Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Enantioselective Biotransformation Of Prochiral Ketone Via Daucus Carota, Ryan Smith, Charlie Knox, Elizabeth Davis

Undergraduate Research Conference

Biotransformations of prochiral ketones can be performed using plant cells. The benefits of using plant cells include low cost, environmentally sound procedures compared to conventional chemical processes, and the stereospecific nature of the reaction.1,2 Benzofuran-2-yl methyl ketone was reduced to (- )-benzofuran-2-yl-ethanol after incubation with carrots in water. The reaction was enantioselective in that it produced the S-isomer as indicated by optical activity. Currently, attempts to isolate the carrot enzyme and antimicrobial studies of the (-)-benzofuran-2-yl-ethanol product are underway.

Research In The Teaching Laboratory: Improving The Synthesis Of Lidocaine, Chris Taliaferro

Undergraduate Research Conference

The multi-step synthesis of Lidocaine is traditionally a low-yielding reaction mainly due to its second step, formation of a-chloro-2,6-dimethylacetanilide. Students often question the use of an acid (acetic acid) as the solvent for the reaction of a base (2,6-dimethylaniline, 1) with the acyl chloride (a-chloroacetyl chloride, 2), (Reaction Scheme) but they follow the procedure as directed.

Students, if treated as scientists in training, should be able to form a hypothesis before an experiment, design experiments to test the given hypothesis, and evaluate the results. A typical laboratory class was assigned to synthesize a-chloro-2,6-dimethylacetanilide using …