Spivak, Gregory J. - Lakehead University

个人简介

PhD, University of Western Ontario (1997)

研究领域

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The research conducted in our laboratory focuses primarily on the organometallic chemistry of the platinum group metals, including ruthenium, osmium, rhodium, iridium, palladium and platinum. Our interest in the chemistry of these metals is motivated by the vast array of important molecular transformations in which these metals are featured prominently, both on a laboratory scale, and on an industrial scale. In fact, the applications of catalysts based on these metals range from the manufacturing of simple, economically important molecules, to the synthesis of "molecular scaffolds" which are necessary to the synthesis of biologically relevant molecules, drug design and synthesis, and polymer synthesis. At the moment, there are two areas of interest to us: (1) Ruthenium-Carbyne Chemistry. Inspired by the striking success of the alkene metathesis reaction in which ruthenium-carbene catalysts play a major role (and for which one of the key developers of the process, Robert H. Grubbs, shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2005), we recently initiated a research program revolving around the exploration of ruthenium-carbyne chemistry (i.e., the chemistry of the ruthenium-carbon triple bond) . Among other things, we are interested in developing routes towards synthesizing ruthenium-carbyne complexes which are compatible with a broad range of substrate functionalities, and investigating their chemical reactivity (e.g., as initiators in alkyne metathesis). We are especially interested in exploring their ability to effect unique and novel transformations of molecules (e.g., ring-closing alkyne metathesis or acyclic diyne metathesis) which otherwise might be extremely difficult, labourious or unknown by conventional chemical methods. Drawing of the x-Ray Structure X-ray structure of the ruthenium-carbyne complex [Cp*Cl(PPh3)Ru(CCH2tBu)]+ (Spivak et al. Organometallics 2003, 22, 5179). (2) Ruthenium Anticancer Drugs. Although still in the early stages of development, we very recently have become interested in exploring the synthesis and activity of ruthenium anticancer complexes. Cisplatin (along with the respective second and third generation platinum-based drugs carboplatin and oxaliplatin) is one of the most widely used and best selling anticancer drugs, and is very effective in treating certain cancers (e.g., testicular cancer, for which it has a greater than 90% cure rate). However, these drugs suffer from a number of problems, including undesirable side-effects, and the development of drug resistance during treatment. Both the successes and drawbacks of these drugs have stimulated the search for new metal-based tumor-inhibiting drugs which exhibit more acceptable toxicity profiles, are less likely to suffer from tumor resistance, and if possible, display activities against a broader spectrum of cancers. Within this context, ruthenium-based drugs have received a great deal of attention, with several drugs now in phase I clinical trials. A number of ruthenium-containing drugs have proven to be relatively non-toxic, and in many cases shown remarkable tumor-inhibiting properties. Our particular interest in this area was stimulated by the recent reports of a series of organometallic ruthenium complexes which have displayed anti-tumor activity both in vitro and in vivo. It is this area that we hope to explore in the near future.