that require fewer steps to synthesize  – a technique called function oriented design and synthesis.

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Organic research includes the invention of new reactions as well as investigations at the interface of organic chemistry with biology, medicine, materials science, and nanotechnology. Specific areas of interest include the development of new catalytic processes and methods for continuous flow synthesis, the design and synthesis of macromolecules, and the total synthesis of bioactive natural products.

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CCB's long and illustrious history of accomplishment in the area of carbon-containing compounds is exemplified by pioneering syntheses of the complex molecules palytoxin and vitamin B12.

With emphasis on development of new reaction methodology and synthesis of families of molecules ranging from small probes to large compounds with antimicrobial and antibiotic activity, and creation of supramolecular assemblies of relevance to energy conversion, Harvard’s organic chemistry effort continues to be multifaceted and fruitful.

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Department of Chemistry

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Organic chemistry at JHU bridges both synthetic and physical organic chemistry. Current activities include research in synthetic methodology, materials, natural products, medicinal chemistry, and chemical biology. Our recent research has found application in medicine (Lectka, Toscano), biology (Greenberg, Rokita, Townsend), and materials science (Klausen, Tovar).

Groups:  Greenberg , Huang , Klausen ,  Lectka ,  Rokita ,  Toscano ,  Tovar ,  Townsend

Group Highlights

Metal Ion-Induced Large Fragment Deactivation

Complex natural product functionalizations generally involve the use of highly engineered reagents, catalysts, or enzymes to achieve site-selectivity by lowering a selected transition state energy. We invert this strategy by […]

Linear and Radial Conjugation in Extended π-Electron Systems

We describe the synthesis and electronic properties of new π-conjugated small molecules and polymers that combine the linear intramolecular conjugation pathways commonly associated with organic electronic materials with the emerging […]

Development of a penem antibiotic against Mycobacteroides abscessus

Pulmonary disease caused by Mycobacteriodes abscessus has outpaced tuberculosis in the U.S., with cure rates below 50 percent. This sparked collaboration between the Townsend Research Lab and two School of […]

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Organic chemistry

The latest chemistry news and research on organic chemistry, including synthesis, natural products and total synthesis, reaction mechanisms and supramolecular chemistry, from the Royal Society of Chemistry's magazine, Chemistry World

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Organic Chemistry

Organic chemistry research at Northwestern University covers many scientific areas, both those traditionally associated with the field and in areas that impact other disciplines. These research areas range from the synthesis of bioactive small molecules to the formation of functional extended polymers or nanostructures, and from understanding how light waves interact with organic matter to exploring the chemistry of proteins, cells or living organisms. As such, faculty and students within the organic chemistry division have diverse research interests that intersect with many of the most pressing issues and needs facing modern society. Whether it be developing new medicines to treat disease or inventing useful materials for solar energy conversion or environmental remediation, the organic chemistry division is dedicated to conducting forward-looking research and training the next generation of scientific leaders.

Organic Chemistry Research Areas:

Chemical biology .

Molecular mechanisms of action, design and syntheses of bioactive small-molecules • neurodegenerative diseases • proteomics • bioorganic chemistry • natural product bio- synthesis and discovery • cell adhesion

Farha ,   Gianneschi ,   Kelleher ,   Mrksich ,   Nguyen ,   Scheidt ,   Silverman ,   Stupp ,   Thomson

Organic Nanotechnology & Materials

Supramolecular chemistry • mechanostereochemistry • molecular recognition • self-assembly • functionalized and mechanized molecules • metal-organic frameworks and porous organic materials • artificial photosynthesis

Dichtel ,   Kalow ,   Malapit ,  Mrksich ,   Nguyen ,   Stoddart ,   Stupp ,   Wasielewski

Physical Organic Chemistry

Electron donor–acceptor systems • photochemistry • molecular electronics • surface chemistry of graphene and polymer nanocomposites • self-assembled monolayers • mass spectrometry

Dichtel ,   Kalow ,   Malapit ,  Nguyen ,   Wasielewski

Total Synthesis & Method Development

Natural product synthesis • alkaloids • polyketides • polycyclic molecules • organocatalysis • asymmetric catalysis • organometallic chemistry • polymers • new reaction discovery and development

Dichtel ,   Kalow , Malapit ,   Marks ,   Nguyen ,   Scheidt ,   Thomson

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Organic Synthesis

Research in the Ritter group focuses on the development of novel reaction chemistry. We seek to discover molecular structure and reactivity that can contribute to interdisciplinary solutions for challenges in science. The lab focuses on synthetic organic and organometallic chemistry, complex molecule synthesis, and mechanistic studies to develop practical access to molecules of interest in catalysis, medicine, and materials.

Research Topics:

Late-stage functionalization, late-stage fluorination, unappreciated redox reactivity of palladium.

How does a research institute actually work?

Students from a local school get interesting insights at the MPI more

Safer alternative for an explosive reaction

The chemical industry has been using a reaction with explosive chemicals for over 100 years - now Mülheim scientists have discovered a safer alternative. more

Thiel Award 2024 goes to Philipp Hartmann

Philipp Hartmann, PhD candidate in the group of Prof. Tobias Ritter, has been awarded the Thiel Award. Each year the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung honors a young talent in the field of chemistry with this prestigious prize.  more

Thianthrenium chemistry allows for reactivity switch of a nucleophilic amino acid into a versatile intermediate

Ritter group publishes their findings with “Nature Chemistry” more

Teenagers experience extraordinary holidays

Local school students visit the institute for a whole week more

Working in the radionuclide laboratory

Research report:.

• Research Report Ritter 2017-2019 523.46 kB
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Dept. of Department of Chemistry

The Penn State Department of Chemistry has a growing legacy in organic and small molecule methodology and complex synthesis.  Faculty are engaged in cutting edge research that spans the realm of traditional synthesis and methodology, polymer chemistry, electrochemical methods, stimuli-responsive reactivity, and bioorganic chemistry.  Researchers have interests that are centered in new methodology for the synthesis of molecules and materials for utility in pharmaceuticals, catalysis, active/responsive networks, biomedicine, and electronic materials.

Harry Allcock Evan Pugh University Professor of Chemistry  Polymer synthesis, materials chemistry, and biomedicine

Bert Chandler Professor of Chemistry and of Chemical Engineering Environmental Catalysis; Nanoparticle & Materials Synthesis; Catalytic Reaction Mechanisms

Elizabeth Elacqua Assistant Professor of Chemistry Small molecule and polymer synthesis, supramolecular catalysis, and organic molecules under confinement

Julie Fenton Assistant Professor of Chemistry Materials synthesis and characterization; inorganic, organic, and hybrid solids; colloidal nanomaterials; surface chemistry.

Ray Funk Professor of Chemistry Development of new synthetic methodology with emphasis on ring construction

Ramesh Giri Weinreb Early Career Professor of Chemistry New synthetic methods, catalysis, organometallic chemistry, and sustainable chemistry

Jonathan Kuo Assistant Professor of Chemistry Physical Organic, Organometallic, Bioinorganic

Eric Nacsa Assistant Professor of Chemistry New activation strategies and synthetic methods

Ayusman Sen Verne M. Willaman Professor of Chemistry Homogeneous catalysis, polymeric materials

Steven Weinreb Professor Emeritus Total synthesis of natural products

Ruobo Zhou   Assistant Professor of Chemistry Super-resolution fluorescence imaging, single-molecule detection, spatiotemporal organizations of biomolecules, liquid-liquid phase separation in biology, neurobiology, RNA biology.

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Xin Zhang   Design and synthesis of small molecules to image and modulate intracellular protein aggregates

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Organic Chemistry

Research in Organic Chemistry at UC Riverside spans the whole range of topics in modern organic chemistry, from biological and medicinal chemistry to natural product synthesis, the discovery of new reactions and materials to the physical organic chemistry of reaction mechanisms. In addition, our faculty have interests in supramolecular self-assembly, the creation of functional materials and study of reactivity at the solid interface. We have active collaborations with other disciplines in chemistry (such as Analytical, Biological, Inorganic and Physical) as well as other departments at UC Riverside such as Chemical Genomics, Materials Science and Engineering, Biochemistry, Plant Biology and Entomology. Please follow the links below to learn more about the individual research groups in the organic chemistry program at UC Riverside.

Subjects of first-year organic graduate courses include modern organic reactions and reagents and their mechanistic pathways, structure and bonding in organic compounds, kinetics and mechanism of organic reactions, synthetic organic chemistry and spectroscopic identification of organic compounds. Weekly seminars in both the department and the research group familiarize students with current research topics.

Faculty Research Descriptions:

Ana bahamonde.

We focus on the design and investigation of asymmetric catalytic reactions. We use physical organic chemistry tools, organometallic complexes and visible light to enable challenging bond disconnections.

Matthew Casselman

My scholarly activity focuses on implementing and assessing the effectiveness of evidence-based instructional practices, primarily in large-enrollment organic chemistry courses.

Hill Harman

Synthetic Inorganic, Organometallic and Organic chemistry: ligand and catalyst design; organocatalysis; electrocatalysis; structure, bonding, and reactivity of the transition and main group metals; energy and green chemistry.

Richard Hooley

Synthetic Organic, Inorganic and Supramolecular chemistry. Our projects include: the synthesis of biomimetic supramolecular constructs capable of selective molecular recognition; synthesis of new water-soluble catalysts and host molecules; dynamic NMR studies of host guest interactions; biosensors based on synthetic receptor molecules.

Synthetic Organic Chemistry, Organometallic Chemistry, catalysis and its applications to synthesis, natural product synthesis, and mechanistic investigations.

Catharine Larsen

Organic and Organometallic chemistry; discovery of new multicomponent metal-mediated reactions and their applications to the synthesis of complex molecules.

Vince Lavallo

Synthetic Organometallic, Inorganic and Organic chemistry. The preparation of novel transition metal and non-metallic catalysts for a variety of industrially important chemical transformations. Ligand design, asymmetric catalysis, new reaction methodology and carborane chemistry.

Jocelyn Millar

Identification and synthesis of insect pheromones and related behavior modifying chemicals; identification of Kairomones; development of applications of pheromones and related compounds for agricultural crop protection.

William Neary

The Neary group at the University of California, Riverside specializes in the metathesis polymerization of nonconventional substrates. We aim to overcome current state-of-the-art polymerization limitations through rational monomer design and systematic catalyst-monomer pairing. The successful generation of these microstructures, once thought to be inaccessible, will lead to materials with applications in sensing, recycling, and lithium-ion battery formulations.

Michael Pirrung

Chemical biology, synthetic organic chemistry, nucleic acids, combinatorial chemistry; photochemistry.

Organic-focused projects in the Su Lab involve the chemical synthesis of organic electronic materials such as π-conjugated molecules and polymers. In some projects, chemical synthesis is followed by measurement in the lab's homebuilt STM-BJ instrument, where quantum transport characteristics in molecular wires are dictated by fundamental concepts from physical organic chemistry.

Christopher Switzer

Design, synthesis and characterization of nucleic acid variants with new properties for molecular recognition, catalysis and replication.

Kathryn Uhrich

Coming Soon!

The Xue group exploits the art of organic chemistry to develop protein mimetic multicyclic peptides. These peptides grant access to a true 3D-diversifiable chemical space, which promises novel chemical biology tools and better therapeutics.

Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry

Introduction to computational organic chemistry.

a Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, Lensfield Road, Cambridge CB2 1EW, UK

b Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1, Canada

c Department of Chemistry, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204, USA

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• Review Article
• Published: 21 August 2019

Synthetic organic chemistry driven by artificial intelligence

• A. Filipa de Almeida   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-8399-0710 1 ,
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• Tiago Rodrigues   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-1581-5654 2  

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• Cheminformatics
• Computational chemistry
• Organic chemistry
• Chemical synthesis

Synthetic organic chemistry underpins several areas of chemistry, including drug discovery, chemical biology, materials science and engineering. However, the execution of complex chemical syntheses in itself requires expert knowledge, usually acquired over many years of study and hands-on laboratory practice. The development of technologies with potential to streamline and automate chemical synthesis is a half-century-old endeavour yet to be fulfilled. Renewed interest in artificial intelligence (AI), driven by improved computing power, data availability and algorithms, is overturning the limited success previously obtained. In this Review, we discuss the recent impact of AI on different tasks of synthetic chemistry and dissect selected examples from the literature. By examining the underlying concepts, we aim to demystify AI for bench chemists in order that they may embrace it as a tool rather than fear it as a competitor, spur future research by pinpointing the gaps in knowledge and delineate how chemical AI will run in the era of digital chemistry.

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Acknowledgements

A.F.A. acknowledges Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) Portugal for financial support through a PhD grant (PD/BD/143125/2019). T.R. is an investigador auxiliar supported by FCT Portugal (CEECIND/00887/2017). T.R. acknowledges FCT/FEDER (02/SAICT/2017, grant 28333) for funding. The authors thank the reviewers for their comments.

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Area of computer science that deals with the recognition, processing and analysis of human (natural) language.

(SMILES arbitrary target specification). A notation for the accurate substructural feature identification and atom typing.

(Simplified molecular-input line-entry system). A notation to describe chemical structure using ASCII strings.

A method to map substructural information into a bit string. The bit length (size) and detail of encoded features are defined by the user.

A method to quantify similarity (ranging from 0 to 1) between molecules. Complete dissimilarity equates to 0 and full identity equals 1.

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de Almeida, A.F., Moreira, R. & Rodrigues, T. Synthetic organic chemistry driven by artificial intelligence. Nat Rev Chem 3 , 589–604 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41570-019-0124-0

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s41570-019-0124-0

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