WSSU awarded a grant from the National Institutes of Health

Winston-Salem State University has been awarded a $525,658 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) led by Dr. Fenghai Guo Professor of Chemistry to develop and utilize highly selective metal-catalyzed carbon bond formation reactions that will lead to an efficient synthesis of novel selenium, sulfur, and oxygen-containing heterocycles with rich biological activities. 

Heterocycles account for more than 50% of all known organic compounds. Their rich activities in biological systems are important for pharmaceuticals and natural products. Among the top 200 brand-name drugs, over 75% are heterocyclic compounds. In nature, heterocycles are active components for defense, communication, and reproduction.

This proposal aims to develop multicomponent coupling processes for rapid generation of functionality and complexity in heterocycles, a new selective merged asymmetric conjugate addition-acylation as well as a merged conjugate addition-oxidation strategy that will lead to the synthesis of new classes of bioactive selenium, sulfur-containing heterocycles.

The proposed new C-C bond formations and multicomponent reactions will provide new opportunities for complex novel heterocycle synthesis including selenium-heterocycles. The resultant versatile heterocyclic subunits and trapping of the metal enolates in situ will provide excellent opportunities for new innovative approaches for novel complex heterocycle synthesis and drug discovery.

This NIH research funding will allow the hiring of postdoctoral research, provide exciting research opportunities for WSSU students, and is expected to significantly enhance and expand the research capacity towards sustainable research excellence at WSSU, an HBCU.