# Ti-Catalyzed Nitrene Transfer Reactions

> **NIH NIH R35** · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · 2020 · $372,182

## Abstract

Project Summary
 The goal of this proposal is to design new Ti-catalyzed oxidative nitrene transfer reactions to rapidly,
modularly, and selectively assemble pyrrole derivatives and difunctionalize alkynes. The rationale for
developing Ti-catalyzed nitrene transfer is that Ti is earth-abundant and generally biocompatible, which
obviates the need for efficient catalyst removal and recovery in fine chemical synthesis. Furthermore, early
transition metals can often access different structures and elementary reaction steps than late transition metals,
opening up new bond forming strategies that may be complementary or orthogonal to existing technology.
 The first phase of research concerns developing generalizable [2+2+1] pyrrole syntheses from alkynes and
diazenes that are chemo- and regioselective. Using preliminary data gained in our laboratory on Ti-catalyzed
[2+2+1] reactions, we will explore empirical catalyst and substrate effects on regioselectivity, use kinetic and
mechanistic insight to design new catalyst systems with improved selectivity and milder reaction conditions,
and engineer systems for the efficient, selective, and modular production of high value bioactive targets such
as the statin Lipitor.
 The second phase of the proposed research will expand upon our mechanistic understanding of [2+2+1]
pyrrole catalysis and other preliminary results from our laboratory to design related Ti-catalyzed tandem bond
forming reactions that incorporate different unsaturated coupling partners. This phase will result in catalytic
methods for the synthesis of other N-heterocycles from simple alkyne starting materials and for the oxidative
difunctionalization of alkynes.
 Relevance to public health. Nitrogen heterocycles constitute the single most prevalent class of functional
groups in FDA-approved small-molecule drugs: 59% of all unique small molecule drugs contain at least one N-
heterocycle. Pyrroles care an important class within this group, and have broad bioactivity. Although many
multicomponent reactions to form pyrroles exist, the development of a general synthetic method remains an
unmet challenge due to the unique reactivity profile of the pyrrole unit. By designing general methods to
pyrroles and related heterocycles, synthetic chemists will have rapid and convergent access to diverse and
novel molecular architectures and building blocks that will ultimately allow for widespread distribution of new
small molecule drug-like architectures to the biomedical community

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9942421
- **Project number:** 5R35GM119457-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
- **Principal Investigator:** Ian Albert Tonks
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $372,182
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-09-01 → 2021-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9942421

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9942421, Ti-Catalyzed Nitrene Transfer Reactions (5R35GM119457-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9942421. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*