Helen Fiona Sneddon | |
---|---|
Alma mater | University of Cambridge |
Scientific career | |
Institutions | GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals University of California, Irvine University of York |
Thesis | The application of [beta-keto dithianes in natural product synthesis] (2005) |
Doctoral advisor | Steven V. Ley |
Helen Sneddon is a British chemist who is Professor of Sustainable Chemistry and Director of the Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence at the University of York. Her research looks to identify sustainable synthetic strategies, including alternatives to carbon-halogen bonds and ways to make chemical products more robust.
Sneddon was an undergraduate student at the University of Cambridge, where she worked alongside Steven V. Ley. After earning her doctorate, Sneddon was supported by a Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 fellowship to move to the University of California, Irvine, where she worked on asymmetric synthesis of palladium(II) compounds. [1]
Sneddon spent most of her career at GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals, where she first worked in medicinal chemistry. She became interested in sustainable processes and expanding their "green" chemistry activity. [2] She established the Green Chemistry group at GSK, which she has led since 2011. During this campaign she reduced the use of chlorinated solvents at GSK by >50%, which involved advocacy, education and investigations into the properties of replacement solvents. She devised new strategies to improve sustainability in the design of new drugs, including finding a replacement for toxic reaction media and reagents. [1]
Sneddon was made Director of the Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence at the University of York in 2022. [3] [1] In 2024, she helped to establish the Doctoral Training Centre focussed on Chemical Synthesis for a Healthy Planet. [4]
In organic chemistry, thioesters are organosulfur compounds with the molecular structure R−C(=O)−S−R’. They are analogous to carboxylate esters with the sulfur in the thioester replacing oxygen in the carboxylate ester, as implied by the thio- prefix. They are the product of esterification of a carboxylic acid with a thiol. In biochemistry, the best-known thioesters are derivatives of coenzyme A, e.g., acetyl-CoA. The R and R' represent organyl groups, or H in the case of R.
Green chemistry, similar to sustainable chemistry or circular chemistry, is an area of chemistry and chemical engineering focused on the design of products and processes that minimize or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances. While environmental chemistry focuses on the effects of polluting chemicals on nature, green chemistry focuses on the environmental impact of chemistry, including lowering consumption of nonrenewable resources and technological approaches for preventing pollution.
Organic synthesis is a branch of chemical synthesis concerned with the construction of organic compounds. Organic compounds are molecules consisting of combinations of covalently-linked hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen atoms. Within the general subject of organic synthesis, there are many different types of synthetic routes that can be completed including total synthesis, stereoselective synthesis, automated synthesis, and many more. Additionally, in understanding organic synthesis it is necessary to be familiar with the methodology, techniques, and applications of the subject.
The Appel reaction is an organic reaction that converts an alcohol into an alkyl chloride using triphenylphosphine and carbon tetrachloride. The use of carbon tetrabromide or bromine as a halide source will yield alkyl bromides, whereas using carbon tetraiodide, methyl iodide or iodine gives alkyl iodides. The reaction is credited to and named after Rolf Appel, it had however been described earlier. The use of this reaction is becoming less common, due to carbon tetrachloride being restricted under the Montreal protocol.
The Mitsunobu reaction is an organic reaction that converts an alcohol into a variety of functional groups, such as an ester, using triphenylphosphine and an azodicarboxylate such as diethyl azodicarboxylate (DEAD) or diisopropyl azodicarboxylate (DIAD). Although DEAD and DIAD are most commonly used, there are a variety of other azodicarboxylates available which facilitate an easier workup and/or purification and in some cases, facilitate the use of more basic nucleophiles. It was discovered by Oyo Mitsunobu (1934–2003). In a typical protocol, one dissolves the alcohol, the carboxylic acid, and triphenylphosphine in tetrahydrofuran or other suitable solvent, cool to 0 °C using an ice-bath, slowly add the DEAD dissolved in THF, then stir at room temperature for several hours. The alcohol reacts with the phosphine to create a good leaving group then undergoes an inversion of stereochemistry in classic SN2 fashion as the nucleophile displaces it. A common side-product is produced when the azodicarboxylate displaces the leaving group instead of the desired nucleophile. This happens if the nucleophile is not acidic enough or is not nucleophilic enough due to steric or electronic constraints. A variation of this reaction utilizing a nitrogen nucleophile is known as a Fukuyama–Mitsunobu.
The Delépine reaction is the organic synthesis of primary amines (4) by reaction of benzyl or alkyl halides (1) with hexamethylenetetramine (2) followed by acid hydrolysis of the quaternary ammonium salt (3). It is named after the French chemist Stéphane Marcel Delépine (1871–1965).
tert-Amyl methyl ether (TAME) is an ether used as a fuel oxygenate. TAME derives from C5 distillation fractions of naphtha. It has an ethereous odor. Unlike most ethers, it does not require a stabilizer as it does not form peroxides on storage.
Cyclopentyl methyl ether (CPME), also known as methoxycyclopentane, is hydrophobic ether solvent. A high boiling point of 106 °C (223 °F) and preferable characteristics such as low formation of peroxides, relative stability under acidic and basic conditions, formation of azeotropes with water coupled with a narrow explosion range render CPME an attractive alternative to other ethereal solvents such as tetrahydrofuran (THF), 2-methyltetrahydrofuran (2-MeTHF), dioxane, and 1,2-dimethoxyethane (DME).
Dihydrolevoglucosenone (Cyrene) is a bicyclic, chiral, seven-membered heterocyclic cycloalkanone which is a waste derived and fully biodegradable aprotic dipolar solvent. It is an environmentally friendly alternative to dimethylformamide (DMF) and N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP).
Francesca M. Kerton is a green chemist and Professor of Chemistry at Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada.
Tomislav Friščić holds the Leverhulme International Professorship and Chair in Green and Sustainable chemistry at the University of Birmingham. His research focus is at the interface of green chemistry and materials science, developing solvent-free chemistry and mechanochemistry for the cleaner, efficient synthesis of molecules and materials, including organic solids such as pharmaceutical cocrystals, coordination polymers and Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs), and a wide range of organic targets such as active pharmaceutical ingredients. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), member of the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists of the Royal Society of Canada and a corresponding member of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts. He has served on the Editorial Board of CrystEngComm, the Early Career Board of the ACS journal ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, and was an Associate Editor for the journal Molecular Crystals & Liquid Crystals as well as for the journal Synthesis. He was a Topic Editor and Social Media Editor, and is currently a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the journal Crystal Growth & Design published by the American Chemical Society (ACS). He famously has a dog named Zizi.
The Stahl oxidation is a copper-catalyzed aerobic oxidation of primary and secondary alcohols to aldehydes and ketones. Known for its high selectivity and mild reaction conditions, the Stahl oxidation offers several advantages over classical alcohol oxidations.
Jennifer "Jenni" A. Garden is a UKRI Future Leaders Fellow in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh, where she leads a research group investigating how catalyst design and organometallic chemistry can be used to develop sustainable and degradable plastics using renewable sources.
Kay Michille Brummond is an American synthetic chemist who is Professor of Chemistry and Associate Dean of Faculty at the University of Pittsburgh. Her interests consider cycloaddition reactions that can realise molecules and natural products for organic photovoltaics and targeted covalent inhibitors. She was elected a Fellow of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in 2010, a Fellow of the AAAS in 2021, and awarded the ACS National Award for Encouraging Women into Careers in the Chemical Sciences in 2021.
Shu Yang is a Chinese-American materials scientist who is the Joseph Bordogna Professor of Engineering and Applied Science and Chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, American Physical Society, National Academy of Inventors and Materials Research Society.
Jennifer Schomaker is an American chemist who is a professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Her research considers the total synthesis of natural and unnatural products. She was selected as an American Chemical Society Arthur C. Cope Scholar Awardee in 2021.
James Mack is an American chemist and a professor of chemistry at the University of Cincinnati, also currently the Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at the same university since the summer of 2023.
Janet L. Scott was a South African chemist who was Professor of Sustainable Chemistry at the University of Bath. She also worked as the Director of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council Centre for Doctoral Training in Sustainable Chemical Technologies.
Alison Wendlandt is an American chemist who is an assistant professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her research considers the development of catalysts for organic synthesis.
Green solvents are environmentally friendly chemical solvents that are used as a part of green chemistry. They came to prominence in 2015, when the UN defined a new sustainability-focused development plan based on 17 sustainable development goals, recognizing the need for green chemistry and green solvents for a more sustainable future. Green solvents are developed as more environmentally friendly solvents, derived from the processing of agricultural crops or otherwise sustainable methods as alternatives to petrochemical solvents. Some of the expected characteristics of green solvents include ease of recycling, ease of biodegradation, and low toxicity.