Research summary
Over the last century, transition metals such as nickel, iron, copper, silver and gold have been used to catalyze chemical reactions to produce medicines, plastics and even food. But as our needs shift, it is becoming increasingly important to develop more environmentally and economically efficient processes for preparing these products.
As Canada Research Chair in Organic Chemistry, Dr. Sophie Rousseaux is using abundant, inexpensive nickel catalysts to prepare products from abundant feedstocks more efficiently. She and her research team are exploring the reactivity of new redox-active alcohol derivatives in nickel-catalyzed cross-couplings with a focus on synthesizing pharmaceutically relevant molecules.