Chemistry Department Colloquium: Electrochemical and Photocatalytic Strategies for Selective Alcohol, Amine, and Hydrocarbon Functionalization
About
Qilei Zhu (University of Utah) Host: Chi Pan Ting Abstract: Our research program focuses on developing selective and sustainable synthetic methods that streamline the preparation of functionalized molecules from abundant and readily available feedstocks. In particular, we are interested in photocatalytic and electrochemical strategies that generate radical and radical ion intermediates, leveraging the unique reactivity of these open-shell species to achieve challenging bond constructions under mild conditions. In this talk, I will discuss our recent progress in: (1) developing electrosynthetic methods for the sustainable and scalable functionalization of abundant feedstocks, including alcohols and carboxylic acids; (2) establishing an atroposelective Shono-type electrochemical reaction for the synthesis of axially chiral molecules; and (3) discovering and optimizing electron donor–acceptor (EDA) photocatalysts for the selective functionalization of strong C–H bonds with counter-thermodynamic site selectivity.
