Research Overview
It was with Friedrich Wöhler that synthetic organic chemistry became a new alias of the heresy that could disprove the clichéd notion of the Vitalism Theory - where creation of all organic molecules was presumed to be from life itself. Since then, organic chemistry rose to a height of divine prowess as naturally important molecules could be independently prepared in an artificial setting within a chemical lab. Such a drastic development was further expedited by the meteoric emergence of catalytic chemistry. In this regard, site selective C-H activation has emerged as a most economical and efficient technology, that direct fascinating chemical transformations at phenomenal success rates with an impressive array of a high order of regio and chemo selectivity under ambient conditions.
At IIT Bombay, we specialize in the regioselective transformation of C-X bonds via a plethora of functionalization/defunctionalization pathways through metal catalyzed chemical processes. Our group currently focuses on
2. Bioinspired Catalysis: Mimicking the enzymatic active site and thus their functions
3. Heterocyclic Chemistry: Metal mediated diverse method development for pharmaceuticals
4. Quantum Dots (QD) Photoredox Catalysis: Development of recyclable heterogenous photocatalytic system
5. Lignin Valorization: Improving Lignin Processing by Catalysis
6. Metal Mediated Defunctionalization: Removal of functional groups from organic molecules
Ligand-Enabled Pd(II)-Catalyzed Iterative γ-C(sp3)-H Arylation of Free Aliphatic Acid
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2019 (ASAP)