Modified cinchona alkaloids derived from abundant natural cinchona alkaloids by simple transformations have been established as one of the most broadly effective chiral catalysts in asymmetric synthesis. In this lecture, the discovery and development of cooperative and multifunctional catalysis by cinchona alkaloids in the context of establishing a wide range of mechanistically distinct asymmetric transformations with unique activity and selectivity will be discussed. The impact of the cinchona alkaloid catalysis on the asymmetric synthesis of biologically important compounds and complex natural products will also be illustrated.

Li Deng received his BS degree from Tsinghua University in Beijing, MS degree from University Wisconsin- Milwaukee (1990, Thesis Advisor: James M. Cook) and Ph. D degree from Harvard University (1995, Thesis Advisor: Prof. Eric N. Jacobsen). He carried out his postdoctoral studies at Harvard with Professors George Whitesides and Gregory Verdine(1995-1998) as an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellow. He joined Brandeis University as an assistant professor of chemistry in 1998. He became an Associate Professor in 2003, a Professor in 2005, and was named the Orrie Friedman Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at the same year. Since 2011 he has been the Chairman of the Chemistry Department at Brandies University. His research interests include the discovery and invention of efficient, practical and broadly useful chiral catalysts, the development of synthetically useful asymmetric transformations, the elucidation of reaction mechanism and origin of molecular recognition and the asymmetric synthesis of molecules of interesting property.