Professor David Nicewicz (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

Title: "New Reactions and Theranostics via Organic Photoredox Catalysis"

Abstract: Single electron pathways are common in the biological realm and are integral to photosynthesis and physiological processes in humans. As synthetic chemists, we seek to harness the power of single electron mediated pathways to more efficiently make the pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals and materials that the modern world requires. My group seeks to use organic salts as excited state catalysts to mediate single electron processes in the development of new chemical transformations. This lecture will give a brief background to organic photoredox catalysis and cover some of the reactivity from my group including C-H functionalization chemistry, reductive transformations and application of organic photoredox catalysis to radiolabeling and targeted radiotherapeutics.

Biography: Dave Nicewicz completed his Ph.D. in 2006 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with Professor Jeffrey S. Johnson where
he completed the total synthesis of Zaragozic Acid C. Nicewicz was then a Ruth L. Kirschstein Postdoctoral Fellow in the laboratories of the 2021 Chemistry Nobel Laureate, Professor David W. C. MacMillan. It was during this time that Nicewicz pioneered the use of ruthenium photoredox catalysis in combination with chiral amine organocatalysis to develop a general method for enantioselective aldehyde alkylation and more importantly, establishing photoredox catalysis as an emerging tool in organic synthesis. In 2009, Dave started as an Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2015, full Professor in 2018 and was named the first Royce Murray Term Professor of Chemistry in 2020 and later the W.R. Kenan, Jr. Distinguished Professor in 2024. Dave’s research focuses on the use of organic photoredox catalysts to discover and invent new chemical reactivity. His work has garnered awards from industry such as the Boehringer Ingelheim New Investigator Award (2013), Eli Lilly Grantee (2015) as well as The Hirata Award (Nagoya University; 2017), and the ACS Cope Scholar Award (2022). Nicewicz has co-founded two companies (LED Radiofluidics & dGenThera) with Prof. Zibo Li (UNC Radiology) that are focused on the design of new PET tracers and targeted radiotherapeutics, respectively.