Development of Novel Lewis Acid Catalysts for Selective Organic Reactions in Aqueous Media

Shū Kobayashi was born in Tokyo in 1959. He received his Ph.D. in 1988 under the direction of Professor T. Mukaiyama (The University of Tokyo). After spending 11 years at Science University of Tokyo, he moved to Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Tokyo, in 1998. His research interests include development of new synthetic methods and novel catalysts, organic reactions in water, solid-phase synthesis, total synthesis of biologically interesting compounds, and organometallic chemistry. He received the Springer Award in Organometallic Chemistry (1997) and IBM Science awards (2001).

Kei Manabe was born in Fujisawa, Kanagawa, Japan, in 1965. He received his Ph.D. in 1993 from The University of Tokyo under the direction of Professor K. Koga. He was then approinted as Assistant of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Tokyo, and promoted to be Lecturer in 2000. From 1993 to 1995, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow with Professor G. Stork at Columbia University. His current research interest centers around the development of new catalytic systems for environmentally friendly organic synthesis.

New types of Lewis acids as water-compatible catalysts have been developed. Various metal salts were found to work as Lewis acid catalysts in aqueous media, and catalytic asymmetric aldol reactions in such media have been attained. Furthermore, Lewis acid−surfactant combined catalysts, which can be used for reactions in water without using any organic cosolvents, have been also developed. These investigations will contribute to reducing the use of harmful organic solvents and to develop efficient catalytic systems which cannot be realized in conventional organic solvents.