Anita Mattson received her B.S. from Northern Michigan University in 2002 where she studied polarity reversal catalysis in the context of radical reactions with Professor Frankie Ann McCormick.  As a graduate student at Northwestern University she joined the group of Professor Karl Scheidt and developed new thiazolium-based strategies for acyl anion addition reactions.  In 2007 she completed her Ph.D. and became an NIH postdoctoral fellow in Professor Michael Crimmins’ group at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she investigated a highly convergent approach toward hemibrevetoxin B.  Mattson joined the faculty of The Ohio State University in 2009 as an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry. 

Research in the Mattson Group is centered on new method development and complex molecule synthesis.  One key focus of our research is the preparation of important synthetic building blocks using new transformations catalyzed by small organic molecules.  Of particular interest is the development of reactions catalyzed by organic molecules through non-covalent interactions.  Our new methods are applied toward the synthesis of naturally occurring bioactive targets.  

New Classes of Non-Covalent Catalysts.  Reactions catalyzed by small organic molecules through non-covalent interactions are emerging as useful strategies to construct important synthetic building blocks.  Our studies include the design and development of new classes of non-covalent catalysts.  Recently, we have introduced boronate ureas as new family of hydrogen bond donor catalysts benefiting from increased activity as a result of the strategic placement of an internal Lewis acid.  Boronate ureas offer rate enhancements of up to 10x that of conventional urea catalysts!

Unique Reactivity Patterns of Hydrogen Bond Donors.  Recent progress in the area of non-covalent catalysis has demonstrated that hydrogen bond donors are excellent catalysts for a number of interesting transformations. To date, the development of processes catalyzed through hydrogen-bonding interactions has mainly focused on activating appropriate functional groups contained within electrophiles.  The success observed with this single type of transformation suggests a huge potential exists to develop new reaction manifolds in which hydrogen bond donors catalyze operations through entirely different mechanisms.  Our investigations will include developing unique reactivity patterns of hydrogen-bonding catalysts that will result in new and efficient methods to access valuable compounds with important medicinal applications.  

Synthesis and Study of Bioactive Targets. New discoveries in the area of chemical synthesis are critical for the advancement of medicine and improvement of human health. Investigations into the total syntheses of naturally occurring bioactive compounds have a number of advantages including: the discovery of new chemical reactions to enable more rapid and improved access to pharmaceutically-relevant compounds, identification of new drug candidates and the development of more potent and selective treatments.  We will focus on the total syntheses of naturally-occurring molecules that can be explored as potential therapeutic agents.

So, S. S; Burkett, J. A.; Mattson, A. E. "Internal Lewis Acid Assisted Hydrogen Bond Donor Catalysis" Org. Lett. 2011, 13, asap.

Crimmins, M. T.; Shamszad, M.; Mattson, A. E. "A Highly Convergent Approach toward (-)–Brevenal" Org. Lett. 2010, 12, 2614-2617.

Mathies, A.; Mattson, A. E.; Scheidt, K. A.* “Intermolecular Crossed-Acyloin Reactions by Fluoride-Promoted Additions of O-Silyl Thiazolium Carbinols,” Synthesis, 2009, 377-383.

Mattson, A. E.; Scheidt, K. A.* “Nucleophilic Acylation of Quinone Methides: An Umpolung Strategy for the Synthesis of a-Aryl Ketones and Benzofurans” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2007, 129, 4508-4509.

Mattson, A. E.; Bharadwaj, A. R.; Zuhl, A.; Scheidt, K. A.* “Thiazolium-Catalyzed Reactions of Acylsilanes: New Strategies for Acyl Anion Addition Reactions” J. Org. Chem. 2006, 71, 5715-5724.

Mattson, A. E.; Zuhl, A. M.; Reyonlds, T.; Scheidt, K. A.* “Direct Nucleophilic Acylation of Nitroalkenes Promoted by a Fluoride Anion/Thiourea Combination” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2006, 128, 4932-4933.

Mattson, A. E.; Scheidt, K. A.* “Catalytic Addition of Acylsilanes to Phosphorylimines: An Acyl Anion Approach to a-Amino Ketones,” Org. Lett. 2004, 6, 4363-4366.

Mattson, A. E.; Bharadwaj, A. R.; Scheidt, K. A.* “The Thiazolium-Catalyzed Sila-Stetter Reation: Conjugate Addition of Acylsilanes to Unsaturated Esters and Ketones,” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2004, 126, 2314-2315.