Dr Mintu Munda

Profile

Dr. Mintu Munda was born in Kolkata, India. He obtained his B.Sc. (Hons.) in Chemistry from Chakdaha College, affiliated to the University of Kalyani, in 2016. He then pursued an M.Sc. in Chemistry at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, where he carried out his master’s thesis under Prof. Ahindra Nag on greener and one-pot syntheses of biologically active compounds.

In 2018, Dr. Munda joined the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Bhopal for his doctoral studies under the guidance of Prof. Alakesh Bisai, with Prof. Aasheesh Srivastava as co-supervisor. His Ph.D. research focused on the total syntheses of indolosesquiterpene alkaloids, including xiamycins A and C–F, advancing synthetic strategies for biologically important natural products.

Following his Ph.D., Dr. Munda joined the Department of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Kansas, United States, in 2024 as a Postdoctoral Researcher in the group of Prof. Shyam Sathyamoorthi. His research focused on the development of catalytic asymmetric methods for the synthesis of β-amino acids and their application to biologically active frameworks.

In the same year, Dr. Munda was awarded the prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship. He subsequently moved to the United Kingdom to join Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) as an MSCA Postdoctoral Researcher in the group of Dr. Stellios Arseniyadis, where his current work explores biohybrid N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) catalysis at the interface of synthetic methodology and chemical biology.

Teaching

Teaching Assistant

2022     CHM 112: Basic Organic Chemistry (Advisor: Dr. Vishal Rai and Dr. Nitin T. Patil). led section discussions for 35 students, wrote & graded exams.

2021     CHM114X: Chemistry Laboratory I (Advisor: Dr. Nitin T. Patil and Dr. Prasanta Ghorai). led section discussions for 25 students, wrote & graded exams.

2020     CHM114X: Chemistry Laboratory I (Advisor: Dr. Vishal Rai & Dr. Dimpy Kalia). led section discussions for 22 students, wrote & graded exams.

Research

Research Interests:

My current research explores biohybrid N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) catalysis at the interface of synthetic methodology and chemical biology.

Examples of research funding:

European Commission’s (EC) Horizon Europe Marie Sklodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship

Publications

“Syntheses of natural and non-natural β-amino acids using racemic and enantioselective sulfamate-tethered aza-Michael cyclization reactions”, Munda, M.; Joshi, H.; Sathyamoorthi, S. Tetrahedron. 2025, 185, 134845.

“Highly Chemoselective Oxidative Dimerization of Indolosesquiterpene Alkaloids: Biomimetic Approach to Dixiamycin”, Munda, M.; ^≠ Mondal, A.; ^≠ Roy, N. K.; Murmu, R.; Niyogi, S.; Bisai, A. Chem. Sci. 2024, 15, 9164−9172.

“Total synthesis of naturally occurring abietane diterpenoids via a late-stage Fe(III)-bTAML catalysed Csp³–H functionalization” Munda, M.; Chatterjee, D.; Majhi, M.; Biswas, S.; Pal, D.; Bisai, A. RSC Adv. 2024, 14, 20420− 20424.

“Total syntheses of naturally occurring antiviral indolosesquiterpene alkaloids, xiamycins C–F via Csp³–H functionalization”, Munda, M.; ^≠ Nandi, R.; ^≠ Gavit, V. R.; Kundu, S.; Niyogi, S.; Bisai, A. Chem. Sci. 2022, 13, 11666-11671.

“Electrocatalysis as a Key Strategy for the Total Synthesis of Natural Products”, Munda, M.; Niyogi, S.; Shaw, K.; Kundu, S.; Nandi, R.; Bisai, A. Org. Biomol. Chem. 2022, 20, 727-748.