Chemical Society Seminar: - Jean-François Paquin- Exploration and Some Discoveries in Organofluorine Chemistry

Abstract:

The unique properties of the fluorine atom make it significant in medicinal chemistry, agrochemistry, and material sciences. Further development in these fields is closely related to the development of practical, selective, and efficient methodologies for the synthesis of fluorinated molecules, but also on fundamental understanding of their reactivity and behaviours. Over the years, our group has explored various aspects of the chemistry of organofluorine compounds, including (1) the development of novel methodologies for their synthesis; (2) the exploration of new means to activate the C-F bond; (3) the design and synthesis of novel fluorinated probes, and (4) the application of this knowledge to medicinal chemistry.

This presentation will be divided in two parts. In the first one, hydrofluorination reactions of alkenes and alkynes will be described. In the second part, the hydropentafluorosulfanylation of terminal alkynes will be presented.

Bio:

Jean-François Paquin received his PhD in 2004 from the University of Toronto under the supervision of Prof. Mark Lautens. After a postdoctoral stay in Prof. Erick M. Carreira's lab at the ETH Zürich, he was appointed assistant professor in 2005 at the Université Laval in Quebec City. He was promoted to associate professor in 2010 to full professor in 2014. His research interests include the development of novel methodologies for the synthesis of organofluorine compounds and their applications for the preparation of bioactive fluorinated compounds or fluorinated biological probes. In 2016, he was awarded the Keith Fagnou Award from the Canadian Society for Chemistry. He has co-authored more than ninety-seven publications and has presented more than one hundred invited lectures.