Prof. Ruben Martin

Catalytic activation of naturally-occurring linkages is of utmost relevance in synthetic organic endeavors, as it offers the opportunity to rapidly and reliably access added-value chemicals from simple, yet abundant, precursors. Our group has focused its attention on harnessing the potential of earth-abundant nickel catalysts for streamlining the access to molecules of interest in both academic and pharmaceutical laboratories. The popularity of these processes is mainly attributed to the unique features of nickel when compared to its d10 congeners, and the promiscuity of nickel to participate in multiple redox manifolds. Among these methods, our group has shown the ability for incorporating carbon dioxide (CO2) into organic matter or catalytic techniques that make use of simple (un)saturated hydrocarbons or native functionality to build up molecular complexity from simple precursors without losing sight their mechanistic considerations, when appropriate. These methods are characterized by their simplicity, wide substrate scope, including challenging substrate combinations with particularly sensitive functional groups, even in the context of late-stage diversification of drug-type candidates.