신광민 연구실

Compared with precious metals, first-row transition metals offer important advantages in terms of earth abundance and sustainability. Our research focuses on developing new transition-metal hydride catalytic reactions based on first-row metals, particularly cobalt, nickel, and copper. Through these efforts, we aim to develop new synthetic methods that transform abundant and readily available olefin feedstocks into diverse value-added compounds. Asymmetric synthesis has become an essential tool in the preparation of pharmaceuticals, natural products, and functional materials. Developing new catalytic methods that enable previously difficult or inaccessible stereoselective transformations is therefore of great importance. Our research focuses on chiral transition-metal hydride catalysis to develop new asymmetric hydrofunctionalization reactions of olefins, providing efficient access to valuable chiral molecules. Although organic electrochemistry has been known for more than a century, it has recently re-emerged as a powerful strategy that offers new opportunities to reshape conventional paradigms in organic synthesis. Our research integrates electrochemical oxidation with transition-metal hydride catalysis to develop new synthetic transformations. In particular, we aim to develop oxidative olefin hydrofunctionalization reactions that enable the use of a broad range of nucleophiles that are otherwise difficult to engage in conventional transition-metal hydride catalysis. Fluorinated compounds are widespread in pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals, as the incorporation of fluorine can impart unique properties, such as enhanced lipophilicity, to organic molecules. Accordingly, the number of fluorine-containing small molecules among FDA-approved drugs has steadily increased. The