Professor Soumitra Athavale and alumna Dr. Melissa Ramirez (Ph.D. ’21, Garg and Houk groups), currently an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, are two of four recipients nationwide of the 2025 American Chemical Society (ACS) Green Chemistry Institute Pharmaceutical Roundtable (GCIPR) Ignition grants.
The ACS GCIPR Ignition Grants program, launched in 2016, supports innovative green chemistry projects in academia, connecting academic thought leaders with industry expertise.
According to the announcement, this year’s winners exemplify the spirit of innovation and sustainability. Their projects span cutting-edge catalysis, biocatalysis, and enzyme engineering, all aimed at transforming chemical synthesis for a greener future.
Professor Soumitra Athavale joined the UCLA faculty as an assistant professor in 2023 and holds the John D. and Edith M. Roberts Term Chair in Organic Chemistry.
His project title is “Asymmetric, Biocatalytic Reduction of Unactivated Olefins”. Athavale’s project seeks to redefine biocatalytic hydrogenation by enabling the asymmetric reduction of unactivated olefins—reactions currently inaccessible to traditional enzymes. Using a novel radical-based mechanism called biocatalytic cooperative metal-mediated hydrogen atom transfer (BioHAT), the team will evolve thermostable heme proteins to perform these transformations. The work focuses on engineering protoglobins and other heme scaffolds to create a library of iron-based biocatalysts that operate in water under ambient conditions, offering a sustainable alternative to hazardous metal-catalyzed processes.
Professor Melissa Ramirez received her Ph.D. in organic chemistry at UCLA in 2021, working with Professors Ken Houk and Neil Garg. Ramirez conducted her postdoctoral research at the California Institute of Technology with Professor Brian Stoltz. She joined the Department of Chemistry at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities as an assistant professor in January 2025.
Ramirez’s project title is “Enantioselective Quaternary Carbon Center Synthesis via Cu-Catalyzed Dicarbofunctionalization of N-Tosylhydrazones”. Ramirez’s research introduces a copper-catalyzed method for synthesizing quaternary carbon centers—key structures in bioactive molecules like hyperforin and communesin C. Unlike conventional approaches that rely on costly and less sustainable metals such as rhodium or palladium, this method uses copper for its low toxicity and environmental benefits. By converting ketones into complex molecules through N-tosylhydrazone intermediates and allenyl Cu species, the project aims to create a versatile platform for drug discovery using both experimental and computational techniques.
Penny Jennings, UCLA Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, penjen@g.ucla.edu.
