We are Electrify-It (EI), a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network focused on the implementation of electrochemical and electro-photocatalytic methodologies in organic synthesis.
The EI consortium will serve as a platform to address the development of more sustainable processes, as it drastically reduces the use of reagents, such as oxidizing or reducing agents, by directly utilizing electrons without generating byproducts, thereby minimizing the environmental impact of those processes.
This first objective follows to contribute to the identification of electrochemistry as a solid alternative for the synthesis of key organic molecules at every level of synthesis, regarding not only academic research laboratories but becoming a plausible alternative for industries. Thus, this first objective will tackle the study of new systems for the preparation of relevant nitrogen heterocycles to establish new sustainable synthetic routes towards such interesting building blocks, the development of new sustainable C-H activation processes harnessing the potential of Earth-abundant 3d transition metals and the implementation of asymmetric transformations using organic catalyst.
Taking advantage of the potential of combining light and electricity in the same process, our goal is the development of different approaches to prepare biologically relevant structures. We will study alkylation reaction through the formation of α-amino radicals for the preparation of aminoacids. We will expand this alkylation reaction to aza-arenes that can be further involved in a photochemical transformation, affording highly functionalized structures. In addition, the development of a skeletal mutation methodology for N-insertion into -tetralones to generate azepin-1-ones, leveraging platforms for electron transfer (photocatalysis, anodic oxidation) will be addressed.
In the last objective, we will
explore the use of organometallic species and functionalized electrodes to develop organic transformations in
order to expand the applicability and utility of electrochemistry. We will explore the untapped potential of
bismuth for the development of innovative, green and sustainable methods to produce high value organic
compounds, including pharmaceuticals and new materials. In addition, we will prepare robust functional
electrocatalytic materials through a deposition technique to enable efficient and selective reductive activation
and functionalization of strong polarized σ-bonds with a focus on C-O, C-S and C-F bonds via carbon-centered
radicals.
The Electrify It project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 101226468.