How Copper Catalysts Unlock Unreactive Molecules for Hydrogenation

In this episode of Innovate and React, I welcome Professor Johannes Teichert from TU Chemnitz, spokesperson of the CATALOOP network, to explore how cheap, abundant metals like copper can replace precious noble metals in catalysis. While traditional cross-coupling reactions have long dominated pharmaceutical synthesis, which resulted in a world of relatively flat drug molecules, while modern catalyst development is unlocking entirely new three-dimensional molecular scaffolds. However, replacing active metals like rhodium and iridium with copper presents a massive reactivity hurdle, especially when targeting challenging functional groups like conjugated amides. These were previously deemed completely unreactive by the scientific literature for copper hydride chemistry. We discuss the interplay between fundamental academic freedom and applied industry needs, and how tackling these "impossible" substrates could eventually eliminate wasteful stoichiometric reagents in favor of sustainable, hydrogen-driven reactions. How do you trick an unreactive copper complex into unlocking these inert building blocks without relying on extreme pressures and specialized autoclaves? Johannes reveals the serendipitous conference meetup that inspired a new class of bifunctional ligands, though a few puzzle pieces in their exact catalytic mechanism still remain to be solved. We also dive into how this gentle, balloon-pressure chemistry opens the door for a wider group of labs and late-stage deuterium labeling in complex drug discovery. Also we cover why "failed" lab experiments are suddenly becoming valuable assets in data driven approaches within the EU-funded CATALOOP network, and which groundbreaking historical lab moment Johannes wishes he could have witnessed firsthand.