Congratulations Dr. Zárate!

Cayetana Zárate, PhD student under the supervision of Prof. Rubén Martín (ICIQ), has defended her PhD Thesis entitled
“C-Heteroatom Bond Formation via Ni-catalyzed C-O Bond Cleavage”‘ (assigned to the Organic and Analytical Chemistry Department of the Universitat Rovira i Virgili) publicly on January 27th at the ICIQ Auditorium.

The members of the evaluation committee were: Prof. José María Lassaletta (Universidad de Sevilla), Prof. Mariola Tortosa (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid) and Prof. Mamoru Tobisu (Osaka University)

Dr. Zárate with her supervisor, Prof. Martín and the evaluation committee.

Abstract

In recent years, phenol derivatives have emerged as powerful alternatives to aryl halides as coupling partners in cross-coupling reactions due to their relative lack of toxicity and widespread availability. Despite the significant advances achieved, the vast majority of C–O bond cleavage methodologies involves the use of particularly activated functionalities, such as triflates, whereas unactivated aryl esters or ethers have been mainly employed in limited C–C bond-forging processes. These doctoral studies have been focused on methods to achieve the formation of C–heteroatom bonds, namely C–Si and C–B bonds, by means of Ni-catalyzed activation of these unconventional C–O electrophiles.