Stephen Leffler Buchwald – MIT Department of Chemistry
Professor Steve Buchwald smiles in front of a blue background.

Research in the Buchwald Group combines elements of organic synthesis, physical organic chemistry and organometallic chemistry to devise catalytic processes of use in solving problems of fundamental importance.

Office

18-490

Administrative Assistant

Jeff Taft

Assistant Phone

617-253-1830

Stephen Leffler Buchwald

Camille Dreyfus Professor of Chemistry

Research Areas

Office

18-490

Administrative Assistant

Jeff Taft

Assistant Phone

617-253-1830

The research in our group combines elements of organic synthesis, physical organic chemistry and organometallic chemistry to devise catalytic processes of use in solving problems of fundamental importance. In this way we invent or develop new techniques, determine how they proceed and apply them in a synthetically interesting context. The key to our success has been the extraordinary quality of the coworkers in the research group over the years.

We are interested in a wide number of different types of transformations. These include:

The creation and study of new ligands:

The creation and study of new ligands.

The design of new methods for the formation of carbon-nitrogen bonds:

The design of new methods for the formation of carbon-nitrogen bonds. This work involves the use of metal catalysts, usually based on palladium or copper.
This work involves the use of metal catalysts, usually based on palladium or copper.

The development of new methods for the formation of carbon-fluorine bonds:

The use of mechanistic and structural studies to aid in ligand and catalyst development.
This methodology is used in PET and medicinal chemistry applications.

The use of mechanistic and structural studies to aid in ligand and catalyst development:

The development of continuous flow chemistry using microreactors and capillary tubing:

The development of continuous flow chemistry using microreactors and capillary tubing. This work takes advantage of the increased heat and mass transfer properties of silicon microreactors, and allows for optimization on a very small scale.
This work takes advantage of the increased heat and mass transfer properties of silicon microreactors, and allows for optimization on a very small scale.

The use of mechanistic and structural studies to aid in ligand and catalyst development:

The use of mechanistic and structural studies to aid in ligand and catalyst development.

The development of continuous flow chemistry using microreactors and capillary tubing:

Silicon microreactors
This work takes advantage of the increased heat and mass transfer properties of silicon microreactors, and allows for optimization on a very small scale.

Key Publications

See all on the Buchwald Group Website