Japanese Ver.

The research interests of the Nemoto group lie in the field of organic synthesis. We are investigating the development of highly efficient and selective catalytic synthetic methods applicable to the synthesis of highly functionalized bioactive molecules. The followings are the representative synthetic methods recently developed our group.

(1) Dearomatization of phenols using Friedel-Crafts-type transition-metal catalysis

(2) Development of novel synthetic methods based on the chemistry of metal carbenoids

(3) Efficient synthesis of small-sized ring-containing molecules

The use of cascade or relay catalysis is highly effective for increasing the synthetic efficiency. Towards this end, we are focusing on the development of novel sequential synthetic processes using a single catalyst with multi-functional properties, as well as using a multi-catalytic system. The followings are the representative processes of this class developed by our laboratory.

(1) Pd- or Pt-catalyzed cascade processes for the synthesis of 3,4-fused tricyclic indole derivatives

(2) Synthesis of fused-cyclic molecules using Brønsted acid-promoted cascade processes

(3) Relay catalysis (One-pot sequential multi-catalytic process)

We are investigating the synthesis of bioactive organic molecules and natural products based on our own catalytic synthetic methods. Current synthetic targets are shown below.

This is a cooperative research with Prof. Atsushi Kaneda in Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University.