Song Lin
Cornell University, NY·Chemistry
Bonds between two nitrogen atoms (N–N bonds) appear in many useful molecules, including natural products, medicines, agrochemicals and polymer materials. Yet chemists have few good ways to make them, which limits the kinds of N–N compounds that can be built.
- Fields
Chemistry
- Topics
N–N bond formation
nitrogen-nitrogen coupling
hypervalent iodine
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through May 2028
What they work on
- Develop hypervalent iodine reagents carrying labile ligands that selectively couple two unactivated aliphatic amines to form N–N bonds.
- Expand N–N coupling beyond amides, imines and arylamines to amines from feedstock chemicals and natural compounds, enabling modular assembly of N–N-containing molecules.
- Apply the new N–N coupling reactions to synthesize natural products, medicinal agents and photoresponsive (light-responsive) materials.
More about the research
A simple strategy would be to join two nitrogen-containing pieces directly. Existing coupling methods, however, mostly work only on amides, imines or arylamines. Joining ordinary aliphatic amines, which are plentiful in feedstock chemicals and natural compounds, has remained out of reach.
Why it matters
A simple, modular way to join two amines through an N–N bond could make it easier to prepare drugs, agrochemicals and light-responsive materials that contain this bond. Chemists in medicinal and materials research could gain access to N–N compounds that current methods cannot readily produce.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Viktor Zhdankin
University of Minnesota-Duluth, MN·Chemistry
Develop pseudocyclic arylbenziodoxaboroles, iodine–boron compounds, as benzyne precursors and as efficient electrophilic arylating reagents that work under neutral, aqueous conditions.
Tomislav Rovis
Columbia University, NY·Chemistry
Develop reactions that build nitrogen-containing rings (heterocycles) directly from simple feedstocks such as alkenes and alkanes, forming carbon–carbon and carbon–nitrogen bonds in one step without later manipulation.
Ramesh Giri
Pennsylvania State University, PA·Chemistry
Develop transition-metal-catalyzed difunctionalization of alkenes bearing simple functional groups, using a dual ligand system of electron-deficient alkenes and organic nitriles to stabilize intermediates and promote C(sp3)–C(sp3) bond formation.
The school
Cornell University: 37 labs on PI Pages, $1.6B a year on research, 537 research doctorates a year.
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