Rovis Group – Professor Product Portal

Professor Tomislav Rovis

The Rovis Group is interested in a broad scope of catalytic reactions and employs both metal and non-metal catalysts to achieve them. They have had considerable success with rhodium and its use in carbon-carbon bond forming desymmetrization, N-heterocycle synthesis, and most recently, C-H activation. Among their contributions to the field of organocatalysis, the development of N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) catalysts for the enantioselective Stetter reaction in both intra and intermolecular fashion is one of the most prominent. Their work in this area has led to the development of several related transformations employing NHCs as catalysts, including a method for the preparation of enantioenriched fluorinated carboxylic acid derivatives. These products show significant promise in medicinal applications, as enantiopure fluorine stereocenters are historically difficult to install.

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