Research Interests
Our research has involved the discovery and development of new selective
synthetic reactions, new synthetic methods, tandem reaction sequences, and
their applications in the total synthesis of natural products and other
biological molecules. These have included selective tandem addition-reduction
procedures, selective metal-ammonia reductions, applications of
regioselectively and stereoselectively prepared
(1,2,3-N3-cyclohexenyl)palladium complexes in organic synthesis, and the
addition and addition- rearrangement reactions of
3,4-dihydro-2-alkoxy-2H-pyrans. An example of a tandem addition-reduction
reaction is the addition of 4-ethoxyphenyllithium to an alkenyl ketone,
followed by the sequential reduction of the derived benzylalkoxide to
4-alkenylanisole to 4-alkenyl-1- methoxy-1,4-cyclohexadiene with
lithium-ammonia-alcohol, all in the same reaction vessel. Subsequently,
selective hydrolysis in dilute acid produced the corresponding
4-alkenyl-3-cyclohexen-1-one. (1,2,3-h3 Cyclohexenyl) palladium complexes
can be regioselectively and stereoselectively prepared from the corresponding
1,4-cyclohexadienes by palladium-mediated nuclophilic additions, and then
subsequently selectively elaborated to complex structures. Finally, an
example of an addition-rearrangement type is the reaction of
3,4-dihydro-2-alkoxy 2H-pyrans with an electrophilic isocyanate.
