Professor Pletnev received his undergraduate degree in Chemistry from the Higher Chemical College of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 1996 and a Ph.D. degree in Organic Chemistry from Iowa State University in 2002. His graduate work focused on developing novel palladium-catalyzed synthetic organic methodology. He continued his studies as a postdoc at the University of California, Riverside, working on the total synthesis of Myrmicarin alkaloids. In 2005, he accepted an industrial position at Materia, Inc, where he spent two years developing ruthenium catalysts for olefin metathesis. Dr. Pletnev joined the research faculty at Dartmouth College in 2007.

Selected Publications

Alexandre.Pletnev@dartmouth.edu

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Research Interests

I am interested in synthetic organic chemistry. Rather than restricting myself to a particular area, I work with researchers from the Norris Cotton Cancer Center, Dartmouth Medical School, and the broader Dartmouth community to help them design and execute various synthetic projects in support of their biomedical research. These projects range from developing reliable and scalable syntheses of known biologically active compounds to traditional medicinal chemistry and preparation of novel small molecules. This allows me to explore and practice a broad variety of synthetic methods and approaches, and in the process, to get exposure to cutting-edge medical research while providing a valuable service to those who do not necessarily have experience in organic synthesis.

• Stewart, I. C.; Ung, T.; Pletnev, A. A.; Berlin, J. M.; Grubbs, R. H.; Schrodi, Y. Highly Efficient Ruthenium Catalysts for the Formation of Tetrasubstituted Olefins via Ring-Closing Metathesis. Organic Lett. 2007, 9, 1589-1592.
• Angle, S. R.; Qian, X. L.; Pletnev, A. A.; Chinn, J. General Synthesis of Pyrroloquinolizidines. Synthesis of an Unnatural Homologue of the Pyrroloindolizidine Myrmicarin Alkaloid 215B. J. Org. Chem. 2007, 72, 2015-2020.
• Tian, Q.; Pletnev, A. A.; Larock, R. C. Carbopalladation of Nitriles: Synthesis of 3,4-Disubstituted 2-Aminonaphthalenes and 1,3-Benzoxazine Derivatives by the Palladium-Catalyzed Annulation of Alkynes by (2-Iodophenyl)acetonitrile. J. Org. Chem. 2003, 68, 339-347.
• Pletnev, A. A.; Larock, R. C. Carbopalladation of Nitriles: Synthesis of Benzocyclic Ketones and Cyclopentenones via Pd-Catalyzed Cyclization of ω-(2-Iodoaryl)alkanenitriles and Related Compounds. J. Org. Chem. 2002, 67, 9428-9438.
• Pletnev, A. A.; Tian, Q.; Larock, R. C. Carbopalladation of Nitriles: Synthesis of 2,3-Diarylindenones and Polycyclic Aromatic Ketones by the Pd-Catalyzed Annulation of Alkynes and Bicyclic Alkenes by 2-Iodoarenenitriles. J. Org. Chem. 2002, 67, 9276-9287.
• Larock, R. C.; Tian, Q.; Pletnev, A. A. Carbocycle Synthesis via Carbopalladation of Nitriles. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1999, 121, 3238-3239.