Methods for the synthesis and functionalization of amines are intrinsically important to a variety of chemical applications. We present a general carbon-hydrogen bond activation process that combines readily available aliphatic amines and the feedstock gas carbon monoxide to form synthetically versatile value-added amide products. The operationally straightforward palladium-catalyzed process exploits a distinct reaction pathway, wherein a sterically hindered carboxylate ligand orchestrates an amine attack on a palladium anhydride to transform aliphatic amines into β-lactams. The reaction is successful with a wide range of secondary amines and can be used as a late-stage functionalization tactic to deliver advanced, highly functionalized amine products of utility for pharmaceutical research and other areas.

Detailed kinetic studies and computational investigations have been performed to elucidate the mechanism of a palladium-catalyzed C-H activation aziridination. A theoretical rate law has been derived that matches with experimental observations and has led to an improvement in the reaction conditions. Acetic acid was found to be beneficial in controlling the formation of an off-cycle intermediate, allowing a decrease in catalyst loading and improved yields. Density functional theory (DFT) studies were performed to examine the selectivities observed in the reaction. Evidence for electronic-controlled regioselectivity for the cyclopalladation step was obtained by a distortion-interaction analysis, whereas the aziridination product was justified through dissociation of acetic acid from the palladium(IV) intermediate preceding the product-forming reductive elimination step. The understanding of this reaction mechanism under the synthesis conditions should provide valuable assistance in the comprehension and design of palladium-catalyzed reactions on similar systems.

The design of an enantioselective Pd(II)-catalyzed C-H amination reaction is described. The use of a chiral BINOL phosphoric acid ligand enables the conversion of readily available amines into synthetically valuable aziridines in high enantiomeric ratios. The aziridines can be derivatized to afford a range of chiral amine building blocks incorporating motifs readily encountered in pharmaceutically relevant molecules.

Herein we provide a living summary of the data generated during the COVID Moonshot project focused on the development of SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro) inhibitors. Our approach uniquely combines crowdsourced medicinal chemistry insights with high throughput crystallography, exascale computational chemistry infrastructure for simulations, and machine learning in triaging designs and predicting synthetic routes. This manuscript describes our methodologies leading to both covalent and non-covalent inhibitors displaying protease IC50 values under 150 nM and viral inhibition under 5 uM in multiple different viral replication assays. Furthermore, we provide over 200 crystal structures of fragment-like and lead-like molecules in complex with the main protease. Over 1000 synthesized and ordered compounds are also reported with the corresponding activity in Mpro enzymatic assays using two different experimental setups. The data referenced in this document will be continually updated to reflect the current experimental progress of the COVID Moonshot project, and serves as a citable reference for ensuing publications. All of the generated data is open to other researchers who may find it of use.

We present the characterisation of a hydrogel forming family of benzene 1,3,5-tricarboxamide (BTA) aromatic carboxylic acid derivatives. The simple, easy to synthesise compounds presented here exhibit consistent gel formation at low concentrations through the use of a pH trigger.