Seminar on the Rational Design of Photoactive Catalyst-Substrate Complexes

The Rose Mercadante Chemistry and Biochemistry Seminar Series is pleased to present a seminar by Professor Jeffery Lipshultz from Stony Brook University entitled “Synthetic Methods Enabled by the Rational Design of Photoactive Catalyst-Substrate Complexes.” 

The seminar will be held from 5:45 - 7 p.m., Tuesday, April 7, in the Science and Technology Center (McNulty Hall), Helen Lerner Amphitheater, Room SC 101. Refreshments are available at 5:30 p.m. in SC 108.

Jeffery Lipshultz, Ph.D., was born in New York City and raised in North Jersey. He received an A.B. in Chemistry from Harvard College, where he worked in Professor Andrew Myers' lab. Lipshultz earned his Ph.D. with Professor David MacMillan at Princeton University, where he worked on the development of reactions using metallaphotoredox catalysis and the total synthesis of oligomeric polypyrroloindoline natural products. He conducted postdoctoral research as an Environmental Chemistry Fellow, supported by the Dreyfus Foundation, under the supervision of Professor Alexander Radosevich at MIT, developing new reaction methods employing organophosphorus catalysis. Lipshultz is currently an Assistant Professor at Stony Brook. His work has been supported by many funding agencies, including an NIH NIGMS Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA), as well as collaborations with Merck.

Seminar Abstract:

Photocatalysis typically employs a discrete, photoactive species which can repeatedly access a photoexcited state and then transfer its chemical potential energy (via electron or energy transfer) to a substrate of interest. In our work, we instead rationally design catalysts to engage productively with substrates to generate photoactive catalyst-substrate complexes, whereby excitation and substrate activation occurs simultaneously, engendering new types of selectivity and catalyst control. Within this conceptual framework, we have developed a platform for biomimetic organocatalysis inspired by the enzymatic chemistry of Vitamin B6 for the decarboxylative functionalization of amino acids. Separately, we have adapted a synthetically underappreciated Vit B6 reactivity paradigm for amino acid homologation. In a disparate research thrust, we have employed a variety of discrete complexes of Ti(IV) as catalysts via ligand-to-metal charge-transfer (LMCT) excitation for the generation, exploitation, and control of heteroatom-centered radicals, whereby catalyst structure and electronics are tuned to optimize and dictate reaction outcomes.

The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Seton Hall University offers B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees with specializations in all areas of chemistry. The department's unique research environment, including both traditional full-time and part-time students, is designed to foster collaborations with industry and colleagues in other disciplines.

Categories: Research, Science and Technology