Dr. Eloísa Serrano successfully defended her Thesis. Congratulations!

Eloísa Serrano, PhD student under the supervision of Prof. Rubén Martín (ICIQ), has defended her PhD Thesis entitled “Amide Formation via Ni-Catalyzed Reductive Coupling Reactions with Isocyanates” (assigned to the department of Analytical & Organic Chemistry of the Universitat Rovira i Virgili) publicly in May the 30th at the ICIQ Auditorium.

The members of the evaluation committee were: Prof. Miquel Costas- Universitat de Girona (UdG), Spain; Dr. Pablo Mauleón – Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM), Spain; Prof. Clément Mazet – University of Geneva, Switzerland.

Prof. Clément Mazet and supervisor Prof. Rubén Martín on the left. Prof. Miquel Costas at the centre. Dr. Eloísa Serrano and Dr. Pablo Mauleón on the right of the image.

Abstract

The ubiquity of amides in biologically active molecules and synthetic materials continually prompts the design of novel methods for amide synthesis. This doctoral thesis focuses on the development of new Ni-catalyzed reductive protocols for the synthesis of amides via C–C bond formation. The methodologies developed herein start from different electrophiles in combination with isocyanates, which serve as amide synthons, to afford aliphatic amides or acrylamides under mild conditions and with high chemo- and regioselectivity.