Organic Chemistry Seminar

Wednesday, October 4th
Professor Viresh Rawal
"Asymmetric Catalysis of Chemical Reactions Promoted by Hydrogen Bond Activation"

4:15pm - 5:15pm
Braun Lecture Hall
S.G.Mudd Chemistry Building
Stanford University



This seminar is free and open to the public. All Stanford University Chemistry students are encouraged to attend this special event.

About the seminar
The bare hydrogen atom--a proton--is the most commonly used catalyst for promoting chemical reactions. In contrast, the Lewis acid property of the hydrogen atom, most evident in hydrogen bonds, has been little utilized for catalysis. Indeed, in contemporary organic synthesis, especially for asymmetric reactions, the notion of Lewis acid catalysis has become synonymous with metal-based catalysis. Hydrogen bonds, while of central importance for the organization and function of large biomolecules, have played at best a minor role in the promotion of chemical reactions. Until just five years ago, there were but a handful of reports describing the successful use of hydrogen bonds for non-enzymatic asymmetric catalysis. In this presentation I will summarize our work on the use of chiral hydrogen bond donors for the promotion of asymmetric reactions.

About Rawal:
Viresh Rawal was born in India in 1958 and immigrated with his family to the United States in 1968, settling in Connecticut. He received his B.S. degree from The University of Connecticut (1980) and his Ph.D. from University of Pennsylvania (1986). His doctoral research, carried out under Professor Michael P. Cava, dealt with the development of an efficient route for the synthesis of the potent antitumor agent CC-1065. From 1986 to 1988 he was a postdoctoral associate at Columbia University in the laboratories of Professor Gilbert Stork. In 1988 he accepted a faculty position at The Ohio State University and was promoted to Associate Professor in 1994. In the autumn of 1995 he moved to the University of Chicago as an Associate Professor and was subsequently promoted to Professor.

Questions
Please contact Patricia Dwyer at 650-723-4770.