Pharmaceuticals and drugs have become an indispensable part of human life. Presently, a myriad of different drugs are available for a variety of mental and physical health concersn. The synthesis of these drugs, however, remains an elusive and often difficult aspect of the industry. The importance of chirality, or "handedness", in the synthesis of natural products is paramount, as any given pair of enantiomers can have widely differing physiological effects. As such, the ability to control the enantioselectivity of a reaction is of the utmost importance. One example of a facile method used to form carbon-carbon bonds is the Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reaction. Not only is this reaction effective at coupling primary organoboronic esters with organohalides, but recent work in the Crudden group in the Department of Chemistry has revealed an effective method of also cross-couplingchiral secondary organoboronic esters with good retention of stereochemistry. This work, the first of its kind, is crucial in developing single-handed natural products for a wide array of applications, including applications in the pharmaceutical industry. The end result is safer and more effective drugs for distribution to the general public. To expand the scope of this project, new substrates are currently being synthesized for cross-coupling applications. The overall goal is to improve upon current methodologies, while helping to meet the industrial and academic needs of the future.
Silicon-Based Cross-Coupling Reactions in the Total Synthesis of Natural Products