Abigail Doyle's Research at UCLA: Pioneering Catalysis and Data Science in Organic Synthesis

Introduction

Abigail Doyle is the Saul Winstein Chair in Organic Chemistry at UCLA. Her research group focuses on addressing unsolved problems in organic synthesis through the development of catalysts, catalytic reactions, and synthetic methods. The Doyle Lab conducts research at the interface of organic, organometallic, and physical organic chemistry, enhanced by the use of modern data science and machine learning tools.

Academic and Career Path

Abigail Doyle received her A.B. summa cum laude in chemistry and chemical biology from Harvard University in 2002. She began her graduate studies at Stanford University working with Professor Justin Du Bois before transferring to Harvard University, where she received her PhD in 2008 under the supervision of Professor Eric Jacobsen. Her doctoral thesis was titled "Engaging alkyl halides and oxocarbenium ions in asymmetric catalysis."

In July 2008, Doyle began her independent career as an assistant professor of chemistry at Princeton University. She was promoted to Associate Professor in 2013, and to full Professor with an endowed chair, the A. Barton Hepburn Professor of Chemistry, in 2017. In 2021, she moved to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where she holds the Saul Winstein Chair in Organic Chemistry.

Research Focus and Contributions

The Doyle Lab specializes in organic, computational, and physical organic chemistry. A main priority of the group is to solve problems that the field has with organic synthesis by creating catalytic reactions and synthetic processes. The Doyle lab has addressed unsolved problems in organic synthesis through the development of novel catalysts, catalytic reactions, and synthetic methods. They have also implemented mechanistic and computer-assisted techniques to uncover general chemical principles, predict unseen reactivity, and discover new reactions. Members of the Doyle group learn synthetic, computational, and data science skills through collaborative research within our lab and with our industrial and academic partners.

Nickel-Catalyzed C-C Bond Forming Reactions

A longstanding research interest of the Doyle group is the development of nickel-catalyzed C-C bond forming reactions that utilize unconventional cross-coupling electrophiles, such as epoxides, aziridines, imminium ions, and oxocarbenium ions. The group has developed and mechanistically interrogated new ligands and pre-catalysts for nickel, which have helped to enable these transformations.

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Nucleophilic Fluorination Chemistry

The Doyle group has also been involved in the development of nucleophilic fluorination chemistry allowing the creation of pharmaceutically relevant molecules with sp3-C-F and sp2-C-F bonds.

Application of Data Science and Machine Learning

The Doyle lab conducts research at the interface of organic, organometallic, and physical organic chemistry, enhanced by the use of modern data science and machine learning tools. Her lecture describes her group’s efforts to develop and apply open-source data science tools to numerous aspects of synthetic methodology development, including substrate scope design, ligand discovery, reaction optimization and mechanistic elucidation.

One notable project involved predicting reaction performance in C-N cross-coupling using machine learning, published in Science. Another study focused on Bayesian reaction optimization as a tool for chemical synthesis, published in Nature. Additionally, the group has worked on predicting reaction yields via supervised learning, as detailed in Accounts of Chemical Research.

Awards and Recognition

Some key awards of Doyle's independent career include:

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellowship (2012)
Amgen Young Investigator Award (2012)
Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (2012)
Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award
Elias J. Corey Award for Outstanding Original Contribution in Organic Synthesis by a Young Investigator (2022)
The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation Machine Learning in the Chemical Sciences and Engineering Award (2021)
Blavatnik National Award for Young Scientists (Finalist, 2022)
OMCOS award (2023)

Doyle Lab Culture and Environment

The Doyle lab fosters an inclusive and equitable environment in which all members have the opportunity to reach their highest potential as scientists and as people. The lab is committed to fostering an inclusive and equitable environment in their laboratory, where all members have the opportunity to reach their highest potential as scientists and people. It believes that a diversity of skills, perspectives, and experiences is critical to the success of their program and constitutes their greatest strength as a group. The lab welcomes and values researchers of any race, color, religion, national origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical ability, socioeconomic status, age and more. The goal is to create and maintain a culture where everyone feels they belong and can flourish, through tailored mentorship, interdisciplinary learning, and a collaborative atmosphere.

The Doyle Lab is a founding member of two multi-institutional centers that aim to collaboratively address challenges in the field of catalysis.

When the reactions are quenched and the hoods are closed, the Doyle lab enjoys spending time outside and around town, whether playing some pickup soccer or enjoying a good meal together.

Selected Publications

Doyle, Abigail G.; Jacobsen, Eric N. (2005). "Enantioselective Alkylations of Tributyltin Enolates Catalyzed by Cr(salen)Cl: Access to Enantiomerically Enriched All-Carbon Quaternary Centers". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 127 (1): 62-63.
Doyle, Abigail G.; Jacobsen, Eric N. (2007). "Enantioselective Alkylation of Acyclic α,α-Disubstituted Tributyltin Enolates Catalyzed by a Cr(salen) Complex". Angewandte Chemie International Edition. 46 (20): 3701-3705.
Reisman, Sarah E.; Doyle, Abigail G.; Jacobsen, Eric N. (2008). "Enantioselective Thiourea-Catalyzed Additions to Oxocarbenium Ions". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 130 (23): 7198-7199.
Zuo, Zhiwei; Ahneman, Derek T.; Chu, Lingling; Terrett, Jack A.; Doyle, Abigail G.; MacMillan, David W. C. (2014). "Merging photoredox with nickel catalysis: Coupling of α-carboxyl sp3-carbons with aryl halides". Science. 345 (6195): 437-440.
Ahneman, Derek T.; Estrada, Jesus G. J.; Lin, Shishi; Dreher, Spencer D.; Doyle, Abigail G. (2018). "Predicting reaction performance in C-N cross-coupling using machine learning". Science. 360 (6385): 186-190.
Shields, Benjamin J.; Stevens, Jason; Li, Jun; Parasram, Marvin; Damani, Farhan; Martinez Alvarado, Jesus I.; Janey, Jacob M.; Adams, Ryan P.; Doyle, Abigail G. (2021). "Bayesian reaction optimization as a tool for chemical synthesis". Nature. 590 (7844): 89-96.
Żurański, Andrzej M.; Martinez Alvarado, Jesus I.; Shields, Benjamin J.; Doyle, Abigail G. (2021). "Predicting Reaction Yields via Supervised Learning". Accounts of Chemical Research. 54 (8): 1856-1865.
Fan, Flora; Sedillo, Kassandra F.; Maertens, Alexander J.; Doyle, Abigail G. (2026). "Markovnikov hydroamination of terminal alkenes via phosphine redox catalysis". Nature: 1-2.

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