Song Lin

Professor Song Lin
Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology
Cornell University
Host: Professor Tim Lodge

Abstract

Amping Up Organic Synthesis with Electrochemistry

Owing to its many distinct characteristics, electrochemistry represents an attractive approach to discovering new reactions and meeting the prevailing trends in organic synthesis. In the past several years, we have showcased a new reaction approach that combines electrochemistry and redox-metal catalysis for the functionalization of alkenes to access a diverse array of vicinally functionalized structures. Moving beyond alkene difunctionalization, we recently expanded the scope of our electrochemical reaction discovery to the two-component and three-component cross electrophile coupling reactions. In addition, using either electrooxidation or electroreduction, we achieved the selective functionalization of aliphatic and aromatic C–H bonds, respectively. This talk details our design principle underpinning the development of these new electrochemical transformations with a focus on applications in the synthesis of medicinally relevant compounds. In addition, this talk will discuss a parallel effort in the development of new electrochemical high-throughput reactors that can drastically improve the efficiency of reaction discovery and optimization.

Research

We will use our expertise in organic chemistry and electrochemistry to develop new catalytic methods to address unsolved problems in organic and materials synthesis. Particular emphases will be placed on the rational design of catalysts and the creative use of electrochemistry that will allow for the facile and selective conversion of readily available starting materials, such as sugars, CO₂ and abundant natural products, into highly functionalized and value-added products, such as pharmaceuticals and polymers.

Song Lin

Song Lin grew up in Tianjin, China. After obtaining B.S. from Peking University in 2008, Song embarked his graduate studies at Harvard University working with Eric Jacobsen. He then carried out postdoctoral studies with Chris Chang at UC Berkeley. In 2016, Song started his independent career at Cornell University, where he is currently an Associate Professor. Song has received several early career awards, including Sloan Fellowship, National Fresenius Award, Cottrell Scholar Award, Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, NSF CAREER Award, and MIT Technology Review Innovators Under 35. He is currently an Associate Editor at Organic Letters and has served on the Early Career Advisory Board of ACS Catalysis and Chemistry–A European Journal