03/2014

Emory University hosted Prof. Kenichiro Itami as part of the Sigma-Aldrich Organic Chemistry Lecture Series. Emory University was granted this prestigious lectureship as part of the growing relationship between the CCHF and Sigma-Aldrich.

Sigma-Aldrich have already established a mutually beneficial working relationship with some of the individual institutes within the CCHF. The CCHF is working to extend this relationship in order to aid the commercialization and development of the new technologies being discovered.

Prof. Itami spoke about his work on “Catalyst-Enabling Chemistry Toward Transformative Molecules”. Prof. Itami is the Director of the newly for Institute for Transformative Bio-Molecules (ITbM), based at Nagoya University, Japan. The ITbM’s aim is to use modern chemical technologies to interrogate big challenges in the biological and materials sciences, such as new forms of nanographene, small molecules that impact plant growth and circadian clocks and mapping cell systems.

One of the core technologies to the ITbM is C–H Functionalization, and the Itami group are one of the world leaders in the development of metal-catalyzed methods for sp2 C–H Functionalization. The CCHF has formed a partnership with the ITbM through the new Virtual Institute for C–H Functionalization (VICHF), and this partnership will help form a global network of researchers exploring the development and application of C–H Functionalization.