Pierantonio Galgano

“It’s a stimulating ad dynamic experience where you improve yourself and your interaction with other people.”

My work is focused on the synthesis on dihydrobenzofuryl compounds (DHBF), known for their important biological properties like antioxidant, anti-inflammatory e antitumoral. For this aim we firstly studied the behaviour of N-iodosuccinimide(NIS) towards cinnamoyl derivatives. NIS in literature is principally known as an iodinating agent, but recently also its weak oxidating nature has been discovered.

Furthermore, we are studying a new potential method for the synthesis of 2,3-disubstituted dihydro(benzo)furans through a radical [3+2] addition reaction of 1,3 cyclic dicarbonyl systems on variously substituted internal olefin, using metal as Mn³⁺, Co²⁺ or Cu²⁺, as a promoter, and then performing an aromatization reaction of the cyclohexane ring. This method could be also useful for the synthesis of gnetin c. It was isolated in low quantity from some species of Gnetaceae and Polygonaceae families. This molecule is currently in III phase of clinical studies of prostate antitumor compound and up to now no synthesis of gnetin c has been reported. So, using the commercially available 5-methyl-1,3-cyclohexanedione, a functionalization of the benzylic position should be necessary to obtain the gnetin c, while using the a synthetic cinnamoyl-functionalized 1,3-cyclohexanedione, we would directly obtain the desired molecule.

How my position is funded

My project is financed by Regione Basilicata.

My Motivations

I really enjoyed the research activity in a laboratory during my Master Degree’s thesis, and also the experience to make a group with other people, so I decided to continue my studies pursuing a PhD. But also the will to learn new techniques and methods, as well as to improve those already learned, influenced my choise.

After the degree I expect to improve my knowledge about the matter, my spirit of collaboration with other people and my capacity to conduct research, perhaps continuing to work for research always at university, or in other companies.

In my typical day I entry in my laboratory, I make organic synthesis reactions and I control them. Once the reactions are finished, I treat them and then I spectroscopically analyze their crude. If they aren’t pure, I purify them most of time by chromatographic column, and then I analyze the isolated products, comparing the results with those of the literature. When I must find new synthetic strategies, I make researches among the references in literature using a online dedicated portal.

I made a flash presentation during the CIMPIS Days 2024 in Bari, entitled “Biomimetic syntheses of dihydrobenzofurans by N-iodosuccinimide”;

My events

Congresso nazionale della Società di chimica italiana, Milano 2024 (poster)

“Towards the synthesis of gnetin c”