Career Summary
Ashraf Ghanem studied Chemistry at the University of Stuttgart, Germany where he conducted his master degree research work with Prof. Franz Effenberger at the Institute of Organic Chemistry on the synthesis of optically active cyanohydrins. In 1999, he received his master degree (MSc) and joined the group of Prof. Rolf D. Schmid at the Institute for Technical Biochemistry, University of Stuttgart and Prof. Uwe Bornscheuer at the University of Greifswald, Germany, where he worked on the lipase-catalyzed kinetic resolution of dl-menthol. In 2000, he was awarded a scholarship from the graduate college of the German Research Council (DFG) to conduct his PhD at the University of Tuebingen, Germany with Prof. Volker Schurig working on the lipase-catalyzed kinetic resolution of racemates. In 2002, he received his PhD and joined the group of Prof. Paul Muller as a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Organic Chemistry, University of Geneva, Switzerland, where he worked on the asymmetric cyclopropanation of olefins using dirhodium catalysts. In 2004, he was appointed scientist head of the Biomedicinal Chemistry Unit, Biological and Medical Research Department, King Faisal Research Centre, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In 2008, he was appointed Pfizer research fellow at ACROSS with Prof. Paul Haddad. His research interest lies in the field of miniaturization of asymmetric catalysis and chiral analysis of pharmaceutical compounds.
Research Interests
1- Application of enantioselective GC, HPLC and CE separation to the asymmetric access to pure compounds.
2- Monolith in pharmaceutical industry.
3- Kinetic resolutions of racemates catalyzed by lipases.
4- Asymmetric access to enantiomerically pure biologically active compounds using metal catalysts.
UnitsSelected Publications:- A. Ghanem, 2007, 'Trends in lipase-catalyzed asymmetric access to enantiomerically pure/enriched compounds', Tetrahedron, 63, pgs. 1721-1754
- A Ghanem, 2006, 'True and False reversal of elution order of barbiturates on a bonded cellulose-based chiral stationary phase', J. Chromatogr. A, 1132, pgs. 329-332
- A. Ghanem, L. Naim, 2006, 'Immobilized versus coated amylose tris-(3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamate) chiral stationary phases for the enantioselective separation of cyclopropane derivatives by liquid chromatography', J. Chromatogr. A, 1101, pgs. 171-178
- A. Ghanem, 2003, 'The utility of cyclodextrins in lipase-catalyzed transesterification in organic solvents: enhanced reaction rate and enantioselectivity', Org. Biomol. Chem, 1, pgs. 1282-1291
- P. Muller, A. Ghanem, 2004, 'Rhodium (II) catalyzed asymmetric cyclopropanation with dimethyl malonate', Org. Letter, 6, pgs. 4347-4350
- A. Ghanem, H.Y. Aboul-Enein, 2004, 'Lipase-mediated chiral resolution of racemates in organic solvents', Tetrahedron: Asymmetry, 15, pgs. 3331-3351
- A. Ghanem, F. Lacrampe, V. Schurig, 2005, 'Rhodium(II)-catalyzed inter- and intramolecular cylopropanation using diazo compounds and phenyl iodonium ylides: Synthesis and Chiral analysis', Helv. Chim. Acta, 88, pgs. 216-239
|
