Ohyun Kwon

Last updated
Ohyun Kwon
Alma mater Seoul National University
Columbia University
Scientific career
Institutions University of California, Los Angeles
Harvard University
Thesis Studies in syntheses of the natural products  (1998)
Doctoral advisor Samuel J. Danishefsky

Ohyun Kwon is a Korean-American chemist who is a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her research considers new methodologies for organic transformations and the development of chiral catalysts.

Contents

Early life and education

Kwon was born in South Korea. She attended the Seoul National University, where she majored in chemistry. [1] She moved to the United States for graduate studies, first joining Columbia University to work in the research group of Samuel J. Danishefsky. [2] [3] Her doctorate considered the synthesis of glycolipid Ganglio-N-tetraosylceramide (asialo GM1). [2] Afterwards, Kwon moved to Harvard University as a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Stuart Schreiber, [4] where she worked on a diversity oriented synthesis of macrocycles and multi-cyclic compounds. [2]

Research and career

Kwon was appointed to the faculty at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2001. Her research considers the development of chiral catalysts, target-oriented synthesis of natural compounds and diversity oriented synthesis of natural-product like molecules. [2] She has explored the activation of the C(sp3)–C(sp2) bond of alkenes that is common in natural products. [2] These can be used for the generation of biologically relevant molecules and total synthesis. Kwon developed organic, phosphine-based catalysts for chemical reactions. She has shown that phosphine-catalysed alleviate annulations can be used to create natural products of medical significance. [2]

Kwon showed that chiral phosphines can be used for asymmetric catalysis, including DIPAMP, DIOP and BINAP. [2] [5] These phosphines include stereogenic phosphorus centres, axial chirality and stereogenic carbon centres. Kwon developed a family of phosphines with stereogenic carbon and phosphorus centres that are available from Sigma-Aldrich. [6] [7]

Awards and honors

Selected publications

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enantiomer</span> Stereoisomers which are non-superposable mirror images of each other

In chemistry, an enantiomer – also called optical isomer, antipode, or optical antipode – is one of two stereoisomers that are non-superposable onto their own mirror image. Enantiomers are much like one's right and left hands; without mirroring one of them, hands cannot be superposed onto each other. No amount of reorientation in three spatial dimensions will allow the four unique groups on the chiral carbon to line up exactly. The number of stereoisomers a molecule has can be determined by the number of chiral carbons it has. Stereoisomers include both enantiomers and diastereomers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chirality (chemistry)</span> Geometric property of some molecules and ions

In chemistry, a molecule or ion is called chiral if it cannot be superposed on its mirror image by any combination of rotations, translations, and some conformational changes. This geometric property is called chirality. The terms are derived from Ancient Greek χείρ (cheir) 'hand'; which is the canonical example of an object with this property.

Organophosphorus chemistry is the scientific study of the synthesis and properties of organophosphorus compounds, which are organic compounds containing phosphorus. They are used primarily in pest control as an alternative to chlorinated hydrocarbons that persist in the environment. Some organophosphorus compounds are highly effective insecticides, although some are extremely toxic to humans, including sarin and VX nerve agents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phosphine oxide</span> Class of chemical compounds

Phosphine oxides are phosphorus compounds with the formula OPX3. When X = alkyl or aryl, these are organophosphine oxides. Triphenylphosphine oxide is an example. An inorganic phosphine oxide is phosphoryl chloride (POCl3).

Organophosphines are organophosphorus compounds with the formula PRnH3−n, where R is an organic substituent. These compounds can be classified according to the value of n: primary phosphines (n = 1), secondary phosphines (n = 2), tertiary phosphines (n = 3). All adopt pyramidal structures. Organophosphines are generally colorless, lipophilic liquids or solids. The parent of the organophosphines is phosphine (PH3).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chiraphos</span> Chemical compound

Chiraphos is a chiral diphosphine employed as a ligand in organometallic chemistry. This bidentate ligand chelates metals via the two phosphine groups. Its name is derived from its description — being both chiral and a phosphine. As a C2-symmetric ligand, chiraphos is available in two enantiomeric forms, S,S and R,R, each with C2 symmetry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DIPAMP</span> Chemical compound

DIPAMP is an organophosphorus compound that is used as a ligand in homogeneous catalysis. It is a white solid that dissolves in organic solvents. Work on this compound by W. S. Knowles was recognized with the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. DIPAMP was the basis for one of the first industrial scale asymmetric hydrogenation, the synthesis of the drug L-DOPA.

Asymmetric hydrogenation is a chemical reaction that adds two atoms of hydrogen to a target (substrate) molecule with three-dimensional spatial selectivity. Critically, this selectivity does not come from the target molecule itself, but from other reagents or catalysts present in the reaction. This allows spatial information to transfer from one molecule to the target, forming the product as a single enantiomer. The chiral information is most commonly contained in a catalyst and, in this case, the information in a single molecule of catalyst may be transferred to many substrate molecules, amplifying the amount of chiral information present. Similar processes occur in nature, where a chiral molecule like an enzyme can catalyse the introduction of a chiral centre to give a product as a single enantiomer, such as amino acids, that a cell needs to function. By imitating this process, chemists can generate many novel synthetic molecules that interact with biological systems in specific ways, leading to new pharmaceutical agents and agrochemicals. The importance of asymmetric hydrogenation in both academia and industry contributed to two of its pioneers — William Standish Knowles and Ryōji Noyori — being awarded one half of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Cyclodiphosphazanes are saturated four membered P2N2 ring systems and one of the major classes of cyclic phosphazene compounds. Bis(chloro)cyclodiphosphazanes, (cis-[ClP(μ-NR)]2) are important starting compounds for synthesizing a variety of cyclodiphosphazane derivatives by nucleophilic substitution reactions; are prepared by reaction of phosphorus trichloride (PCl3) with a primary amine (RNH2) or amine hydrochlorides (RNH3Cl).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metal-phosphine complex</span>

A metal-phosphine complex is a coordination complex containing one or more phosphine ligands. Almost always, the phosphine is an organophosphine of the type R3P (R = alkyl, aryl). Metal phosphine complexes are useful in homogeneous catalysis. Prominent examples of metal phosphine complexes include Wilkinson's catalyst (Rh(PPh3)3Cl), Grubbs' catalyst, and tetrakis(triphenylphosphine)palladium(0).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phosphinooxazolines</span>

Phosphinooxazolines are a class of chiral ligands used in asymmetric catalysis. Their complexes are particularly effective at generating single enatiomers in reactions involving highly symmetric transition states, such as allylic substitutions, which are typically difficult to perform stereoselectively. The ligands are bidentate and have been shown to be hemilabile with the softer P‑donor being more firmly bound than the harder N‑donor.

Hydrophosphination is the insertion of a carbon-carbon multiple bond into a phosphorus-hydrogen bond forming a new phosphorus-carbon bond. Like other hydrofunctionalizations, the rate and regiochemistry of the insertion reaction is influenced by the catalyst. Catalysts take many forms, but most prevalent are bases and free-radical initiators. Most hydrophosphinations involve reactions of phosphine (PH3).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ugi's amine</span> Chemical compound

Ugi’s amine is a chemical compound named for the chemist who first reported its synthesis in 1970, Ivar Ugi. It is a ferrocene derivative. Since its first report, Ugi’s amine has found extensive use as the synthetic precursor to a large number of metal ligands that bear planar chirality. These ligands have since found extensive use in a variety of catalytic reactions. The compound may exist in either the 1S or 1R isomer, both of which have synthetic utility and are commercially available. Most notably, it is the synthetic precursor to the Josiphos class of ligands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phosphoramidite ligand</span>

A phosphoramidite ligand is any phosphorus-based ligand with the general formula P(OR1)(OR2)(NRR'). Chiral versions of these ligands, particularly those derived from the BINOL scaffold, are widely used in enantioselective synthesis. The application of phosphoramidites as effective monodentate ligands for transition metal catalysis was first reported by Dutch chemist Ben Feringa. The introduction of phosphoramidite ligands challenged the notion that high flexibility in the metal–ligand complex is detrimental for high stereocontrol.

In organic chemistry, the Roskamp reaction is a name reaction describing the reaction between α-diazoesters (such as ethyl diazoacetate) and aldehydes to form β-ketoesters, often utilizing various Lewis acids (such as BF3, SnCl2, and GeCl2) as catalysts. The reaction is notable for its mild reaction conditions and selectivity.

A phosphetane is a 4-membered organophosphorus heterocycle. The parent phosphetane molecule, which has the formula C3H7P, is one atom larger than phosphiranes, one smaller than phospholes, and is the heavy-atom analogue of azetidines. The first known phosphetane synthesis was reported in 1957 by Kosolapoff and Struck, but the method was both inefficient and hard to reproduce, with yields rarely exceeding 1%. A far more efficient method was reported in 1962 by McBride, whose method allowed for the first studies into the physical and chemical properties of phosphetanes. Phosphetanes are a well understood class of molecules that have found broad applications as chemical building blocks, reagents for organic/inorganic synthesis, and ligands in coordination chemistry.

<i>P</i>-Chiral phosphine

P-Chiral phosphines are organophosphorus compounds of the formula PRR′R″, where R, R′, R″ = H, alkyl, aryl, etc. They are a subset of chiral phosphines, a broader class of compounds where the stereogenic center can reside at sites other than phosphorus. P-chirality exploits the high barrier for inversion of phosphines, which ensures that enantiomers of PRR'R" do not racemize readily. The inversion barrier is relatively insensitive to substituents for triorganophosphines. By contrast, most amines of the type NRR′R″ undergo rapid pyramidal inversion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vy Maria Dong</span> American chemist

Vy Maria Dong is a Vietnamese-American Chancellor's Professor of Chemistry at the University of California, Irvine (UCI). Dong works on enantioselective catalysis and natural product synthesis. She received the Royal Society of Chemistry's Merck, Sharp & Dohme Award in 2020, the American Chemical Society's Elias James Corey Award in 2019, and the UCI's Distinguished Alumni Award in 2018.

Marisa C. Kozlowski is an American chemist who is Professor of Organic and Catalysis Chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research considers asymmetric synthesis and the development of cost effective catalysts. She was elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2012 and American Chemical Society in 2013.

T.V. (Babu) RajanBabu is an organic chemist who holds the position of Distinguished Professor of Chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences at the Ohio State University. His laboratory traditionally focuses on developing transition metal-catalyzed reactions. RajanBabu is known for helping develop the Nugent-RajanBabu reagent, a chemical reagent used in synthetic organic chemistry as a single electron reductant.

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