Teaching

I teach organic chemistry courses to undergraduate and postgraduate students. Currently, I teach courses on organic photochemistry, pericyclic reactions and asymmetric synthesis.

My research interests primarily lie in the area of organic synthesis for the synthesis of compounds with interesting biological or material applications. Within this broad scope, I work in the area of target-oriented synthesis of oligosaccharides for the development of vaccines, as well as the development of sustainable catalytic methodologies for C-C and C-N bond formations and synthesis of heterocycles of biological interest.

Theory

Photochemistry & Pericyclic Reactions CYC514

Asymmetric Synthesis CYD505

Labs

Organic Chemistry Lab CYC507

Academics

Education and Academics

PhD • 2007

Organic Photochemistry • Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (Jadavpur University) • Kolkata, India.

MSc • 2000

Organic Chemistry • University of Kalyani • West Bengal, India

BSc • 1998

Chemistry [Honours] • University of Calcutta • West Bengal, India

Research: The basic theme that guides our research is to make new compounds with interesting properties via sustainable and energy efficient methods. To this end, we target small molecules relevant biological applications and interesting physical properties. Oftentimes, in trying to synthesize these molecules via routes based on the modern-day requirements of energy efficiency and sustainable methods, we end up designing and developing new methodologies that add to the toolbox of organic synthesis. Therefore, our research involves both target oriented synthesis as well as methodology development.

Catalysis and Reaction Methodology: We are interested in developing sustainable catalysis for development of methods for the synthesis of important compounds of biological and medicinal relevance as also development of methodologies based on photoredox catalysis, nanocatalysis, non-toxic metal catalysis and organocatalysis.

Photoredox catalysis: Visible light offers an energy efficient option for triggering chemical reactions. We use visible light for conducting reactions either through photoredox catalysis or catalyst-free pathways through formation of ground state donor-acceptor complexes for formation of C-X bonds.

Carbohydrate Synthesis: Carbohydrates are ubiquitous in nature and one of the most relevant biologically active molecules. As cell-surface agents, they play important roles in various extracellular mechanisms such as cell-cell interaction, pathogenicity and immune responses. Bacterial cell-surface polysaccharides have been traditionally used for the development of vaccines against diseases caused by them. The advent of new antibiotic resistant bacterial strains implies that next-generation vaccines provide immunity against them. In this respect, synthetic glycoconjugate vaccines based on the repeating units of rare bacterial strains provide a means for addressing the same. Thus a basic theme of research in our group focusses on the efficient, scalable synthesis of the oligomeric cell-surface repeating units of rare strains of bacteria including antibiotic resistant ones.

Sugar based organocatalysis: Sugar building blocks have traditionally been widely used for the chiral pool-based synthetic strategies. However, their use for the development of chiral catalysts have been relatively less explored. As part of nature’s repertoire of chiral molecules, one of the drawbacks of designing sugar based chiral organocatalysts is that they are available in nature as only one enantiomer, thereby restricting their general wide applications. As part of our work in the area of carbohydrate synthesis, we are involved in designing and developing carbohydrate-based ligands and organocatalysts that will be available in both their enantiomeric forms.

Electro-organic synthesis: Fundamental nature of chemical reactivity involves the redistribution of electrons and what can be better at moving them around than electricity! This energy efficient method for conducting organic synthesis has motivated us to explore this method for developing C-C and C-X bond formation reactions.

Supramolecular gel sugar: Due to the presence of a large number of functional groups that can be manipulated, sugars can be tuned to undergo self-assembly and form gels that may be used as soft materials for different applications. One application that we have been interested in is their potential to immobilize crude oil for oil-spill remediation. Also due to their biocompatible nature, sugar based gels can be used as media for controlled release of drugs, an area that we explore.

Position

Professional Experience

April, 2021 –

Associate Professor • Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology • IIT (ISM), Dhanbad

May, 2010 – April, 2021

Assistant Professor • Department of Chemistry • IIT (ISM), Dhanbad

April, 2008 – March, 2009

Post-Doctoral Fellow • National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan • Carbohydrate Synthesis

Aug, 2009 – April, 2009 & December, 2007 - April, 2008

Research Associate • Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science

Administrative Responsibilities

Vice-Chairperson, Ph.D. Admissions: October, 2021 - September, 2023.

Faculty-In-Charge: HRMS under CRF

Member: Health Centre Committee

Warden (Jasper Hostel): June, 2012 to November, 2013

Awards and Honors

Publications

List Of Research Publications (only in Peer-reviewed Journals)

Publications

“Total Synthesis of the Repeating Unit of the O-antigen from Proteus mirabilis OC (CCUG 10702) Serogroup O75: Step-wise and One-pot Approaches” Sunil K. Yadav, Somnath Yadav* European Journal of Organic Chemistry , 2024, 27, Article no. e202400718. DOI: 10.1002/ejoc.202400718

“A sugar-derived ligand for room temperature aerial oxidation or non-aqueous Markovnikov hydration of styrenes using a preformed or in situ generated Co complex” Sachchida Nand Pandey, Arunava Sengupta, Rajib Bera, Sohel Ali and Somnath Yadav* Catalysis Science & Technology, 2024. DOI: 10.1039/D4CY00522H

“Understanding the gelation properties of fluorophenyl glycosides of arabinoside gelators: Experimental and theoretical studies” S. N. Pandey, N. P. Pathak, Arunava Sengupta* and Somnath Yadav* Soft Matter, 2024, DOI: 10.1039/D4SM00521J

“Acetoxy group directed regioselective C2-alkenylation of indoles via Pd-Ag bimetallic catalysis” Aditya Paul, Arunava Sengupta, Bijan Sarkar and Somnath Yadav* J. Org. Chem. 2023, 88, 14413-14422. DOI: 10.1021/acs.joc.3c01442

“Visible-Light Driven Acetoxylation and Dioxygenation of Indoles via Electron Donor-Acceptor Complexes” Aditya Paul, Arunava Sengupta and Somnath Yadav* Chemical Communications, 2023, 59, 7455-7458. DOI: 10.1039/D3CC01683H

“Organophotoredox catalyzed cross-dehydrogenative sulfonamidation of indoles and other heterocycles” Aditya Paul, Arunava Sengupta and Somnath Yadav* J. Org. Chem. 2023, 88, 9599-9614. DOI: 10.1021/acs.joc.2c02022

“Chemical synthesis of the O-antigen repeating unit of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans serotype f” Tanmoy Halder, Sunil K. Yadav and Somnath Yadav* Carbohydrate Research, 2023, 534, 108977. DOI: 10.1016/j.carres.2023.108977

“Stereoselective synthesis of glycosyl azides from anomeric hydroxides via protecting group manipulations” Sourav Nayak and Somnath Yadav* Carbohydrate Research, 2023, 523, Article No. 108739. DOI: 10.1016/j.carres.2023.108739

“Synthesis of the trisaccharide repeating unit of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia O6 antigen through step-wise and one-pot approaches” Tanmoy Halder, Sunil K. Yadav and Somnath Yadav* Carbohydrate Research, 2022, 521, 108669. DOI: 10.1016/j.carres.2022.108669

“Structure-gelation property relations of phenolic glycosides of pentose sugars: pH dependent controlled release of curcumin” N. P. Pathak, A. Sengupta and Somnath Yadav*, Materials Advances, 2022, 3, 3906-3914. DOI: 10.1039/D1MA00907A

“Visible light mediated synthesis of 3-sulfonylquinolines: Mechanistic insights into the photoredox catalysis” Aditya Paul, S. Banerjee and Somnath Yadav*, Asian Journal of Chemistry, Asian Journal of Organic Chemistry, 2022, 11, Article No. e202100629. DOI: 10.1002/ajoc.202100629

“Total synthesis of the O-antigen repeating unit of Providencia stuartii O49 serotype through linear and one-pot assemblies” Tanmoy Halder and Somnath Yadav*, Beilstein Journal of Organic Chemistry 2021, 17, 2915-2921. DOI: 10.3762/bjoc.17.199

“Short synthesis of molnupiravir (EIDD-2801) via a thionated uridine intermediate” Raghunath Dey, Sourav Nayak, Parthasarathi Das and Somnath Yadav* ACS Omega, 2021, 6, 28366-28372. DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.1c04550

“A gelator-starch blend for dry powder based instant solidification of crude oil at room temperature” Navendu P. Pathak, Rajkamal and Somnath Yadav* Chemical Communications, 2020, 56, 2999-3002. DOI: 10.1039/C9CC09943C

“Ligand and Cu free N-arylation of indoles, pyrroles and benzylamines with aryl halides catalyzed by a Pd nanocatalyst” Abhijit Paul, Debnath Chatterjee, Srirupa Banerjee and Somnath Yadav* New Journal of Chemistry, 2020, 44, 14447-14452. DOI: 10.1039/D0NJ02129F

“Synthesis of 3-alkenylindoles through regioselective C–H alkenylation of indoles by a ruthenium nanocatalyst” Abhijit Paul, Debnath Chatterjee, Srirupa Banerjee and Somnath Yadav* Beilstein Journal of Organic Chemistry 2020, 16, 140-148. DOI: 10.3762/bjoc.16.16

”Direct Synthesis of 3-Arylquinolines by a Nano Pd-Catalyzed Regioselective C3-H Arylation of Quinolines” Abhijit Paul, Aditya Paul and Somnath Yadav* Tetrahedron Letters, 2020, 51, 151364. DOI: 10.1016/j.tetlet.2019.151364

“Syntheses of Orthogonally Protected D-Galactosamine, D-Allosamine and D-Gulosamine Thioglycoside Building Blocks with N-phthalimido Groups” Debnath Chatterjee, Sourav Nayak, Abhijit Paul and Somnath Yadav* Asian Journal of Organic Chemistry, 2019, 8, 2065-2072. DOI: 10.1002/ajoc.201900397

“Partially acetylated or benzoylated arabinose derivatives as structurally simple gelators: Effect of the ester protecting group on gel properties” Rajkamal, Navendu P. Pathak, Tanmoy, Halder, Shubhajit Dhara and Somnath Yadav* Chemistry – A European Journal, 2017, 23, 11323-11329. DOI: 10.1002/chem.201701669

“DAIB/TEMPO mediated synthesis of anomeric lactones from anomeric hydroxides” Debnath Chatterjee, Tanmoy Halder, Navendu P. Pathak, Abhijit Paul, Rajkamal and Somnath Yadav* Tetrahedron Letters, 2017, 58, 1943-1946. DOI: 10.1016/j.tetlet.2017.04.019

“Arabinose based gelators: Rheological Characterization of the gels and phase selective organogelation of crude-oil” Rajkamal, Navendu P. Pathak, D. Chatterjee, A. Paul and Somnath Yadav*, RSC Advances, 2016, 6, 92225-92234. DOI: 10.1039/C6RA21109G

“Time resolved spectroscopic investigation to compare the photophysical properties of a short chain dyad when combined with silver and gold nanoparticles to form nanocomposite systems” G. Dutta (Pal), P. Chakraborty, Somnath Yadav, A. De. M. Bardhan, P. Kumbhakar, S. Biswas, H. S. DeSarkar, T. Ganguly*, J. Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, 2016, 16, 7411-7419.

“Photochemically synthesized palladium nanoparticles with catalytic activity at ppb levels for C-C coupling reactions” Abhijit Paul, Debnath Chatterjee, Rajkamal, Srirupa Banerjee and Somnath Yadav* RSC Advances, 2015, 5, 71253-71258. DOI: 10.1039/C5RA14995A

“Cu(ClO₄)₂.6H₂O catalyzed solvent free per-O-acetylation and sequential one-pot conversions of sugars to thioglycosides” Debnath Chatterjee, Abhijit Paul, Rajkamal and Somnath Yadav* RSC Advances, 2015, 5, 29669-29674. DOI: 10.1039/C5RA03461B

“Metal free visible light photoredox activation of PhI(OAc)₂ for the conversion of arylboronic acids to phenols” Abhijit Paul, Debnath Chatterjee, Rajkamal, Tanmoy Halder, Srirupa Banerjee and Somnath Yadav* Tetrahedron Letters, 2015, 56, 2496-2499. DOI: 10.1016/j.tetlet.2015.03.107

“Time resolved spectroscopic studies on a novel synthesized photoswitchable organic dyad and its nanocomposite form in order to develop light energy conversion devices” Gopa Dutta (Pal), Abhijit Paul, Somnath Yadav, Munmun Bardhan, Asish De, Joydeep Chowdhury, Aindrila Jana and Tapan Ganguly*, J. NanoScience and Nanotechnology, 2015,15, 5775-5784. DOI: 10.1166/jnn.2015.10290

“Enantiomeric organogelators from D-/L- arabinose for phase selective gelation of crude oil and their gel as a photochemical micro reactor” Rajkamal, Debnath Chatterjee, Abhijit Paul, Srirupa Banerjee and Somnath Yadav* Chemical Communications, 2014, 50, 12131-12134. DOI: 10.1039/C4CC05950F

“Photoinduced Electron Transfer (PET) reactions of cis-dibenzoylalkenes with amines: An efficient reduction of the C=C bond” S. Banerjee, S. Yadav, S. Lahiri Organic Letters, 2009, 11, 3494-3497. DOI: 10.1021/ol901307v

“Face-selective Diels-Alder reaction between unsymmetrical cyclohexadienes and symmetric trans-dienophiles: An experimental and computational investigation” S. Lahiri, S. Yadav, S. Banerjee, M. P. Patil, R. B. Sunoj J. Org. Chem., 2008, 73, 435-444. DOI: 10.1021/jo701884d

“Synthesis of bicyclo[3.2.1]octanones via ketyl radical promoted rearrangements under reductive PET conditions” S. Yadav, S. Banerjee, D. Maji, S. Lahiri Tetrahedron, 2007, 63, 10979-10990. DOI: 10.1016/j.tet.2007.08.054

“Importance of steric factors in face-selective cycloadditions: 1,6-annulated cyclohexa-1,3-dienes” S. Lahiri, S. Yadav, M. Chanda, I. Chakraborty, K. Chowdhury, M. Banerjee, A. Roy Choudhury, T. N. Guru Row Tetrahedron Letters, 2005, 46, 8133-8136. DOI: 10.1016/j.tetlet.2005.09.129

Papers in conference abstract volumes / presented

Lectures in Conferences/Seminars

“Supramolecular gelators from arabinose” CARBO XXXIII, Sweet ‘18 – Glycochemistry, Biology and Technology (SGBT ‘18) Organized by IISER Kolkata & Association of Carbohydrates Chemists & Technologists of India (ACCTI), 19-21 December, 2018.

Patents

Patents

“A Process for the Preparation of Molnupiravir (EIDD-2801)” Indian Patent Application No. 202131023578, 2021.

Projects & Activities

Membership of Scientific Societies

Member of American Chemical Society

Other Academic and Administrative Activities

Administrative Responsibilities

Vice-Chairperson, Ph.D. Admissions: October, 2021 - September, 2023.

Faculty-In-Charge: HRMS under CRF

Member: Health Centre Committee

Warden (Jasper Hostel): June, 2012 to November, 2013

Guidance

Research Supervision (PhD completed)

Dr. Aditya Paul, 2023: Visible Light Mediated Transformations of Organic Compounds.
Dr. Sourav Nayak, 2023: Synthesis of bacterial cell-surface glycans.
Dr. Tanmoy Haldar, 2022: Synthesis of bacterial cell-surface oligosaccharides.
Dr. Navendu Pathak, 2022: Arabinose based gelators and organocatalysts.
Dr. Abhijit Paul, 2020: A photochemical approach to surfactant free metal nanoparticles and nanoclusters and their catalytic applications in organic reactions.
Dr. Debnath Chatterjee, 2020: Syntheses of monosaccharide building blocks and their application for the synthesis of chondroitin sulfate disaccharides.
Dr. Rajkamal, 2017: Syntheses, characterization and applications of arabinose based low molecular weight organogels

Research Supervision (PhD ongoing)

Sacchidanand Pandey, ongoing: Asymmetric Synthesis using carbohydrate based organocatalysts.
Sunil K. Yadav, ongoing: Synthesis of Chondroitin Sulfate oligosaccharides.
Arup Bairagi, ongoing: Transition metal catalyzed reactions.
Rajib Bera, ongoing: Asymmetric catalysis.
Esraphil Hossain, ongoing: Transition metal catalyzed reactions.
Rintu Sk. ongoing: Carbohydrate Synthesis.