The infrastructure brings together the capabilities in chemical synthesis, chemical and biotechnology in Estonia. Its primary goal is the development and technologization of new sustainable and environmentally friendly synthesis methods, such as mechanosynthesis, flow chemistry, electrochemistry, photochemistry, and organocatalysis. New chemical methods (using enzymes, ionic liquids, and metal-organic frameworks) creates new opportunities for obtaining complex natural compounds. To ensure the sustainability of methods and materials, safety studies are conducted. The shared use of the infrastructure initiates new interdisciplinary projects and creates prerequisites for innovation and collaboration with research-intensive companies. Involving the use of infrastructure at all levels of higher education and in micro-degree programs ensures continuity in science and a qualified personnel for entrepreneurship.
The project deals with the development of sustainable methods of asymmetric catalysis and their application in the synthesis of biologically relevant compounds. Various methods of catalysis (organo-, metal- and enzymatic catalysis) will be used separately or in cooperative manner. Special attention will be turned to the increase of efficiency of reactions by using selective catalysts, cascade or one-pot reactions. As a new method, a halogen bond donor catalyzed asymmetric reactions will be studied. New reactions will be applied on the synthesis of biologically active compounds and their derivatives.
As a result, new asymmetric catalytic sustainable methods for the creating molecular complexity will be developed. Principles of green chemistry will take root in science, in the mode of thinking of PhD students and by PhD graduates in Estonian chemistry enterprises.
The project is focused on the asymmetric synthesis. More specifally, multifunctional and conformationally flexible catalyst will be elaborated and applied in the synthesis of various bioactive compounds, including human milk oligosaccharides. Use of more selective catalytic reactions reduces amounts of by-products and makes chemical synthesis more sustainable. Design, synthesis and applications of new catalyst are the main outcomes of the project.