Prof. Mary Watson, University of Delaware

Title: Deaminative Cross Couplings

Abstract: The ubiquity of alkyl amines and the ease of their synthesis makes them attractive precursors for a variety of transformations. In contrast to their classical use as starting materials for complex nitrogen-containing products, we have developed a suite of deaminative methods to convert primary amino groups (NH₂) into various carbon substituents via Katritzky pyridinium salt intermediates. Our recent progress will be discussed, including enantioselective and difunctionalization reactions, along with peptide macrocyclization strategies.

Biosketch: Mary Watson completed an A.B. in Chemistry at Harvard University in 2000, where she performed research with Prof. David Evans. Under Prof. Larry Overman, she earned a Ph.D. in 2006 from the University of California, Irvine. She was then a NIH NRSA postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University with Professor Eric Jacobsen. In 2009 she joined the University of Delaware, where her group develops catalytic methods for the synthesis of organic molecules. Her research has received generous support from the University of Delaware Research Foundation, the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund, the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, Pfizer, and the Department of Energy (EFRC). Her research impact has been recognized with a Cope Scholar Award, the 2023 ACS Catalysis Lectureship for the Advancement of Catalytic Science, a Rising Star award from the Women Chemists’ Committee of the American Chemical Society, a Delaware ACS Section Award, and as a 2023 ACS Fellow. Mary was promoted to Associate Professor in 2016 and to Professor in 2018, and currently serves as a co-organizer of the annual Empowering Women in Organic Chemistry conference and the proud mom of two daughters and two Bernese Mountain dogs.

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