Hit Cat
- Multi-step Synthesis of polyfunctional organic molecules bearing multiple stereogenic centers dedicated to the Pharma market.
- Design and development of novel biocatalysts (enzymes) directed to functional group transformation and/or to set up well defined stereogenic centers.
ICSN (CNRS) has developed over the year a strong expertise in:
- Design of new catalysts
- Development of novel chemocatalytic reactions
- Development of asymmetric catalytic strategies
- Design and development of novel MCR
- Synthesis of bioactive products
A special emphasis is put on enantioselective transformations
In recent years, High-Throughput Experiment (HTE) methods have been developed, which has significantly accelerated the process of discovering efficient catalysts and new catalytic transformations. An effective catalyst or an effective catalytic reaction is based on a successful combination of several factors such as good rational design, intuition, persistence and, of course, a significant dose of luck. These parameters are not currently fully controllable, which makes the traditional approach to finding chemical catalysts very empirical and tedious.
It can be considered that the research for new catalytic systems therefore depends both on the originality of their design and on the number of experiments carried out in a given time. While the first of these factors depends on the state of knowledge and intuition of the researcher, the second is primarily a technical problem and can be solved, at least in part, by technologies developed in High Throughput Experiment.
The methods applied to the search for the best catalyst
- Rapid and parallel preparation of a catalyst bank
- Evaluation for a target response
- Identification of reaction conditions with the best performance.
Two critical points are to be highlighted in the High-Throughput Experiment approach, for this purpose it is necessary to be able to have:
- A set of well-characterized catalytic systems (biocatalysts and chemical catalysts as well as pre-established catalyst combinations)
- Fast and reliable analytical screening methods to quickly target the best catalysts.
The HitCat center aims at solving this issue by providing a High Throughput Experiment platform including fast and comprehensive analytical screening by UPLC-HRMS.
