Research Projects

The study aims to synthesize important molecules like polycycles, macrocycles, and cyclophanes using transition metal-catalyzed reactions. The goal is to develop efficient and atom-economical methods using environmentally benign and less expensive catalysts like FeCl3. The iron-catalyzed carbonyl-alkyne-metathesis and carbonyl-olefin metathesis reactions are particularly efficient for making C=C bonds. The ferrocene skeleton is identified as an important unit in the synthetic sequences, with simple ferrocene derivatives acting as key building blocks for functionalization using transition-metal-catalyzed reactions like Heck, Sonogashira, Suzuki–Miyaura cross-coupling reactions, and Buchwald‒Hartwig coupling. The resulting key precursors will be studied in Lewis acid-catalyzed ring-closing carbonyl-alkyne-metathesis, ring-closing carbonyl-olefin metathesis, and base-mediated carbonyl-allene metathesis reactions for the generation of various polycyclic and macrocyclic frameworks. The newly generated ferrocene-based macrocycles can be used for SAR studies due to their medicinal use. The study also explores the formation of functionalized β-carboline analogs, starting with the corresponding bromo/iodo derivatives. The halogen-containing β-carboline derivatives are used as building blocks for functionalizing them using transition-metal-catalyzed reactions. The resulting key precursors can be used in Lewis acid-catalyzed ring-closing carbonyl-alkyne-metathesis, carbonyl-olefin metathesis, and base-mediated carbonyl-allene metathesis reactions for the construction of higher analogs of β-carboline. Higher analogs of β-carboline can deliver "drug-like" molecules, which can be used for SAR studies.