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At the University of Victoria

LEITCH LAB

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.

RECENT HIGHLIGHTS

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.

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

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

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

A broadly applicable quantitative relative reactivity model for nucleophilic aromatic substitution (SNAr) using simple descriptors

Chem. Sci. 2022, 13, 12681-12695. DOI: 10.1039/D2SC04041G.

ChemRxiv 2022, Open-access pre-print, DOI: 10.26434/chemrxiv-2022-71bzc.

Nahiane Pipaon Fernandez, Gregory Gaube, Kyla J. Woelk, Mathias Burns, Damian P. Hruszkewycz, and David C. Leitch*

Palladium-Catalyzed Direct C–H Alkenylation with Enol Pivalates Proceeds via Reversible C–O Oxidative Addition to Pd(0)

ACS Catalysis 2022, 12, 6997-7003.

ChemRxiv 2021, Open-access pre-print, DOI: 10.33774/chemrxiv-2021-s62r6.

Kushal Dhake, Kyla J. Woelk, Joseph Becica, Andy Un, Sarah E. Jenny, and David C. Leitch*

Beyond Bioisosteres: Divergent Synthesis of Azabicyclohexanes and Cyclobutenyl Amines from Bicyclobutanes

Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2022, 61, e202204719.

ChemRxiv 2021, Open-access pre-print, DOI: 10.33774/chemrxiv-2021-p0fzf.

Jingru Lu, Sofia Donnecke, Irina Paci,* and David C. Leitch*

A reactivity model for oxidative addition to palladium enables quantitative predictions for catalytic cross-coupling reactions

Chem. Sci. 2022, 13, 3477-3488.

ChemRxiv 2021, Open-access pre-print, DOI: 10.33774/chemrxiv-2021-qc8vv-v2.

Jingjun Huang, Matthew Isaac, Ryan Watt, Joseph Becica, Emma Dennis, Makhsud I. Saidaminov, William A. Sabbers, and David C. Leitch*

(DMP)DAB–Pd–MAH: A Versatile Pd(0) Source for Precatalyst Formation, Reaction Screening, and Preparative-Scale Synthesis

ACS Catalysis 2021, 11, 5636–5646.

ChemRxiv 2021, Open-access pre-print, DOI: 10.26434/chemrxiv.13604777.v1.

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