03/2015

The CCHF held the first in a new program of virtual symposia aimed at bringing cutting edge C–H Functionalization research to the broader scientific community.

At our inaugural event we had fours speakers, two CCHF members and two from the wider community. Prof. Brian Stoltz, from Caltech, spoke about a recent collaborative project between the Grubbs group and his own on the conversion of C–H to C–Si bonds in heterocyclic systems. Prof. Corey Stephenson, from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor described recent work from his group exploring light mediated C–H Functionalization. Prof. Christine Luscombe described her groups approach to C–H functionalization-based living polymerization toward the formation of conducting polymers. Prof. Shannon Stahl described some of the challenges and successes his group has encountered exploring aerobic C–H oxidation reactions.

The symposium was extremely well attended, with over 34 different locations watching online, 15 from the Center, 5 industrial partners, 10 other domestic academic institutions and 4 international locations overcoming the time difference and logging in from Switzerland, Germany and South Korea. It is estimated that over 900 people logged in to hear the first in this series.