Collaboration as a Key to Advance Capabilities for Earth-Abundant Metal Catalysis

Earth-abundant metal (EAM) catalysis can have profound impact in the pharmaceutical industry in terms of sustainability and cost improvements from replacing precious metals like palladium as well as harnessing the differential reactivity of first-row metals that allows for novel transformations to enable more efficient routes to clinical candidates. The strategy for building these capabilities within the process group at Bristol Myers Squibb is described herein, with the general plan of building a reaction screening platform, demonstrating scalability, and increasing mechanistic understanding of the reaction and catalyst activation. The development of catalytic transformations utilizing nickel, cobalt, and iron is described while highlighting the importance of collaboration with internal and external groups to advance EAM catalysis and impact our portfolio. The challenges and benefits of working with first-row transition metals, including metrics for the implementation of EAM catalysis, such as cost, process mass intensity, and commercial availability of catalysts and ligands, are discussed.