New Catalysis Concepts for Molecular Design and Feedstocks Valorization

The discovery and preparation of important molecules rely on the synthetic chemist's ability to valorize common feedstock materials, such as petroleum or biomass. Key to this endeavor is the design of efficient methods to introduce, remove or interconvert functional groups. Our group has a longstanding interest in developing conceptually novel catalytic reactions for the installation of unprotected amines, the selective activation of C–O bonds (in polyols) and the transfer (shuttle) or exchange (metathesis) of functionalities between two molecules. This account describes representative examples from our group in these different research areas.