Alessandra LATTANZI | Curriculum

Alessandra Lattanzi was born in Rome. She graduated with honours and earned her PhD degree from University of Rome "La Sapienza". In 1996 she was appointed Lecturer at University of Salerno. As a visiting scientist she joined the groups of prof. V. K. Aggarwal at University of Sheffield (UK, 1999-2000) and Dr. N. E. Leadbeater at King's College in London (2001). In 2005 she was promoted to Associate Professor. In 2013 she qualified as Full Professor in organic chemistry (2012 National Italian application). In 2019 she was promoted to the rank of Full Professor of Organic Chemistry. From 2013 up to 2018 she has been the Coordinator of the Chemistry and Biology Department at University of Salerno for Piano Lauree Scientifiche (MIUR supported National Plan to improve enrolment of high school students at university in Chemistry). From 2014 up to march 2018, she has been Member of the Patents and Technological Transfer Office Committee of Salerno University. From 2018 up to 2021 she had been the Director of Graduate Programs in Chemistry at Salerno University. Her research interests are in the areas of i) asymmetric organocatalysis, with a focus on the synthesis of small to medium heterocyclic compounds containing oxygen, nitrogen and sulfur atoms. One-pot approaches are developed under sustainable reaction conditions with a view to prepare bioactive compounds; ii) stereoselective metal- and organocatalysed oxidations of alkenes and sulfur-containing compounds to prepare epoxides, hydroxylated compounds and sulfoxides; iii) collaborative interdisciplinary research on “ molecular chirality” for the description of chiral structures through algebraic and geometrical methods. She published over 140 papers including invited contributions for special issues and reviews in international journals and book chapters. She had been member of the European COST Action CM0905 (Organocatalysis). She acts as grant reviewer for American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund, ANR, Czech and Polish Science Foundations, MUR (Italian Ministry of Research), Estonian Research Council.

Teaching: Advanced Organic Chemistry (Master level), Organic Chemistry I (module 2) and Exercises module (Bachelor level), Organocatalysis (PhD level)

Selected publications (for the complete list, see the italian web page at Pubblicazioni Section):

1. Battaglia, V.; Meninno, S.; Astone, A.; Lattanzi, Catalytic asymmetric approach to 1,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1,4-benzodiazepin-2-ones in one-pot ChemCatChem 2024, e202400481. Highlighted in ChemistryViews

2. Battaglia, V.; Meninno, S.; Lattanzi, A: One-pot catalytic synthesis of optically active drug (S)-clopidogrel Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2023, 26, e202300744. Selected by the Editorial Office as Very Important Publication (VIP) and for Front Cover of the Issue. Amongst the Most Accessed EurJOC Articles in october 2023.

3. Battaglia, V.; Meninno, S.; Pellegrini, A.; Mazzanti, A.; Lattanzi, A. Single-flask enantioselective synthesis of a-amino acid esters by organocatalysis Org. Lett. 2023, 25, 5038-5043. (Top 10 most downloaded articles in july-august 2023 in Org Lett. Highlighted in Synfacts 10.1055/s-0042-1752193) and in Organic Chemistry Portal (https://www.organic-chemistry.org/Highlights/2024/08July.shtm)

4. Meninno, S.; Lattanzi, A. Asymmetric catalytic access to piperazin-2-ones and morpholin-2-ones in a one-pot approach: rapid synthesis of an Intermediate to Aprepitant J. Org. Chem. 2023, 88, 7888-7892 invited for the Special Issue: Modern Enantioselective Catalysis in Organic Chemistry. (Highlighted in Synfacts 10.1055/s-0042-1752891).

5. Franco, F.; Meninno, S; Overgaard, J.; Rossi, S.; Benaglia, M.; Lattanzi, A. Catalytic enantioselective entry to triflones featuring a quaternary stereocenter Org. Lett. 2022, 24, 4371-4376.

6. Volpe, C.; Meninno, S.; Crescenzi, C.; Mancinelli, M.; Mazzanti, A.; Lattanzi, A. Catalytic enantioselective access to dihydroquinoxalinones via formal a-halo acyl halide synthon in one pot Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2021, 60, 23819-23826. Selected by the Editorial Office as Hot Paper

7. Meninno, S.; Franco, F.; Benaglia, M.; Lattanzi, A. Pyrazoleamides in catalytic asymmetric reactions: recent advances Adv. Synth. Catal. 2021, 363, 3380-3410. Selected by the Editorial Office as Very Important Publication (VIP) and for Front Cover of the Issue.

8. Meninno, S.; Volpe, C.; Lattanzi, A. Diaryl prolinols in stereoselective catalysis and synthesis: an update ChemCatChem 2019, 11, 3716-3729. Invited paper for the special issue "Women of Catalysis".

9. Meninno, S.; Mazzanti, A.; Lattanzi, A. Asymmetric synthesis of pyrazolone fused spirocyclohexeneimines via a vinylogous Michael/cyclization cascade reaction Adv. Synth. Catal. 2019, 361, 79-84. Top dowloaded paper 2018-2019.
10. Meninno, S.; Lattanzi, A. Organocatalytic asymmetric reactions of epoxides: recent progress Chem. Eur. J. 2016, 22, 3632-3642. Invited Minireview for the special issue "Women in Chemistry"
11. Meninno, S.; Vidal-Albalat, A.; Lattanzi, A. Asymmetric epoxidation of alkylidenemalononitriles: key step for one-pot approach to enantioenriched 3-substituted piperazin-2-ones Org. Lett. 2015, 17, 4348-4351.
12. Meninno, S.; Capobianco A., Peluso A., Lattanzi, A. One-pot highly diastereoselective annulation to N-unprotected tetrasubstituted 2-pyrrolines Green Chem. 2015, 17, 2137-2140. Invited article for the themed issue Elemental Recovery and Sustainability
13. Meninno, S.; Napolitano, L., Lattanzi, A. Catalytic enantioselective synthesis of a-nitroepoxides via aminolytic kinetic resolution Catal. Sci. Technol. 2015, 5, 124-128.

14. Della Sala, G.; Lattanzi, A. Asymmetric catalytic routes to dialkyl peroxides and oxaziridines ACS Catal. 2014, 4, 1234-1245.
15. Meninno, S.; Lattanzi, A. Asymmetric organocatalysis mediated by diaryl prolinols: recent advances Chem. Commun. 2013, 49, 3821-3832.
16. Meninno, S.; Croce, G.; Lattanzi, A. Asymmetric synthesis of trisubstituted tetrahydrothiophenes bearing a quaternary stereocenter via double Michael reaction involving dynamic kinetic resolution Org. Lett. 2013, 15, 3436-3439. This publication has been highlighted by Organic Chemistry Portal at: http://www.organic-chemistry.org/Highlights/2014/28July.shtm
17. Russo, A; De Fusco, C.;Lattanzi, A. Organocatalytic asymmetric oxidations with hydrogen peroxide ChemCatChem 2012, 4, 901-916. Invited article for the special issue Organocatalysis
18. De Fusco, C.; Fuoco, T.; Croce, G.; Lattanzi, A. Noncovalent organocatalytic synthesis of enantioenriched terminal aziridines with a quaternary stereogenic center. Org. Lett. 2012, 14, 4078-4081.
19. Lattanzi, A.; De Fusco, C.; Russo, A.; Poater, A. Cavallo, L. Hexafluorobenzene: a powerful solvent for a noncovalent stereoselective organocatalytic Michael addition reaction. Chem. Commun. 2012, 48, 1650-1652. Invited article for the themed issue Organocatalysis
20. Capobianco, A.; Russo, A.; Lattanzi, A.; Peluso, A. On the mechanism of asymmetric epoxidation of enones catalysed by diaryl prolinols: a theoretical insight. Adv. Synth. Catal. 2012, 354, 2789-2796.
21. De Fusco, C.; Lattanzi, A. Quinine catalysed double Michael addition of malononitrile to 1,5-disubstituted pentadien-3-ones: a stereoselective route to cyclohexanones. Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2011, 3728-3731. Invited article for the special issue Women in Chemistry.
22. Lattanzi, A. Enantioselective epoxidation of enones promoted by diphenyl prolinol as bifunctional organocatalyst. Org. Lett. 2005, 7, 2579-2582.
23. Lattanzi, A.; Iannece, P.; Vicinanza, A.; Scettri, A. Renewable camphor-derived hydroperoxide: synthesis and use in asymmetric epoxidation of allylic alcohols. Chem. Commun. 2003, 1440-1442.
24. Capozziello, S.; Lattanzi, A. Algebraic structure of central molecular chirality starting from Fischer projections. Chirality 2003, 15, 466-471.
25. Capozziello, S.; Lattanzi, A. From Fischer projections to quantum mechanics of tetrahedral molecules: new perspective in chirality. Adv. Quantum Chem. 2005, 49, 227-247.
26. Lattanzi, A. Oxidation of sulfides. In Stereoselective Science of Synthesis, Thieme-Verlag, Stuttgart, 2011, p. 973-1011.
27. Lattanzi, A. Oxidation of sulfur, selenium, tellurium. In Comprehensive Organic Synthesis II Edition, (Molander, G.; Knochel P. Eds.), Vol. 7, Oxford: Elsevier, 2014, p. 837-879.
28. Meninno, S.; Lattanzi, A. Prolinols and Their Carbon Ethers as Asymmetric Organocatalysts. In Sustainable Catalysis, Part 1, (North, M. Ed.), RSC, 2015, p.140-165.

Edited books: Asymmetric Synthesis of Three-Membered Rings, (Editors: Pellissier, H.; Lattanzi, A.; Dapozzo, R.), Wiley-VCH, 2017.

Awards

2024 Italian Chemical Society (SCI)-Division of Organic Chemistry Research Award in Methodology Development in Organic Chemistry (https://www.soc.chim.it/it/divisioni/organica/medaglie_premi/albi/premi2016)

2009 Tetrahedron: Asymmetry "Most Cited Paper 2006-2009 Award"

Editorial Advisory Board Membership: Tetrahedron Chem (Elsevier), since 2021; European Journal of Organic Chemistry (Wiley), since 2023

Outreach: RaiRadio3 Science interview on Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2021 (in italian) (http://creativemedia4-rai-it.akamaized.net/podcastcdn/Rai/audiocut/15313078_1800.mp3)

In Media: ChemistryViews interview on our ChemCatChem 2024 article https://www.chemistryviews.org/asymmetric-synthesis-of-tetrahydro-14-benzodiazepin-2-ones/