Home Podcasts Pharm to Table
Pharm to Table

Pharm to Table

LC Campeau, Dani Schultz 53 episodes Oct 19, 2026

A podcast hosted by L.-C. Campeau and Dani Schultz that dives into the stories about the people behind the chemistry and science that happens at #MerckChemistry. Follow us on X (formerly Twitter) at @PharmToTablePod, @DrLCSquare, @danithechemist. Email us comments and suggestions at pharmtotablepod@gmail.com.

Episodes

SE5:E5 - Part 2: Protecting Groups? We Need to Talk: Manufacturing MK-0616 with Enzyme Cascades
SE5:E5 - Part 2: Protecting Groups? We Need to Talk: Manufacturing MK-0616 with Enzyme Cascades Oct 19, 2026 30:43 Part 1 laid out the strategy. Now, it’s time to make the molecule. Four enzymes, one vessel, and plenty of competing amines. What could possibly go wrong? Dani and LC return with Stephanie Galanie, Director in Biocatalysis, and Artis Klapars, Distinguished Scientist in Process Chemistry, for a closer look at the chemistry behind MK-0616 manufacturing.We start with the northern fragment, where maki
SE5:E4 - Part 1: Protecting Groups? We Need to Talk: Manufacturing MK-0616 with Enzyme Cascades
SE5:E4 - Part 1: Protecting Groups? We Need to Talk: Manufacturing MK-0616 with Enzyme Cascades Oct 19, 2026 30:24 How do you design a manufacturing process for a molecule as complex as MK-0616? In Part 1 of this Pharm to Table series, Dani and LC join Stephanie Galanie, Director in Biocatalysis, and Artis Klapars, Distinguished Scientist in Process Chemistry, to discuss the manufacturing route behind their Science paper on biocatalytic cascades for this macrocyclic peptide.We start with a central question: wh
SE5:E3: A Process Chemist's Romance with Scaling a Macrocyclic Peptide
SE5:E3: A Process Chemist's Romance with Scaling a Macrocyclic Peptide Aug 11, 2026 34:30 Last episode, we watched medicinal chemistry dream up enclitide (MK-0616) — this week we find out what happens when someone actually has to make it. Dani and LC are joined by David Thaisrivongs and Gao Shang to unpack their recent JACS paper on the total synthesis of enlicitide, a macrocyclic peptide complex enough to keep company with taxol, vancomycin, and eribulin. Along the way they get into t
SE5:E2: The Macrocyclic Mullet
SE5:E2: The Macrocyclic Mullet Jul 15, 2026 26:39 What happens when the textbook SAR playbook stops working? On this episode of Pharm to Table, Rob Garbaccio joins Dani and LC to share the discovery story behind enlicitide (MK-0616), a journey filled with unusual SAR, creative problem-solving, and plenty of chemistry twists along the way. From issue-driven drug design to non-canonical amino acids and modular synthesis strategies, this conversatio
SE5:E1 - A Journey of Synthetic Chemistry Innovations at Merck
SE5:E1 - A Journey of Synthetic Chemistry Innovations at Merck May 18, 2026 41:17 To kick off Season 5, Dani and LC discuss a recent perspective published in the Journal of Organic Chemistry that highlights innovations in synthetic chemistry which trace their origins to the work of discovering, developing and commercializing novel therapeutics. This publication was the most accessed paper published in JOC in 2025!Dani and LC explore the motivations on writing it, its main thesi
SE4:E8: From Discovery to Process, Part 2: Getting Ugi with it - scaling a 3CL protease inhibitor
SE4:E8: From Discovery to Process, Part 2: Getting Ugi with it - scaling a 3CL protease inhibitor Mar 23, 2026 31:14 In Part 2 of our Pharm to Table deep dive on MK‑7845, Dani and LC shift from invention to implementation, welcoming process chemists Nastaran Salehi Marzijarani and Ben Turnbull to the pod. We explore how the team re‑imagined the synthesis to enable robust, scalable supply—and why a classic multicomponent reaction you probably remember from school, the Joullié–Ugi reaction, ended up stealing the s
SE4:E7: From Discovery to Process, Part 1: Building a 3CL Protease Inhibitor Through Smart Fluorine Placement and Design Intuition
SE4:E7: From Discovery to Process, Part 1: Building a 3CL Protease Inhibitor Through Smart Fluorine Placement and Design Intuition Feb 2, 2026 29:07 In this first installment of our two‑part Pharm to Table special on MK‑7845, Dani and LC sit down with medicinal chemist Valerie Shurtleff to unpack the discovery journey behind this 3CL protease inhibitor—from early structural insights to an unexpectedly effective difluorobutyl isostere. Val walks us through how the team balanced potency, VLE, metabolic challenges, and design intuition to land on
SE4:E6 - Mechanism-Driven Innovation in Process Research: Yining Ji Chen’s Road as a Rising Star
SE4:E6 - Mechanism-Driven Innovation in Process Research: Yining Ji Chen’s Road as a Rising Star Nov 10, 2025 30:54 Join us for a conversation with Yining Ji Chen, recipient of the 2025 ACS Rising Star Award, on how mechanistic insight powers innovation in pharmaceutical process research. We dive into her career journey and standout projects—from Pd-catalyzed C–N coupling for HCV therapy to dynamic phosphorylation in nucleotide synthesis—plus her creation of LED‑NMR for real-time photochemical reaction monitori
SE4:E5 - Evolution of a Green Chemistry Trailblazer
SE4:E5 - Evolution of a Green Chemistry Trailblazer Oct 13, 2025 37:22 In this episode, Dani and LC welcome Jeff Moore, recipient of the 2025 ACS Affordable Green Chemistry Award, to discuss his pioneering work in biocatalysis at Merck. The conversation explores the evolution (pun intended) of biocatalytic processes in pharmaceutical manufacturing, highlighting key milestones such as the adoption of transaminases and imine reductases, and their impact on drug synthes
SE4:E4 - MedChem Masters: Molecules, Mentors and Mindsets
SE4:E4 - MedChem Masters: Molecules, Mentors and Mindsets Aug 19, 2025 35:53 In this episode, Dani and LC interview Dr. Shane Krska, recipient of the ACS Arthur C. Cope Award, and Dr. Petr Vachal, recipient of the ACS Earle B. Barnes Award for Leadership in Chemical Research Management. Shane shares his pioneering work in catalytic methods and high-throughput experimentation (HTE) for drug discovery, while Petr discusses his leadership role driving innovation at Merck. The
S4:E3 - London Calling ... Spirocycles
S4:E3 - London Calling ... Spirocycles May 19, 2025 33:48 This month we sit down with Damien Valette, Olivia Boyd and David Petrone to chat about their latest paper in Organic Letters on the desymmetrization of prochiral dienones to control all-carbon quaternary centers. This reaction leverages biocatalysis, specifically an ene-reductase [ERED] enzymes (which are making their second appearance on the pod - see S1:E5).David, Damien and Olivia walk us thro
S4:E2 - Making Sulfur Smell like Success!
S4:E2 - Making Sulfur Smell like Success! Apr 21, 2025 26:40 Join us on the Pharm to Table podcast for a delightful chat with Ethan Wappes from our South San Francisco site, as we dive into the exciting world of thiophene synthesis! Ethan is a member of our Discovery Process Chemistry group and worked alongside medicinal chemists to devise a better synthetic route towards substituted thiophenes. Ethan shares insights from his recent Org. Lett. on a novel Rh

Recommended