Organometallic Chemistry

Cristina Nevado was born in Madrid in 1977. She studied Chemistry at the Autónoma University of Madrid and graduated in 2000. In October 2004 she received her PhD in Organic Chemisty at the same university working with Prof. Antonio M. Echavarren in the cyclization of 1,6-enynes catalyzed by late transition metals. In December 2006 she joined the lab of Prof. Alois Fürstner as a post-doc at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung (Germany) where she was part of the team who conquered the first total synthesis of Iejimalide B. Since May 2007 she is Assistant Professor at the University of Zürich. 

Synthesis of Complex Molecules and Late Transition Metal Catalysis

Central to our interest is the total synthesis of natural products with challenging architectures and relevant biological properties. Our driving force stems from the discovery and application in synthesis of new methodologies based on late transition metal catalyzed reactions. Supported on high level theoretical calculations and biological assays we want to get a deeper insight into the structure-activity relationships (SAR) of these molecules. At the same time, we aim to provide flexible chemical methods that allow structural modifications in order to improve their therapeutic profiles. A complete palette of the most advance experimental tools is found in our lab. Classic and novel methodologies applied in chemical syntheses, parallel techniques, GC and HPLC expertise, NMR analysis, computational studies in living models, in combination with biological assays are offered to the students to provide an interdisciplinary background in the wide area of Organic Chemistry.
The following endeavours fuel our efforts:
♦ Total Synthesis of Complex Natural Products
♦ Modular Synthesis of “Small Molecules” with Interesting Biological Properties
♦ Understanding and Tuning the Subtleties of Bioactivity: Computational Studies and Biological Assays
♦ New C-H Functionalization Reactions Based on Gold (III)-Complexes
♦ New C-C and C-X Forming Reactions Catalyzed by Late Transition Metals (Pt, Au)