Organic chemistry

We recently discovered that two silyl units in β-position to an proton deactivate it for deprotonation. This opens up new routes for steering the selectivity of metallation reactions in organic chemistry. With this project the scope of directed metallations should be determined for β,β-disilylated carbonyl compounds, sulfones, sulfoxides or phosphine oxides. This methodology should then be applied to very short total syntheses of cyclopentanoid monoterpene lactones or alkaloids such as dihydronepetalactone, δ-skythantine or the antinociceptive incarvillateine.