Melanie Sanford

This work describes the dehydrogenation of formamides to isocyanates using PNP-Ru pincer complexes (Figure 1)…

Nucleophilic aromatic fluorination (SNAr) is among the most common methods for the formation of C(_sp2_)–F bonds…

Fluorine chemistry has gained a lot of interest in the agrochemical, material, and pharmaceutical area due to the unique properties fluorine provides to organic molecules…

This presentation will describe our group's recent advances in the design and synthesis of high valent Pd and Ni complexes. These M(III) and M(IV) complexes serve as models for catalytic intermediates in a wide variety of Pd and Ni-catalyzed transformations…

Chemical transformations promoted by bimetallic systems are abundant in nature and catalytic processes…

Herein we report the development of palladium-catalyzed aryl difluoromethylation via a decarbonylative cross-coupling reaction between commercially aviailable difluoroacetyl fluoride and aryl boronate esters…

Introducing 11CN and 11CO into arenes at a late stage has gained significant recent attention as a powerful tool for radiotracer development for Positron Emission Tomography (PET). The use of first-row transition metal mediators, such as Cu, is of particular interest because of their low toxicity…

Late-stage introduction of 18F and 11C into arenes is of importance in radiotracer development for positron emission tomography (PET)…

Late-stage cross-coupling of arenes with K11CN and 11CO is important for the production of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging reagents. Due to the short half-life of carbon-11 (~20 min), rapid coupling methods are necessary for this application…

The incorporation of 8-aminoquinoline (8AQ) directing groups on organic substrates has proven to be an attractive strategy for the functionalization of arenes and aryl-halides in transition metal catalysis, particularly in reactions which suffer from poor regioselectivity or difficult oxidative add…

This presentation will describe lessons learned from Bob Grubbs and his impacts on my independent research program and mentoring…

In recent years, biologically active pharmaceutical and agrochemical products contain heteroatom-CF3 motifs. Especially common is the S(O)2CF3 motif, where n = 0,1,2. However, there are very few industrially relevant methods for accessing this motif and no mechanistic studies…

This talk will describe the development of metal catalyzed reactions for carbon-fluorine bond formation for applications in the synthesis of biologically active molecules and medical imaging agents…

Multidentate LX-type ligands are often used to stabilize reactive aryl-Cu bonds, particularly in the Cu(II) and Cu(III) oxidation states; however, these stabilizing ligands often lack direct translation to organic substrates seen in catalysis…

The C-H activation mechanism of Ni(II) with an aminoquinoline supported directing group, has been proposed to proceed through either Ni(III) or Ni(IV) organometallic intermediates…

Organometallic intermediates in Ni-catalyzed C–H activation of benzamides have been isolated. These Ni(II) metallacycles react stoichiometrically with 1- and 2-electron oxidants to afford isolable high-valent Ni species and diverse functionalization…

In recent years, biologically active pharmaceutical and agrochemical products contain heteroatom-CF3 motifs. Especially common is the S(O)2CF3 motif, where n = 0,1,2. However, there are very few industrially relevant methods for accessing this motif and no mechanistic studies…

This talk will describe the development of metal catalyzed reactions for carbon-fluorine bond formation for applications in the synthesis of biologically active molecules and medical imaging agents…

Arenes and anhydrides are utilized in a metal-catalyzed decarbonylative cross-coupling reaction. This C–H arylation reaction provides access to diverse biaryl products…

Cyclopropenium salts are presented as efficient redox mediators for anodic fluorination. Redox mediators act as soluble electrodes for electrochemical synthesis, limiting electrode fouling and overoxidation of electron-rich substrates…

Palladium-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura cross-couplings are widely employed reactions for the synthesis of complex biaryl molecules, including pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals…

Copper-mediated radiolabeling reactions are state-of-the-art methodologies for radiolabeling aromatic organic molecules for PET imaging…

Aryl-fluoroalkyl sulfur bonds are underexplored, especially in medchem where their potenial theraputic effects are hampered by a lack of mild, generic, and inexpensive syntheses…

Organic redox flow batteries are an energy storage technology that utilize reversible redox reactions and are promising for large scale green energy storage…

This presentation will describe the develpment and applications of modular photo- and electro-catalysts for organic transformations, including arene C-H amination, oxidatively-induced nucleophilic aromatic substitution, and alkene functionalization…

Cyclometallated intermediates in the Pd-mediated C–H activation of cubane have been isolated. Variables such as the directing group and Pd source were identified as essential for the isolation of C-H activated cubane species at palladium…

Cubane and cuneane derivatives have emerged as attractive benzene bioisosteres due to their similarity in size and potential to enhance the physicochemical properties of drug candidates…

Aromatic carbon–nitrogen bonds are ubiquitous in natural products, agrochemicals, and pharmaceuticals. As such, there has been a notable focus on developing synthetic approaches to form aryl amines…

Aromatic carbon–nitrogen bonds are ubiquitous in natural products, agrochemicals, and pharmaceuticals. As such, there has been a notable focus on developing synthetic approaches to form aryl amines…

Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging is the use of radiotracers for labeling molecules to visualize biological processes such as diagnosing and tracking progression of diseases…

Aryl boronate esters (ArBPin) are common starting materials for copper-mediated radiofluorination (CMRF) reactions…

The introduction of carbon-11 into organic molecules represents a dominant strategy in delivering novel radiopharmaceuticals for Positron Emission Tomography (PET)…