DEVELOPMENT OF NEW STRATEGIES IN PHOSPHINE CATALYSIS

Abstract

After decades of development, phosphine catalysis has become a very powerful toolbox for chemists to build cyclic structures mainly focused on 5- and 6-membered rings. However, there are still many limitations and challenges, such as general protocols for the construction of medium to large size rings, and the limited practical applications in natural products and drug discovery. These limitations stem from the intrinsic reaction modes and the type of activated species in phosphine catalysis. These bottlenecks of phosphine catalysis have obviated its generality and practicability. In this thesis, I aim to provide new strategies to overcome these limitations through the design of more active regents and novel bi-functional catalysts, thereby bringing phosphine catalysis to a new avenue.