Merck-Banyu Lectureship: Dr. Kenzo Yamatsugu (Chiba University) & Dr. Masakazu Nambo (Nagoya University)
Dr. Kenzo Yamatsugu, Chiba University
"Chemical Catalysis Enabling Synthetic Intervention in Cellular Epigenome"
About the Seminar
Life emerges from biomolecules such as proteins and a network of chemical reactions intervening in them. Post-translational modifications of histone proteins are representative of these chemical reactions, and they form the basis of the epigenome by being involved in the dynamic structural changes of chromatin and the regulation of gene transcription. We have been trying synthetic intervention in the cellular epigenome by developing chemical catalysts that acylate histone proteins in living cells. In this lecture, I will introduce three chemical catalysts for the aim, and will discuss their development and applications.
About the Speaker
2010 March, Ph.D. (The University of Tokyo, under the supervision of Prof. Shibasaki)
2010 April, Postdoc (Institute of Microbial Chemistry)
2011 April, Postdoc (University of Wisconsin, Madison, under the supervision of Prof. Kiessling)
2012 October, Group Leader (ERATO Kanai Life Science Project)
2015 April, Assistant Professor (The University of Tokyo)
2023 April, Professor (Chiba University)
Dr. Masakazu Nambo, Nagoya University
"New Transformations of Organosulfone through Carbon–Sulfonyl Bond Activation"
About the Seminar
Sulfur is found in diverse functional materials, natural products, and biologically active molecules. Among organosulfur compounds, organosulfones stand out as having high chemical stability and strong electron-withdrawing ability, which can dramatically change reactivities and electronic properties of molecules. However, Compared with (pseudo)halides, the sulfonyl group has been recognized to be less reactive, thereby receiving sparse attention as a leaving group in organic synthesis. Since 2013, we have focused on sulfones as new reacting templates for straightforward synthesis of organic molecules through a-functionalization followed by carbon–sulfonyl bond activation. Transiton-metal catalysts were found to be effective to promote cross-couplings and radical reactions using sulfones, providing a structurally diverse products in a modular manner. We demonstrated that not only the development of new catalysts and reagents but also the design of sulfonyl group is critically important to activate carbon–sulfonyl bonds. This work highlights the unique property of sulfonyl group as a transient directing group to construct valuable molecules by sequential functionalizations of sp3 carbon centers.
About the Speaker
2008 April, Ph.D. (Nagoya University, under the supervision of Prof. Kenichiro Itami)
2008 April, JSPS Research Fellow (DC1)
2011 April, Research Scientist (Asahi-Kasei Corporation)
2013 February, Designated Assistant Professor, Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI, PI: Prof. Cathleen M. Crudden), Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules (WPI-ITbM), Nagoya University, Molecules (WPI-ITbM), Nagoya University
2018 April, Designated Lecturer, Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI, PI: Prof. Cathleen M. Crudden), Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules (WPI-ITbM), Nagoya University
2021 April, Designated Associate Professor, Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI, PI: Prof. Cathleen M. Crudden), Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules (WPI-ITbM), Nagoya University