ACS GCI Pharmaceutical Roundtable

Grants

The ACS GCI Pharmaceutical Roundtable has identified key synthetic chemistry and process research challenges whose solutions would result in more efficient pharmaceutical process development and production. To spur research in these areas, the Roundtable created and maintains a research grant program, whose impact over the years has been recently documented. The Roundtable also advocates for targeted green chemistry and engineering support to academic and government labs from international and U.S. federal funding agencies.

Research Grants

Over $3.5 million dollars (US) have been funded by the ACS GCI Pharmaceutical Roundtable since their grant program began in 2007. Each Spring, new Request for Proposals (RFPs) are issued for different key research challenges faced by the pharmaceutical industry.

2023 Request for Proposals (RFPs) is now open!

Proposals are accepted by public and private institutions of higher education worldwide. Follow the guidelines in the RFP of interest (links below) and submit your application via your grant office in our application portal.

Apply here: https://gci.acs.org (will be updated shortly)

Application Deadline: May 15, 2023, 5 p.m. EDT
Notification of Selection: September 1, 2023
Expected Research Start Date: October 2023

KEY RESEARCH AREA GRANTS

The Roundtable has identified the following topics as key interest areas in 2023; successful proposals for each grant will receive $80,000 for a 12-month research commitment.

  • Greener Peptide Synthesis and/or Purification
    This grant will focus on developing novel approaches to improve the environmental impact of peptide synthesis or purifications (e.g., less solvent/reagent waste, greener solvents, and reagents, etc.). The R&D will support the Roundtable’s initiative to enhance the greenness of peptide and peptide conjugate synthesis.
  • Greener Oligonucleotide Synthesis for Improving Sustainability
    This grant will focus on improving the sustainability of oligonucleotide manufacturing by addressing one or more of the environmental challenges facing the current process. The R&D will assist the Roundtable’s Greener Oligonucleotide focus team.
  • Electrochemistry in Flow
    This grant will focus on overcoming practical barriers to the application and scale-up of electrochemistry in flow. The R&D will assist the Roundtable’s Continuous Processing/Flow Chemistry initiative.
  • Photochemistry in Flow
    This grant will focus on overcoming practical barriers to the application and scale-up of photochemistry in flow. The R&D will assist the Roundtable’s Continuous Processing/Flow Chemistry initiative.

IGNITION GRANT PROGRAM

Ignition Grants provide $40,000 for a 6-month research commitment; proposals can be on any new green chemistry/engineering research direction of relevance to the pharmaceutical industry.

  • Ignition Grants for Green Chemistry and Engineering Research
    Four awards are available, providing ‘ignition’ funding for novel and innovative ideas that have the potential to provide sustainable solutions to chemistry and engineering problems relevant to the pharmaceutical industry from discovery to manufacturing. The goal is to provide researchers with initial funding to obtain preliminary results that may then be used by the researchers to help apply for funding from traditional funding agencies.

Awarded Grants

  • 2022

    Yang Hai, University of California Santa Barbara, $50,000
    “Application of a PLP-dependent Mannich cyclase for biocatalytic synthesis of heterocyclic quaternary α-amino acids”

    C. Oliver Kappe, University of Graz, Austria, $50,000
    “Simplified PAT Strategies for Calibration-Free Real-Time Data Gathering and Utilization in Automated Flow Chemistry Platforms”

    Christopher Sandford, Dartmouth College, $50,000
    “Bifunctional Organocatalysts for Sustainable Peptide Bond Formation”

    Nicholas Snow, Seton Hall University, $50,000
    “‘Greening’ Pharmaceutical Analysis Using Gas Chromatography”

    Jack Norton and Aaron Moment, Columbia University, $50,000
    “Selective reduction of aromatic rings in advanced scaffolds in flow reactors with non-noble metal catalysis under mild conditions”

    Masad J. Damha, McGill University, $50,000
    “Oligonucleotide synthesis by resonant acoustic mixing (RAM)”

    Jesús Fernández Lucas, Universidad Europea de Madrid, Spain, $25,000
    “Enzymatic synthesis of C-nucleosides”

    Yu Zhao, National University of Singapore, $25,000
    “Electrocatalytic Functionalization of Commodity Alcohols to Produce Valuable Amines and Amides”

  • 2021

    Duncan Browne, University College of London, $50,000
    “Learning to Extrude Chemical Reactions”

    Malgorzata Chwatko, University of Kentucky, $50,000
    “Improvement of Peptide Yield and Solvent Reuse via Membrane Enhanced Peptides Synthesis”

    Hans Renata, Scripps Research, $50,000
    “Biocatalytic Synthesis of Challenging Noncanonical Amino Acids”

    Jennifer Schomaker, University of Wisconsin-Madison, $50,000
    “Tunable Catalytic C(sp3)-H Functionalization of Heterocyclic Scaffolds”

    Qiu Wang, Duke University, $25,000
    “Copper-Catalyzed Carbon-Carbon Coupling of Alcohols and Alkenes”

    Han Sen Soo, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, $25,000
    “Photocatalytic Carbon-Carbon Bond Activation and Functionalization to Access Unnatural α-Amino Acids”

    Mélanie Hall, University of Graz, Austria, $25,000
    “Enzymatic nitration strategies for the biocatalytic synthesis of nitrogen containing molecules”

    Florian Hollfelder, University of Cambridge, $25,000
    “Exploring fitness landscapes of enzymes for chiral synthesis”

  • 2020

    Tristan Lambert & Phillip Milner, Cornell University, $50,000
    “Bioinspired Metal-Organic Frameworks as Heterogeneous Catalysts for Peptide Synthesis”

    Kamalesh K. Sirkar, New Jersey Institute of Technology, $50,000
    “Develop membranes for pressure-driven separation of solutes and solvents in the 50-600 Da range from API synthesis mixtures”

    Pasi Virta, University of Turku, $50,000
    “Improved synthesis of nucleotide blockmers using a precipitative soluble”

    Daniel J. Weix, University of Wisconsin-Madison, $50,000
    “Metal-Mediated Electrochemistry: A new frontier for surfactants”

    Martin Andersson, Technical University of Denmark (DTU), $25,000
    “Developing New Surfactants for Easy Separation”

    Soumitra Athavale & Frances H. Arnold, California Institute of Technology, $25,000
    “Biocatalytic C-H bond Functionalization for the Synthesis of Enantioenriched Amines and Amides”

    Matthew A. Hostetler, Marshall University, $25,000
    “Cups: An Atom efficient and low-waste producing method of inverse solid-phase peptide synthesis”

    Tehshik P. Yoon, University of Wisconsin-Madison, $25,000
    “Oxidative C–N Cross-Coupling Enabled by Iron Photochemistry”

  • 2019

    Ryan Shenvi, Scripps Research, $50,000
    “C–N Attached-Ring Synthesis by Markovnikov Hydroamination”

    Susan Olesik, The Ohio State University, $46,996
    “A Study of the Environmental Impact of Analytical and Preparative Scale Supercritical Fluid Chromatographic Processes”

    Fernando Albericio and Beatriz G. de la Torre, University of KwaZulu-Natal, $25,000
    “Baroc, a Green α-Amino Protecting Group for Solid-Phase Peptide Synthesis”

    Mark Mason, The University of Toledo, $25,000
    “Iron-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling of Heterocycles”

    Aaron Vannucci, University of South Carolina, $25,000
    “A New Approach to Catalyst Immobilization Research: Designing Molecular Catalysts for Heterogeneous Catalysis”

    Arnaud Voituriez, Institut de Chimie des Substances Naturelles, $25,000
    “Towards an Electro-Catalytic Wittig Reaction”

  • 2018

    Song Lin, Cornell University, $25,000
    “Electrocatalytic Fluorination Reactions Using Sustainable Fluorine Sources”

    Benjamin Wileyn & Jennifer Roizen, Duke University, $25,000

    “C-H/C-H Cross-Coupling of Aromatic Compounds with Flow-Through Nanowire Electrode”

    Jennifer L. Stockdill, Wayne State University, $50,000

    “Catalytic Desulfurization of Peptides”

  • 2017

    Corey Stephenson, University of Michigan, $50,000
    “A Microfluidic Platform for Discovery and Optimization of Photoredox Reactions”

    Jennifer L. Stockdill, Wayne State University, $50,000
    “A Green Strategy for the Synthesis of Head-to-Tail Macrocyclic Peptides”

    James Kiddle, Western Michigan University, $25,000
    “The Wittig Reaction Metamorphosis from Phosphorus to Boron”

    Stephen G. Newman, University of Ottawa, $25,000
    “Using Flow Chemistry to Harness Ozone as a Sustainable Oxidant for C–H Functionalization”

    Andrew Texeira, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, $25,000
    “Enhanced Site-Accessibility for Solid-Phase Coupling in Hierarchical Materials”

  • 2016

    Dennis Hall, University of Alberta, $25,000
    “Borate-Based Catalytic Directing Groups for Alkene and C–H Functionalization Reactions Using Readily Available Alcohol Substrates”

    Oana Luca, University of Colorado – Boulder, $25,000

    “Catalyst and Electrolyte-Free Direct Electrochemical Cross Coupling”

    Jeff Byers, Boston College, $25,000
    “Development of an Iron-Based Catalyst for Suzuki-Miyaura Cross Coupling Reactions”

    Zach Amara, National Des Arvts Et Métiers, $25,000
    “Smart Synthesis with Magnetically Recoverable Visible Light Photocatalysts”

    Leo Choe Peng, Universiti Sains Malaysia, $16,000
    “Diafiltration of Monoclonal Antibody using pH Responsive Membrane with Positive Charge.

    Andrew Zydney, Penn State, $50,000
    “Countercurrent Staged Diafiltration for Monoclonal Antibody Formulation.”

    Amanda Evans, California State University, Fullerton, $50,000
    “Enz-Flow/Continuous Bioprocessing: Towards a green continuous flow synthesis of levomilnacipran”

  • 2015

    A. John Blacker, University of Leeds, $50,000
    “Process Development of Continuous Flow Oxidative Biotransformations”

    Graham Dobereiner, Temple University, $50,000
    “Tandem Catalytic Process in Flow: Synthesis of amides via mild photochemical carbonylation using CO2 as a carbonyl source”

    Amanda C. Evans, California State University, $50,000
    “Enz-Flow/Continuous Bioprocessing: Towards a green continuous flow synthesis of levomilnacipran”

  • 2014

    Matthias Beller, Leibniz-Institut für Katalyse, $50,000
    “Hydrogenation of Amides promoted by Ru- and Fe-Pincer Complexes—Ligand-Metal Cooperative Catalysis for the Mild and Selective Synthesis of Amines”

    Neal Mankad, University of Illinois at Chicago, $100,000
    “Bimetallic Approach to Iron-Catalyzed Coupling Reactions”

  • 2013

    Paul Chirik, Princeton University, $100,000
    “Modern Alchemy: New Paradigms for Enabling Base Metal-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling in the Pharmaceutical Industry”

    Daniel Weix, University of Rochester, $50,000
    “Direct Synthesis of Alkylated Arenes and Heteroarenes from the Cross-Coupling of Heteroaromatic Halides in Non-Amide Solvents”

    Janet Scott, University of Bath, $100,000
    “Intelligent Selection of Greener Solvents”

  • 2012

    Neil Garg, UCLA, $60,000
    “Development of Green Nickel-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling Reactions”

  • 2011

    Shannon Stahl, University of Wisconsin-Madison, $150,000
    “Oxidation/Epoxidation Methods Without the Use of Chlorinated Solvents: Chemoselective Aerobic Alcohol Oxidation Catalyzed by Earth-Abundant Metals”

    Wei Zhang, University of Massachusetts-Boston, $25,000
    “Greener Grignard Reactions”

    Charles Liotta, Georgia Tech University, $150,000
    “Green and Effective Continuous Catalytic Homo-Nazarov Cyclization Towards Multi-Step Synthesis of Heteroaromatic Ring-Fused Clyclohexanones”

  • 2010

    David Cole-Hamilton, University of St. Andrews, $150,000
    “Amide Hydrogenation to Amines”

  • 2009

    Robert Crabtree, Yale University, $160,000
    “Atom Economic Alcohol Activation and Amide Synthesis Using Base-Metal Catalysts Heterogenized on Titania Nanoparticles”

     

  • 2008

    Chao-Jun Li, McGill University, $130,000
    “Chiral Amines via Asymmetric Multi-component Reactions”


    Michael Krische, University of Texas-Austin, $129,000

    “Byproduct-Free Synthesis of Chiral Amines via C-C Bond Forming Transfer Hydrogenation and Hydrogen Auto-Transfer”

  • 2007

    Robert Maleczka and Milton Smith, Michigan State University, $100,000
    “Catalytic C-H Activation/Cross-Coupling of Aromatics (Avoiding the Preparation of Haloaromatics)”

    Jianliang Xiao, University of Liverpool, $126,166
    “Hydrogenation of Amides by Multifunctional Catalysts via Ground State Destabilisation”

Copyright © 2019 ACS Green Chemistry Institute Pharmaceutical Roundtable