# New Methods for the Synthesis and Study of Bioactive Nitrogen-Containing Molecules

> **NIH NIH R01** · DUKE UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $323,082

## Abstract

TITLE
New Methods for the Synthesis and Study of Bioactive Nitrogen-Containing Molecules
PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
The ubiquitous presence of nitrogen atom in small-molecule probes and drugs highlights the significance of
nitrogen-containing molecules in biomedical research and drug discovery. Rapid and efficient synthesis of
structurally diverse nitrogen-containing skeletons is of the utmost importance, as is the ability to understand
their biology, pharmacology and potential as chemical probes and drug candidates. Thus, developing new
methods for the synthesis and study of novel nitrogen-containing molecules is significant and necessary to
advance our understanding of human disease and the discovery of new therapies. The broad availability of
drugs is directly dependent on the existence of cost-efficient methods that can reliably build such novel
molecular structures and uncover their biological activity and therapeutic promise. The long-term goal of our
research is to establish a chemical platform that expedite the synthesis and development of novel small-
molecule probes and tools toward advancing the understanding and treatment of human disease. The
objective of this project is to develop new catalytic selective alkene aminofunctionalization methods that enable
rapid and efficient access to structurally complex and richly functionalized novel nitrogen-containing molecules
from readily available alkene as starting materials. Toward this, this application will exploit the electrophilic
amination strategy based on the unique and diverse reactivity of heteroatom-nitrogen bonds––readily available
yet traditionally underutilized nitrogen precursors––to design new C–N bond formation reactions that are
different but complementary to existing methods. Successful implementation of these studies will greatly
facilitate the synthesis and study of a wide range of nitrogen-containing molecules that are difficult or
impossible to access with current technologies. Lessons learned in reaction engineering for efficacy and
selectivity will be applicable to the invention and development of useful chemical processes, beyond amination
chemistry. Overall, these new abilities are highly valuable and important in organic synthesis, medicinal
chemistry, biomedical research, and drug discovery, by greatly contributing to the expansion of novel chemical
space and diversity of N-containing molecules as well as the discovery of new lead compounds and small-
molecule probes.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10909054
- **Project number:** 5R01GM118786-08
- **Recipient organization:** DUKE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Qiu Wang
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $323,082
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-01-05 → 2025-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10909054

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10909054, New Methods for the Synthesis and Study of Bioactive Nitrogen-Containing Molecules (5R01GM118786-08). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10909054. Licensed CC0.

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