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CHARTING A COURSE THROUGH CHEMICAL SPACE SINCE 2019

We in the Leitch lab are chemical cartographers, striving to map and understand chemical reaction space in the realm of organic synthesis and catalysis.

We use a mix of traditional and modern techniques, including high-throughput experimentation, automation, and artificial intelligence, in order to impact real-world problems in pharmaceutical synthesis, catalyst development, and reaction prediction.

OPEN POSITIONS: None at this time.

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RECENT HIGHLIGHTS

Gilian T. Thomas, Odhran D. Cruise, Daelin Peel-Smith, Nahiane Pipaon Fernandez, Charles Killeen, and David C. Leitch.*

Easily Accessible and Solution-Stable Ni(0) Precatalysts for High-Throughput Experimentation

Chem. Eur. J. 2025, 31, e202403960. DOI: 10.1002/chem.202403960

  ChemRxiv 2024, Open-access pre-print, DOI: 10.26434/chemrxiv-2024-qpdc6-v2

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Kushal Dhake, Kyla J. Woelk, Liam D. N. Krueckl, Faith Alberts, James Mutter, Matthew O. Pohl, Gilian T. Thomas, Muskan Sharma, Jaelyn Bjornerud-Brown, Nahiane Pipaon Fernandez, Nathan D. Schley, and David C. Leitch.*

Diastereoselective Dearomative 1,3-Dipolar Cycloaddition of Bicyclobutanes with Pyridinium Ylides: A Modular Approach to Multisubstituted Azabicyclo[3.1.1]heptanes

Chem. Commun. 2024, 60, 13008-13011. DOI: 10.1039/D4CC04730C

  ChemRxiv 2024, Open-access pre-print, DOI: 10.26434/chemrxiv-2024-59vs5

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Jingru Lu, Holly Celuszak, Irina Paci,* and David C. Leitch.*

Quantitative Reactivity Models for Oxidative Addition to L2Pd(0): Additional Substrate Classes, Solvents, and Mechanistic Insights

Chem. Eur. J. 2024, 30, e202402282. DOI: 10.1002/chem.202402282

  ChemRxiv 2024, Open-access pre-print, DOI: 10.26434/chemrxiv-2024-v3q40

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Nahiane Pipaon Fernandez, Odhran. D. Cruise, Sarah E. F. Easton, Justin M. Kaplan, John L. Woodard, Damian P. Hruszkewycz,* and David C. Leitch*

Direct Heterocycle C–H Alkenylation via Dual Catalysis Using a Palladacycle Precatalyst: Multifactor Optimization and Scope Exploration Enabled by High-Throughput Experimentation 

J. Org. Chem. 2024, 89, 16145-16160. DOI: 10.1021/acs.joc.3c02311

  ChemRxiv 2023, Open-access pre-print, DOI: 10.26434/chemrxiv-2023-2ffdr

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Jingjun Huang, Thomas Keenan, Francois Richard, Jingru Lu, Sarah E. Jenny, Alexandre Jean, Stellios Arseniyadis,* and David C. Leitch*

Chiral, air stable, and reliable Pd(0) precatalysts applicable to asymmetric allylic alkylation chemistry

Nature Commun. 2023, 14, 8058. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-43512-8.

  ChemRxiv 2023, Open-access pre-print, DOI: 10.26434/chemrxiv-2023-0xbh5.  

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Jingru Lu and David C. Leitch*

Organopalladium catalysis as a proving ground for data-rich approaches to reaction development and quantitative predictions

ACS Catal. 2023, 13, 15691-15707. DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.3c03864

  ChemRxiv 2023, Open-access pre-print, DOI: 10.26434/chemrxiv-2023-2078b-v2

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Kyla J. Woelk, Kushal Dhake, Nathan D. Schley, and David C. Leitch*

Enolate addition to bicyclobutanes enables expedient access to 2-oxo-bicyclohexane scaffolds

Chem. Commun. 2023, 59, 13847-13850. DOI: 10.1039/D3CC04234K

  ChemRxiv 2023, Open-access pre-print, DOI: 10.26434/chemrxiv-2023-vt063-v2​

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