Dr. J. Enrique Oltra Ferrero  

 
  J. E. Oltra was born in Quatretonda, Valencia (Spain). He graduated in Pharmacy and, in 1987, obtained his PhD at the University of Granada (UGR). Subsequently he spent a postdoctoral stay in the Institut de Chimie des Substances Naturelles (CNRS) at Gif-sur-Yvette (France), under the supervision of Prof. P. Potier. From 1990 to 2007 he was lecturer at the Department of Organic Chemistry of the UGR, and in February 2008 he promoted to the position of Full Professor. His current research interest focuses on the development and applications of novel, high throughput methods in organic synthesis.



Recent selected publications:
 

-"Ti-Catalyzed Reformatsky-Type Coupling between -Halo Ketones and Aldehydes" R. E. Estévez, M. Paradas, A. Millán, T. Jiménez, R. Robles, J. M. Cuerva, J. E. Oltra J. Org. Chem. 2008, 73, 1616-1619.

-Sodium Tetramethoxyborate: An Efficient Catalyst for Michael Additions of Stabilized Carbon Nucleophiles  J. Org. Chem. 2007, 72, 8127-8130.

-Unprecedented Hydrogen Transfer from Water to Alkenes and Alkynes Mediated by Ti(III) and Late Transition Metals  Org. Lett. 2007, 9, 2195-2198.

-Stereocontrolled Coupling between Aldehydes and Conjugated Alkenals Mediated by Ti^III/H₂O. Org. Lett. 2006, 8, 5433-5436.

-Water: The Ideal Hydrogen-Atom Source in Free-Radical Chemistry Mediated by Ti(III) and Other Single-Electron-Transfer Metals? Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2006, 45, 5522-5526.

-7-endo Radical Cyclizations Catalyzed by Titanocene(III). Straightforward Synthesis of Terpenoids with Seven-Membered Carbocycles. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2005, 127, 14911-14921.

-Enantiospecific Strategy Towards Oxygen-Bridged Terpenoids: Tandem Transannular-Cyclization and Ring-Contraction Processes. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2005, 44, 319- 322.

-Exploiting PdII and TiIII Chemistry to Obtain γ-Dioxygenated Terpenoids: Synthesis of Rostratone and Novel Approaches to Aphidicolin and Pyripyropene A. J. Org. Chem. 2005, 70, 8265-8272.

-Aromatic Carbonyl Compound Reduction and Pinacol Coupling Processes Mediated by Titanocene(III)/Zn in Water. Synthesis, 2005, 2619-2622.

-Bassianolone: an Antimicrobial Precursor of Cephalosporolides E and F from the Entomoparasitic Fungus Beauveria bassiana. Org. Biomol. Chem. 2005, 3, 1172-1173.

-Total Synthesis of 3-Hydroxy-Drimanes Mediated by Titanocene(III). Evaluation of Their Antifeedant Activity. Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2005, 712-718.

-Unprecedented Barbier-Type Reactions Catalysed by Titanocene(III). Chem. Commun. 2004, 2628-2629.

-General Approach to Polycyclic Meroterpenoids Based on Stille Couplings and Titanocene Catalysis. J. Org. Chem. 2004, 69, 5803-5806.

-Titanocene-Catalyzed Cascade Cyclization of Epoxypolyprenes: Straightforward Synthesis of Terpenoids via Free-Radical Chemistry. Chem. Eur. J. 2004, 10, 1778-1788.

-Titanocene-Catalysed Transannular Cyclisation of Epoxygermacrolides: Enantiospecific Synthesis of Eudesmanolides. In Catalysts for Fine Chemical Synthesis. vol. 3. (S. M. Roberts, J. Xiao, J. Whittall, T. E. Pickett, eds.). Wiley, Chichester, 2004, pp. 196-200.

-Palladium Mediated C-H Activation in the Field of Terpenoids: Synthesis of Rostratone. Tetrahedron Lett. 2004, 45, 4293-4296.

-Unified Synthesis of Eudesmanolides, Combining Biomimetic Strategies with Homogeneous Catalysis and Free-Radical Chemistry. Org. Lett. 2003, 5, 1935-1938.

-Titanocene-Catalysed, Selective Reduction of Ketones in Aqueous Media. A Safe, Mild, Inexpensive Procedure for the Synthesis of Secondary Alcohols via Radical Chemistry. Tetrahedon Lett. 2003, 44, 1079-1082.

-Improved GA1 Production by Fusarium fujikuroi. Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 2003, 63, 282-285.

-Synthesis of (+)-8-Deoxyvernolepin and its 11,13-Dihydroderivative. A Novel Reaction Initiated by Sulfene Elimination Leads to the 2-Oxa-cis-Decalin Skeleton. J. Org. Chem. 2002, 67, 5461-5469.

-First Synthesis of Achilleol A Using Titanium(III) Chemistry. Tetrahedron Lett. 2002, 43, 2793-2796.

-Effects of Solvents and Water in Ti(III)-Mediated Radical Cyclizations of Epoxigermacrolides. Straightforward Synthesis and Absolute Stereochemistry of (+)-3a-Hydroxyreynosin and Related Eudesmanolides. J. Org. Chem. 2002, 67, 2566-2571.

-Sterols in erg Mutants of Phycomyces: Metabolic Pathways and Physiological Effects. Steroids, 2002, 67, 403-409.

-Bioactive Metabolites from a Marine Derived Strain of the Fungus Emericella variecolor. J. Nat. Prod. 2002, 65, 364-367.