Professor Kay M. Brummond

Professor Kay M. Brummond
Department of Chemistry
University of Pittsburgh
Abstract

The Asymmetric Rh(I)-Catalyzed Pauson–Khand Reaction

In the fifty years since its discovery, the Pauson–Khand reaction (PKR) has transformed the design and synthesis of ring-fused cyclopentenones—an unsaturated motif of immense value for building complex molecular compounds. Moreover, the PKR is frequently used in natural product synthesis owing to the predictable and high diastereoselectivity afforded by this cyclocarbonylation reaction. And yet, the scope of the asymmetric PKR remains limited. The focus of this presentation will be on our group’s discoveries leading to the expansion of the scope of the Rh(I)-catalyzed asymmetric PKR through catalyst-controlled reactivity modes and the application of our findings to medicinally important targets.

Kay M. Brummond

Professor Brummond is an organic chemist and a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh. She received her BS degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (1985), her PhD in organic chemistry from The Pennsylvania State University (1991), and she performed her postdoctoral studies in organic chemistry at the University ofRochester (1991–1993). Her first faculty appointment was in the Department of Chemistry at West Virginia University in 1993 where she was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure (1999). In 2001, Brummond joined the Department of Chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh as an Associate Professor and was promoted to Professor in 2006. She served as the first female departmental chair in their 160-year history (2014–2017) and as the Associate Dean for Faculty in the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences (2017–2023). She and her coworkers have published 92 journal articles, reviews, and book chapters. Brummond has delivered 190 presentations as an invited speaker for departmental colloquia and seminars (135) and as a plenary lecturer for symposia and conferences (55). Students and postdocs have presented 71 posters and seminars at national meetings. Thirty-two graduate students have obtained PhD (18, 10 since 2014) and MS (14, 2 since 2014) degrees under her direction, and she has mentored 35 undergraduate students (81 semesters) and 15 postdoctoral fellows. She currently has 8 graduate students in her group, 2 of which are co-advised by Professor Liu at the University of Pittsburgh.

Hosted by Professor Courtney Roberts