Boron Reagents in Synthesis

Boron compounds have been used extensively in organic synthesis for more than sixty years. Some of the best known reactions in synthesis, such as the Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling and the hydroboration reaction, involve boron compounds. Several natural products containing boron have been isolated in the last fifty years, including ionophoric macrodiolide antibiotics boromycin, borophycin, aplasmomycins A, B, and C, and tartrolons B, C, and E, as well as autoinducer-2. The study of compounds containing boronic acids for application in pharmaceuticals and materials science has grown tremendously over the last few decades. These include bortezomib, ixazomib, and tavaborole. Several more boron-based drugs are currently in clinical trials. Boron neutron capture therapy has the potential to provide a treatment for various cancers. In addition, materials bearing boronic acids are been studied as potential sensors for biological molecules, such as saccharides and glycoproteins that possess cis-1,2- or cis-1,3-diols.

Adiel Coca obtained his BS degree from Iona College (New Rochelle, NY) in 2001 and later received a PhD in 2007 from Pennsylvania State University. After a one year visiting position at Franklin and Marshall College (Lancaster, PA), he took a position at Southern Connecticut State University in 2008 where he is currently an Associate Professor. He was a visiting researcher at Oxford University in 2015. Dr. Coca's current research interests include the synthesis of natural and unnatural heterocyclic compounds and the development of new antibiotics.