Pharm to Table

SE5:E1 - A Journey of Synthetic Chemistry Innovations at Merck May 18, 2026 00:41:17 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 Mar 23, 2026 00:31:14 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 Feb 2, 2026 00:29:07 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 Nov 10, 2025 00:30:54 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 Oct 13, 2025 00:37:22 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 Aug 19, 2025 00:35:53 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 May 19, 2025 00:33:48 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! Apr 21, 2025 00:26:40 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

S4:E1 Chemistry Unplugged: Listener Q&A and Future Insights Jan 27, 2025 00:28:57 We're kicking off Season 4 (holy cow!) by having a lively discussion answering listener questions on everything from our favorite Boc deprotection methods to the role of AI in the world of chemistry. We also share how flow chemistry is being used in discovery and process chemistry and conclude with what we feel would be disruptive chemistry innovations that could shape 2025. Plus, find out how

S3:E10 - Look what ADCs made us do Nov 18, 2024 00:36:09 Antibody drug conjugates, or ADCs, are all the rage in the industry right now and chemists play an important role in their development. This month we sat down with Serge Ruccolo and Marion Emmert to talk about their papers in this area. Their work addresses two main challenges of ADC development: 1) potent handling of cytotoxic payloads and 2) selective unmasking of cysteine residues to enable con

S3:E9 - Surfing peptide production by going with the flow Oct 17, 2024 00:32:50 Ready to go with the flow? Then this episode is for you! In this episode, we dive into the exciting world of Continuous-Flow Solid-Phase Peptide Synthesis (CF-SPPS) with special guests Kyle Ruhl and Mike DiMaso. We kick off the episode with a brief overview on various techniques used to synthesize peptides and how each method fits within the drug discovery/development timeline. From there, we serv

S3:E8 - So you think you want to start a chemistry podcast? Sep 16, 2024 00:26:13 Join Dani and LC as they peel back the layers on podcasting in chemistry. This insightful episode dives into their recently published Organic Letters editorial "Should You Start a Chemistry Podcast?" with special contributor and corresponding author Matt Horwitz from Synthesis Workshop sharing his unique perspective. But that's not all - get ready for an artistic twist as Brendan Bu

S3:E7 - Your Rx for a Pharma Job: Insider Secrets (Part 2) Aug 5, 2024 00:24:58 Time for the main course! Our #MerckChemistry hiring experts are dishing out more savory tips to help you get hired in pharma. In this second part, they'll guide you through mastering the job talk, nailing those crucial on-site interviews, and evaluating offers strategically. Learn how to deliver an engaging presentation, handle tough questions, and leave a lasting impression. Get advice on n

S3:E6 - Your Rx for a Pharma Job: Insider Secrets (Part 1) Jul 10, 2024 00:26:46 Looking to kickstart your career in the pharmaceutical industry? This episode is a must-listen! We have special guests Jamie McCabe Dunn, Val Shurtleff and our very own Dani Schultz - hiring managers in Discovery and Process Chemistry - to share insider tips. In part 1 we talk about building a rock-solid network, crafting a standout CV that gets noticed, and acing those crucial first interviews. W

S3:E5 - When Robots Work-It-Up! Jun 5, 2024 00:34:49 Alexandra Sun and Harrison Rose join the pod to share their work on a vision-guided automated liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) platform. That's right, before our robot overlords overtake us, they are going to help chemists and engineers with work-ups first! Even though it's often taken for granted, liquid-liquid extractions are part of virtually every chemical reaction for product isolation.

S3:E4 - "Asta La Vista, Baby" - The Aminator Apr 22, 2024 00:21:27 Patrick Fier and Suhon Kim join the pod to share their lates collaboration on a new C-N cross-coupling protocol which leverages a novel multifunctional template reagent. The work emerged from a side-project that started many years ago on the creation of the "Aminator" reagent which inspired the latest reaction. The couplings have very broad scope and Suhong and Patrick explain their motivation for

S3:E3 - A chemist, a physicist and an enzyme walk into a bar... Feb 20, 2024 00:34:48 Nadine Kuhl (process chemist) and Jacob Forstater (engineer and physicist) join the pod to share a pretty neat story that had its origins from a chemical catalog brochure advertising a new and green solvent called Cyrene. From that brochure blossomed a really amazing biocatalytic transamination to make a key chiral amine building block. In order to make this process more robust and tolerant of org

S3:E2 - Barton-McCombie Beware! Jan 15, 2024 00:34:48 Charles Yeung (@Charles_chem) joins the pod to share some of the latest results from a collaboration with Prof. Wickens' lab (@WickensGroup) at the University of Wisconsin Madison. In their latest paper published in Angewandte Chemie, they disclose a practical and general protocol for alcohol dehydrogenation - putting the Barton-McCombie on notice! The work was supported by a Merck post-doctor

S3.E1: All I Want for the holidays are cross-couplings, collaborations and cookies!! Dec 11, 2023 00:19:50 For our special Holiday extravaganza, Dani and LC share their holiday plans before diving into the cookie jar of questions from some of our favorite listeners! How is R&D in industry similar to and different from how research is done in academia? (@DrSauce96) What is the most annoying academic misconception about work in the pharmaceutical industry? (@Teachforaliving) What things do yo

S2.E8: Peptides, Cross-Electrophile Coupling and Maple Syrup! Jul 17, 2023 00:35:12 For this month's episode, Dani and LC serve up a recently published JACS article on Ni-catalyzed pyridinium cross-electrophile coupling for non-canonical amino acid synthesis and peptide late-stage functionalization which was done in collaboration with Professor Mary Watson’s group. In this episode, Dani and LC share the importance of investing in non-canonical amino acid chemistry with #Merc

S2.E7: So Far, So Cyanide: Green, air-tolerant and robust cyanation reactions. Jun 15, 2023 00:30:26 For this month's episode, Dani and LC go all in on Ni-catalyzed cyanations with Caleb Hethcox who recently published 2 papers on the topic - one with a phenomenal intern, Geraldo Duran-Camacho. Caleb shares how the internal team first identified this challenge and the solutions they explored to replace precious metal catalysts for cyanation reactions! Ultimately, the team identified a Ni-cata

S2:E6 - The Catalysis Laboratory at Merck: 20 Years of Catalyzing Innovation (Part 3) May 22, 2023 00:31:20 Dr. Becky Ruck joins Dani and LC for the grand finale of our journey reviewing the history of the Merck Catalysis Laboratory. She highlights how her background in physical organic chemistry led to deeper role of understanding mechanism and kinetics in development of reactions - a strength of Becky's which ultimately influenced the direction of the Catalysis group. Becky also gives a forward lo

Snack: The Catalysis Laboratory at Merck - 20 Years of Catalyzing Innovation (Part 2) Apr 24, 2023 00:10:09 L.-C. and Dani talk about the next era in the Catalysis Lab's evolution, highlighting the democratization of high-throughput experimentation tools for end-users and the development of nanomole-scale HTE. It was also in this period that the Catalysis Laboratory's expanded its capabilities in photochemistry developing screening tools to invent and scale-up novel photochemical synthetic metho

S2:E5 - The Catalysis Laboratory at Merck: 20 Years of Catalyzing Innovation (Part 1) Apr 10, 2023 00:36:44 In this month's episode, and our 1st of 3 parts dedicated the 20th anniversary of Merck's Catalysis Laboratory, Dani and L.-C. sit down and chat with Shane Krska (@swkrska) who was one of the founding members of the Catalysis Laboratory. Shane walks us through the genesis of the group, its early impact on our projects and people. In this first 10 years of the laboratory, there was a heavy

S2.E4: The Total Synthesis of Darobactin A (or is it Davobactin?) Feb 28, 2023 00:34:49 For this month's episode, Dani and LC dive into the challenges of strained cyclic peptide synthesis with Niki Patel and Dave Petrone who recently completed the total synthesis of Darobactin A in collaboration with Professor Sarlah's group at UIUC. Now this wasn't Merck's first foray into natural product total synthesis, in fact Darobactin A is part of a rich legacy of total syntheses at Merck that

S2.E3: All I Want for Christmas Is Candy, Chainsaws, Chemistry and ANSWERS! Dec 22, 2022 00:25:25 For our special Holiday extravaganza, Dani and LC reminisce about the holidays while in grad school (think candy throw downs and chainsaws) before diving into the cookie jar of questions from some of our favorite listeners!    What is a good way to figure out if you'd be a better fit for a medicinal chemistry or process chemistry role? (@billthechemist) What do you know now that you w

S2.E2: Enabling medicinal chemistry knowledge exchange with #ChemistryWizards (not trolls) Dec 7, 2022 00:36:21 For S2E2, we’re joined by drug hunting legends Doug Beshore and Izzat Raheem who recently co-authored a recent (and popular) paper in J. Med. Chem. on building a culture of knowledge exchange.  Ironically, it’s easier to learn through the literature than from your organization, colleagues or group members - especially if colleagues have taken on different roles. As a result, building and main

S2.E1: No Bald Eagles We're Harmed in the Recording of this Podcast Nov 1, 2022 00:32:30 We kick off season 2 with a bang, talking about complex molecule synthesis with John McIntosh and Nastaran Salehi. Cyclic dinucleotides (CDNs) are a total synthesis fan's dream with 10 stereocenters (including 2 at phosphorus) arranged around a 13 membered macrocycle formed by 2 non-canonical nucleosides. These endogenous secondary messenger molecules have attracted attention because of their acti

S2 Kickoff: Answering Your Questions & S2 Sneak Peak Oct 24, 2022 00:10:16 For our kickoff of Season 2, LC and Dani get together (in person!) to reflect on what’s changed since the Pharm to Table pod started in late 2020, answer a listener question (only 9 months late!) on whether a postdoc is needed for an industrial job, and give a sneak peak on what’s to come for Season 2.  Whether you listen in the car or in the lab - buckle up and don that PPE - as Season 2 is

Snack: What it's Like to Immigrate to the US for Work Jul 18, 2022 00:09:23 Cecilia Bottecchia is originally from Italy and Francois Levesque is native of Canada. Both have had very international pathways during their studies which have ultimately brought them to #MerckChemistry in the US. We asked them to tell us a little bit about this transition and have a little fun with a Canadian vs Italian food quiz!

S1.E10: Hot Tub Flow Time Machine Jul 1, 2022 00:31:36 For the 10th, and final course of season 1, Dani and LC jump in the hot tub flow time machine with Cecilia Bottecchia and Francois Levesque, co-recipient of the Peter Dunn Green Chemistry Award, and learn how to discover, develop and scale-up a photobromination in flow! But don't let this deceptively simple bromination fool you - this reaction turned out to be a full course meal of challenges! We

S1.E9: ChemSpeed, Daft Punk and Twinkly Lights May 9, 2022 00:41:20 For the 9th course, Dani and LC do the robot dance with Melodie Christensen (@chemchristensen on Twitter) #MerckChemistry Enabling Technologies group. Melodie shares her unique career path with us, including her current PhD with @procastiprof - more >10 years after starting her career in pharma. Resident expert in reaction automation, robotics and self-optimizing reactions, Melodie shares her j

Snack: Spring ACS Symposia Organizer Sneak Peak - Taming the Unnatural (amino acids) with Sue Zultanski Mar 21, 2022 00:08:11 ChemTwitter told us it takes 3 minutes to run a TLC plate, so today we‘re bringing you 3 good minutes with Sue Zultanski (Associate Principal Scientist, Discovery Process Chemistry). Sue first joined our #MerckChemistry Discovery group in 2006 before obtaining her PhD and then starting in Merck Process in 2016. Since joining, Sue has sought solutions across boundaries, weaving deep mechanistic und

Snack: Spring ACS Symposia Organizer Sneak Peak - Chemists of Color with Jennifer Obligacion and David Thaisrivongs Mar 14, 2022 00:05:49 ChemTwitter told us it takes 3 minutes to run a TLC plate, so today we‘re bringing you 3 good minutes with David Thaisrivongs (Director) and Jenny Obligacion (Associate Principal Scientist) from our Rahway, NJ Process Chemistry group. David and Jenny tell us about a symposia featuring Outstanding Chemists of Color, their motivation for creating this event and the broader implications highlighting

Snack: Spring ACS Symposia Organizer Sneak Peak - Theory to Therapy with Marion Emmert and Colin Lam Mar 7, 2022 00:08:55 ChemTwitter told us it takes 3 minutes to run a TLC plate, so today we‘re bringing you 3 good minutes with Marion Emmert (Principal Scientist, Catalysis and Enabling Technologies) and Colin Lam (Associate Principal Scientist, Computational and Structural Chemistry). Marion joined #MerckChemistry in 2018 (after a successful career in academia) and has brought her love for catalysis into drug discov

Snack: Spring ACS Symposia Organizer Sneak Peak - BCP's with Xiaoshen Ma Feb 28, 2022 00:06:38 ChemTwitter told us it takes 3 minutes to run a TLC plate, so today we‘re bringing you 3 good minutes with Xiaoshen Ma, Associate Principal Scientist in our Boston Discovery Chemistry group. Xiaoshen joined #MerckChemistry in 2018 and has been influential in advancing drug discovery through the exploration of bicyclo[1.1.1]pentanes (aka BCP's) as bioisosteres for arenes - the work of which is alre

S1.E8: Biocatalytic Cascades, the Rube Goldberg of Chemistry - Fun with Nucleosides : Part 3 Feb 14, 2022 00:34:57 For the 8th course, Dani and LC ride the biocatalytic cascade with Ania Fryszkowska (@fryania on Twitter) and Greg Hughes (@greg_hughes on Twitter) from the #MerckChemistry Process Chemistry group. Greg, a process chemistry pro, kicks off this episode by giving a high-level overview of the drug development process and the differences in designing clinical supply route vs. a final commercial route.

S1.E7: Surfin' the ProTides - Fun With Nucleosides : Part 2 Jan 31, 2022 00:35:19 For the 7th course, Dani and LC serve up a hearty helping of nucleoside chemistry with Artis Klapars and Dan DiRocco from the #MerckChemistry Rahway NJ Process Chemistry group. We tee off this episode by diving into the ProTide pool to find out what exactly ProTides are why they are so important for the development of common antiviral and anticancer drugs. Then, Artis and Dan tell us about th

S1.E6: Nuc, Nuc, Nuc'ing on Heaven's Door - Fun With Nucleosides : Part 1 Jan 10, 2022 00:35:27 For the 6th course, Dani and LC serve up a delicious discussion with Steve Silverman (@asymtmm on Twitter) from the #MerckChemistry Kenilworth NJ Discovery Process Chemistry group. Steve tells us about an industrial-academic collaboration he's leading with Professor Rob Britton's laboratory at Simon Fraser University (@BrittonLab on Twitter) where they discovered a short de novo route to nucl

Holiday Snack: All I Want for Christmas Is ... ANSWERS! Dec 20, 2021 00:25:36 For our special Holiday Snack episode we invite Eric Ashley (Director of Discovery Process Chemistry, @DrERAChem), Yeon-Hee Lim (Director of Discovery Chemistry, @alchemistyhl) and James Roane (Senior Scientist, Discovery Chemistry) from our South San Francisco research laboratories to join us and answer YOUR questions! What topics or case studies to help students understand drug discovery better?

Snack: #TLCchat with Cecilia Bottecchia, photoflow award winner Nov 15, 2021 00:07:04 ChemTwitter told us it takes 3 minutes to run a TLC plate, so today we‘re brining you 3 good minutes with Cecilia Bottecchia, Senior Scientist in Flow Chemistry group. Cecilia joined #MerckChemistry a little >2 years ago bringing her flow experience to Merck and immediately having an impact  (Google Scholar). She was recently the co-recipient of the Peter Dunn Green Chemistry Award for the

S1.E5: Paint the Town ERED! Nov 1, 2021 00:35:57 For the 5th course, join Dani and LC as they sit down with #MerckChemistry's Meg Shaw and Chihui An to discuss their biocatalytic approach in transforming readily available acrylic acids to chiral α-substituted carboxylic acids - a reoccurring motif in drug development. As this story evolved (no pun intended),  we’ll hear how Meg (Process Chemistry) and Chihui (Biocatalysis) joined forces to

Snack: #TLCchat with Becky Ruck, new topic editor at ACS Catalysis Oct 18, 2021 00:06:36 ChemTwitter told us it takes 3 minutes to run a TLC plate, so today we‘re brining you 3 good minutes with Becky Ruck, Executive Director and Head of Enabling Technologies in Small Molecule Process R&D. Becky has amassed an amazing portfolio of amazing science (Google Scholar) in a variety of roles at #MerckChemistry. She recently took on a role as a Topic Editor for ACS Catalysis to help bring

S1.E4: Does HTE stand for Hazmat Trucking Enforcement? Oct 4, 2021 00:28:17 For our 4th course, we sit down with Dipa Kalyani to chat about her journey from a tenured professor position at St-Olaf to associate principal scientist within our Discovery organization via an academic-industrial collaboration with Dani. This episode explores how pairing state-of-the-art capabilities in HTE (the high-throughput experimentation kind) with great problem selection can lead to a nic

Snack: #TLCchat with Patrick Fier, newly minted C&EN's Talented 12 for 2021 Sep 20, 2021 00:05:54 ChemTwitter told us it takes 3 minutes to run a TLC plate, so today we‘re brining you 3 good minutes with Patrick Fier, Principal Scientist in Process Chemistry. Patrick has a had a roaring start to his career at Merck in the last 5 years (Google Scholar) and was just named to C&EN's Talented 12 for 2021. Building on this season's Episode 2: Phenols and Sulfonamides are Cool, Patrick returns t

S1.E3: Simon, Garfunkel and the Art of Building N-Aryl Piperidines Sep 6, 2021 00:28:51 For our 3rd course we serve up another #MerckChemistry duo, Libby Hennessy (aka Simon) and Aaron Sather (aka Garfunkel) who join us to discuss their discovery of a new way to access N-(hetero)aryl piperidines. We'll discover how to convince your grandma why piperidines are so important to drug discovery and learn how chemistry advances are made at the interface of Process and Medicinal Chemistry a

Snack: #TLCchat with Jamie McCabe Dunn, lead of process chemistry recruiting Aug 30, 2021 00:05:12 ChemTwitter told us it takes 3 minutes to run a TLC plate, so today we‘re brining you 3 good minutes with Jamie McCabe Dunn, Director of Process Chemistry who, on top of delivering amazing science (Google Scholar), is also leading recruiting of new hires for our Process Chemistry teams. While this episode is short, we get answers to some serious questions such as “Is South Dakota considered t

Snack: #TLCchat with Ania Fryszkowska, bioCAT extraordinaire! Aug 16, 2021 00:07:02 ChemTwitter told us it takes 3 minutes to run a TLC plate, so today we‘re brining you 3 good minutes with Ania Fryszkowska, a biocatalysis whiz who recently co-authored an article in Science on innovative biocatalytic cascades to access sugars (link HERE). While this episode is short, we get answers to some serious questions such as “which Nobel laureate zoom-bombed the Virtual Biocatalysis a

S1.E2: Phenols and Sulfonamides Are Cool! Aug 2, 2021 00:31:12 For our 2nd course, a #winning #MerckChemistry duo, Patrick Fier and Kevin Maloney, join us to discuss their discovery of the Maloney-Fier reaction (campaigning to be in the 2nd edition of the indispensable Strategic Applications of Named Reaction in Organic Synthesis by Kurti/Czako)  as well as other projects they've collaborated on in the last few years. We'll uncover why these two work so

Snack: Origin Story Jul 19, 2021 00:03:23 Every great meal starts with an inspiration.... Find out how Pharm to Table was created from an idea to our release. You'll find out how we gathered all the essential ingredients - including our name, logo, music and also folks that gave us great advice along the way. You will also get to meet a key early contributor, our Merck Future Talent program intern Jimmy Olsen (now a graduate student with

S1.E1: Harder, Better, Faster Jul 5, 2021 00:32:34 For our 1st course (and inaugural episode!!), Dani and L.-C. serve up the true Pharm to Table experience by discussing the importance of academic-industrial collaborations through the lens of their comment piece published in Nature Chemistry titled “Harder, Better, Faster.” This article struck a cord with a lot of folks in the chemistry community (>22k views) and created a social media buz

The Theme Song Jun 28, 2021 00:01:01 Another teaser! Here is our delicious theme song. Thanks to Mark Partridge (twitter: @markrightmedia) for this original piece! One more week to the launch! The 1st episode drops July 5th. Please subscribe so you never miss new content.

Coming Soon! Pharm to Table Podcast Jun 17, 2021 00:02:32 Check out our trailer! Join L.-C. Campeau and Dani Schultz as they explore the amazing stories and people behind the papers from #MerckChemistry. We promise to always bring tasty (pun intended) #MerckChemistry content to our table that is guaranteed to have you coming back for another dose (pun intended, again). Subscribe to get all our new episodes.

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