Paper published in Helv. Chim. Acta

Our latest paper was published online in Helvetica Chimica Acta in a special edition in honour of Prof Dieter Seebach’s 75th birthday. The paper describes the use of a new chiral vinylsulfonium salt for the synthesis of epoxide and aziridine-fused heterocycles. The method was applied to a synthesis of the core of the mitomycin class of antibiotics. This work was carried out in collaboration with Prof Varinder Aggarwal, Sven Fritz, Zulfiquar Ali and Dr Matt Unthank at the University of Bristol.

We thank EPSRC and the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan for funding.

The paper can be read (with a subscription) at the following link:

Helv. Chim. Acta 2012, 95, 2384; DOI: 10.1002/hlca.201200455

Paper published online in Organic Letters

Our latest paper was published online in Organic Lettters as an ‘as soon as possible’ article. The paper describes the use of trifluoromethyl-substituted vinylsulfonium salts for the synthesis of saturated heterocycles containing the CF₃ group. The epoxide-fused heterocycles are expected to be of interest to medicinal chemists in particular. This work was carried out in collaboration with Prof Varinder Aggarwal, Sven Fritz and Tom West at the University of Bristol. We thank EPSRC and SFI for funding.

The paper can be read (with a subscription) at the following link:

Organic Letters 2012, asap; DOI: 10.1021/ol303200n

Don’t have a subscription? email Eoghan for an electronic preprint:

(eoghan_dot_mcgarrigle_at_ucd_dot_ie).

Paper published online in Angew Chem

Our latest paper was published online today in Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. as an early view paper. The paper describes an organocatalytic method for forming disaccharides containing a 2-deoxy monosaccharide from galactals. Just 1 mol% of a thiourea catalyst is required for this highly efficient and stereoselective method. This work was carried out in collaboration with Dr Camen Galan and Ed Balmond at the University of Bristol, as well as Dr Diane Coe at GSK. Special congratulations to Ed (pictured). This is the first publication arising from his PhD research in Bristol. Ed is co-funded by GSK and the EPSRC-funded Bristol Chemical Synthesis Doctoral Training Centre.

The paper can be read (with a subscription) at the following links:

Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2012, early view; DOI: 10.1002/anie.201204505

Angew. Chem. 2012, early view; DOI: 10.1002/ange.201204505 [in German]

Azetidine paper published in Synthesis

Our latest paper has been published online in Synthesis. The article describes a new method for the synthesis of azetidines using bromoethyldiphenylsulfonium triflate. Azetidines are attracting a lot of attention from medicinal chemists at the moment.

Synthesis 2012, e-first. Sven P. Fritz, Juan F. Moya, Matthew G. Unthank, Eoghan M. McGarrigle*, Varinder K. Aggarwal* — ‘An Efficient Synthesis of Azetidines with (2-Bromoethyl)sulfonium Triflate.’ DOI: 10.1055/s-0031-1290951

Congratulations to the whole team involved in this paper. Pictured is Sven who bought the drinks for the lab party to celebrate this publication!