Gong Chen, Professor of Chemistry in Nankai University's State Key Laboratory of Elemento-Organic Chemistry, will deliver a seminar entitled, "New Chemistry for Exploring the Chemical Space and Functions of Peptides."
For more information about Gong Chen, click here.
Abstract: Peptides offer a unique platform for exploring the biorelevant chemical space between small molecules and biologics. In comparison with the state-of-the-art synthesis of small molecules, chemists’ ability to fine-tune the three-dimensional structures and properties of peptides of large size is much limited. In this talk, I will discuss our recent investigation of various chemical strategies including metal-catalyzed, radial-mediated and classical polar reactions for the design and synthesis of complex peptides with different structural features: 1) Construction of cyclophane-braced peptide macrocycles via palladium-catalyzed intramolecular arylation of various C-H bonds; 2) Streamlined synthesis of S-aryl ether linked peptide macrocycles via palladium-catalyzed intramolecular S-arylation in solution and on DNA template; 3) Structural engineering of native peptides and proteins with various simple formaldehyde reagents.