The manner in which Nature carries out organic synthesis is truly remarkable. From the standpoint of environmental responsibility, bonds are made in water, under mild conditions, and oftentimes using metal catalysts with amounts at the ppm level, or below! Indeed, with millions of years of “experience” to its credit, Nature is the perfect model. But since modern organic synthesis continues to be done for the most part in organic solvents, the “new rules” associated with doing chemistry in water at ambient temperatures have yet to be established, and to be used broadly for synthetic gain. Nonetheless, hints are accumulating that real synthetic advances are to be anticipated, in addition to the payoff that such chemistry is green, and waste generation, by definition, is minimized. Several examples (<i>e.g.,</i> “nano-to-nano” see below) of new processes of considerable value in organic synthesis will be discussed, along with specific cases illustrating these “new rules”, only operable under aqueous conditions, applied to making a variety of C-C, C-H, and C-heteroatom bond constructions.

<b>Award Address</b> (Herbert C. Brown Award for Creative Research in Synthetic Methods sponsored by the Purdue Borane Research Fund & the Herbert C. Brown Award Endowment). Betting on nature: Making the switch to environmentally responsible synthetic organic chemistry in water

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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Award Address (Herbert C. Brown Award for Creative Research in Synthetic Methods sponsored by the Purdue Borane Research Fund & the Herbert C. Brown Award Endowment). Betting on nature: Making the switch to environmentally responsible synthetic organic chemistry in water