Mechanochemical Activation of Inert Chemical Bonds

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Carsten Bolm
• Subject Area: Organic Molecular Chemistry - Synthesis and Characterisation
• Term: from 2018 to 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 392103996

• Final Report Year: 2022

Final Report Abstract

In this collaborative research project with Professor Shi from Fudan University in Shanghai, China, we aimed at developing a mechanochemical approach towards protoberberine alkaloids. The solution-based strategies had proven difficult, and we now focused on solvent-free metal-catalyzed C–H-bond functionalization processes in ball mills. Facing similar difficulties as in solution, we finally succeeded in obtaining a representative product although in only very low yield. As the project proceeded, additional questions (including those related to catalytic activities of trace metals and in-situ analytical methods for mechanistic studies) became relevant, and those will now gain priority in subsequent research targets.

Publications

• The use of copper and vanadium mineral ores in catalysed mechanochemical carbon–carbon bond formations. ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2020, 8, 7262–7266
  F. Puccetti, C. Schumacher, H. Wotruba, J. Hernández, C. Bolm
  (See online at https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c02447)
• Mechanistic Insights on the Mechanosynthesis of Phenytoin, a WHO Essential Medicine. Chem. Eur. J. 2022, 28, e202104409
  F. Puccetti, S. Lukin, K. Užarević, E. Colacino, I. Halasz, C. Bolm, J. G. Hernández
  (See online at https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.202104409)