Focus of Dr. O’Connor’s
Research
1)
D EV ELOPMENT OF GR EEN C HEMISTRY LA BS
2)
D E V E L O P ME N T O F N E W O R G A N I C C H E M I S T RY
H Y D R O G E N AT I O N L A B S
3)
D EV ELOPMENT OF OR GA N IC C HEMISTRY LA BS
USING TECHNOLOGY TO MONITOR THE
REACTION
Hydrogenation of Methyl Trans-Cinnamate
 Good reaction conditions
 Less than 1 hour reaction time.
 1.0 atm.
Methyl Trans-Cinnamate
Methyl-3-phenylpropionate
Some Principles of Green
Chemistry
oC H O O S E T O U S E E N V I R O N M E N T A L L Y
FRIENDLY CHEMICALS.
oU S E C A T A L Y S T S W H E N P O S S I B L E .
oP R E V E N T W A S T E B Y U S I N G A
SOLVENTLESS PROCESS.
oM I N I M I Z E A M O U N T S O F S O L V E N T S A N D
REAGENTS USED.
General Reaction for the THP
Protection of Alcohols.
This can be done with and without solvent.
The goal is to run the reaction solventless.
THP is a protecting group in organic chemistry.
These are Examples of Solventless
Tetrahydropyranylation Reactions
Benzyl alcohol
Tetrahydropyran
The identification of other solventless reactions
is presently under investigation.