Byoungmoo Kim
Clemson University, SC·Chemistry
Alcohols and carboxylic acids are cheap, stable and widely available chemicals. Converting them directly into drug-like molecules could open new chemical space for drug discovery.
- Fields
Chemistry
- Topics
organic synthesis
synthetic methodology
asymmetric synthesis
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Aug 2030
What they work on
- Develop one-step, stereospecific and site-selective deoxygenative amination of alcohols, replacing the C–O bond with free amines or nitrogen-containing rings, using a sulfonyl fluoride reagent that reacts through SuFEx click chemistry.
- Use the same SuFEx-based C–O activation to install perfluoroalkyl groups, carbon chains fully coated in fluorine, into alcohols with predictable stereochemistry.
- Develop enantioselective, base-metal-catalyzed reactions that replace both C–O bonds of a carboxylic acid's carboxyl carbon in sequence, creating a new platform for making chiral amines.
More about the research
A key goal is to swap out their carbon–oxygen (C–O) bond for other groups while controlling the molecule's 'handedness,' or chirality, which strongly affects how drugs behave. Current methods often take several steps, activate the C–O bond slowly, work with a limited range of reacting partners, and give poor control over three-dimensional shape. This project aims to develop one-step, stereo-controlled reactions that turn these feedstocks into chiral amines and fluorinated compounds. Both classes of molecules are valued in medicine.
Why it matters
Medicinal chemists need fast ways to make chiral amines and fluorinated molecules, which are common in drugs. Building them directly from abundant alcohols and carboxylic acids in fewer steps could speed the synthesis of biologically relevant compounds and help in discovering new therapeutics.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
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.
Thomas Snaddon
Indiana University, IN·Chemistry
Develop enantioselective Lewis base-catalyzed reactions, using catalysts that donate an electron pair, to build fluorinated C(sp3) stereogenic centers while controlling which mirror-image form is made.
Mark Biscoe
CUNY City College, NY·Chemistry
Develop palladium- and copper-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions that transfer handedness from enantioenriched secondary alkylboron reagents to new carbon centers with predictable retention or inversion.
The school
Clemson University: 19 labs on PI Pages, $339M a year on research, 297 research doctorates a year.
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