The Synthesis-Group, headed by Professor Robert Franzén emphasizes the catalyst industry as an important economic driving force. Specifically, catalysts play vital roles in the areas of oil refining, petrochemicals, polymers, fine chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and environmental applications. There is a increasing need in the pharmaceutical industry for very selective synthesis, including single enantiomer production. Annual chiral drug sales have already exceeded $100 billion and are rising at a rapid rate. This has sparked vigorous activity in asymmetric catalysis. Enantioselective synthesis offers a very favorable alternative to carrying out extra enantiomer separation steps. Professor Franzén’s teaching and research activity is focused on industrial organic chemistry and use of catalysts in different chemical processes. Recently Franzén and his co-workers at TUT and at Shenyangs Pharmaceutical University, China, have developed novel methods for the preparation and use of novel boronic species suitable for selected palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions. In focus has been the very useful and efficient Suzuki reaction. Using the method, several NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) such as Felbinac, Fenbufen, Flurbiprofen, Xenbucin and Diflunisal and have been reported.
The research interests in the Franzén Group ranges across the synthesis of drug molecules and biological active natural products to the discovery and development of new synthetic methods, with particular interest in organometallic chemistry. In collaboration with researchers at Chiba University, Japan, Professor Franzén during years 2007 – 2010 reported a method for the catalytic asymmetric total synthesis of the natural product Tangutorine, the only known natural product that possesses a benz[f]indolo[2,3-a]quinolizidine skeleton with three chiral centers. Interestingly, tangutorine exhibits cytotoxic activity against human colon cancer HT-29 cells. The key-reaction in this preparation is a highly-efficient enantioselective allylic amination procedure, that further is studied since 2008 at TUT in addition to other very efficient C-C and C-N bond forming reactions such as alkylations.