Skills

Technology Development:

Involved in the upscaling of process from lab scale for the synthesis of FEMA approved flavoring agent, vinyl guaiacol (FEMA No. 2675). The pilot scale technology has been successfully transferred to a reputed aroma industry.

Organic Synthesis:

Multi-step organic synthesis; semi-synthesis of natural bioactive compounds from nature derived precursors; peptide synthesis; skilled in handling temperature, pressure and air sensitive reactions.

Capable of designing reactions from lab scale to pilot plant scale

Green Chemistry:

Competitive and contemporary organic synthesis skills employing microwave and ultrasound; handled both multimode (kitchen microwave) as well as sophisticated monomode (focused) microwave organic synthesizer; expertise in the art of carrying reactions on solid supports; reactions employing heterogeneous catalysis, ionic liquids, superheated water, atom economical reactions etc.

Phytochemical Investigation:

Extraction of natural molecules including bioactive molecules from plant source employing modern techniques such as ultrasound and microwave. Isolation and characterization of pure molecules through various spectroscopic techniques.

Management Skills:

• Assistance and supervision of PhD and postgraduate students.

• Procurement and up keeping of lab instruments, chemicals and solvents.

• Scholar’s representative and Mess secretary during PhD

Work Experience

Teaching Experience (July 2001-Sept. 2003)

Lecturer in chemistry at the senior secondary level

Research Experience

Project Assistant: (from Sept. 2003 to Dec. 2003)

Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (CSIR), Palampur H.P, India. Worked on a project sponsored by Defense Research and Development Organization

Junior Research Fellow/ Senior Research Fellow: (Jan. 2004-Dec. 2007)

Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (I.H.B.T.), CSIR, Palampur H.P, India. (The position was supported by University Grant Commission Delhi, Govt. of India, India) Research field: Chemical Investigations of some Bioactive Phenylethanoids and Phenylpropanoids Employing Green Methodologies.

Post doc fellow: (From Feb. 2008 to Dec. 2009)

European Research Centre for Drug Discovery and Development, Dipartimento farmaco Chimico Technologico, Universitá di Siena, Siena, Italy.
Research Field:

CNS active compound (antipsychotics)

Designing and synthesis of arylalkylpiperazine scafolds involving multistep protocols and their screening/SAR studies for antipsychotic agents.

Anti-tumor agents

Synthesis of Benzodiazepine derivatives involving multi-step peptide synthesis and their screening for anti-tumor activities.

Research Officer (From Jan. 2010 to June 2012)

Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, University of Bath, BA2 7AY, United Kingdom.

Drug Abuse Treatment (Opioid receptor ligands)

Synthesis and screening of naltrexone derivatives as selective MOP/NOP agonist
Synthesis and SAR studies of Buprenorphine derivatives as potential MOP, KOP antagonists/ NOP partial agonists

Education

2007- Ph.D (Organic chemistry)

Thesis entitled “Chemical Investigations of some Bioactive Phenylethanoids and Phenylpropanoids Employing Green Methodologies.” Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) Amritsar, Punjab, India; Supervisor: Dr. Arun K Sinha, Senior Scientist, Natural Plant Products Division, I.H.B.T., CSIR, Palampur 176 061 H.P., India; Email: aksinha8@rediffmail.com

2001 Bachelor of Education (B.Ed)

Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla, India

2000 Master of Science (Organic Chemistry)

Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla, India

1998 Bachelor of Science

Subjects: Chemistry, Physics & Mathematics
Post Graduate College Hamirpur, (H.P. University, Shimla) India.

Awards/Fellowships

Junior Research Fellowship/ Senior Research Fellowship in chemistry, sponsored by University Grant Commission

Delhi, Govt. of India, India, awarded on the basis of National Eligibility Test (NET) in Jan. 2004 for pursuing research.

Post doc Fellowship in Jan. 2008 from University of Siena, Italy

Post doc fellowship in Jan. 2010 from University of Bath, UK

Training/Workshop

Attended “National Summer School on NMR in Chemistry from Molecules to Human Behavior” at I.H.B.T. Palampur,

H.P, India, 15th June to 25th June 2004.

Successfully attended “Training Programme on Technological Entrepreneurship 2007” held at Central Leather

Research Institute (CLRI) Chennai, India, from Feb. 12 to March 11, 2007. The one month training was a composite management programme which was exclusively taught by the faculty of Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore and Ahamdabad. The programme touched upon areas like development of managerial skills, leadership qualities, innovative thinking, intellectual property management, communication skills and finance management.

List of Publications/patents/conferences:

1

GluA2/GluK1 Receptor Ligands Structurally Based upon 1H Cyclopentapyrimidine-2,4(1H,3H)-dione: Synthesis, Molecular Pharmacological and Biostructural characterization Raminta Venskutonyt, Stefania Butini, Salvatore Sanna Coccone, Sandra Gemma, Margherita Brindisi, Vinod Kumar, Egeria Guarino, Samuele Maramai, Salvatore Valenti, Ahmad Amir, Elena Antón Valadés, Karla Frydenvang, Jette Sandholm Kastrup, Ettore Novellino, Giuseppe Campiani, and Darryl S. Pickering; J. Med. Chem., 2011, J. Med. Chem., 54, 4793-4805. Impact Factor- 5.2

2

Discovery of Bis-homo(hetero)arylpiperazines as Novel Multifunctional Ligands Targeting Dopamine D3 and Serotonin 5-HT1A and 5-HT2A Receptors Stefania Butini, Giuseppe Campiani, Silvia Franceschini, Francesco Trotta, Vinod Kumar, Egeria Guarino, Giuseppe Borrelli, Isabella Fiorini, Ettore Novellino, Caterina Fattorusso, Marco Persico, Nausicaa Orteca, Karin Sandager-Nielsen, Thomas Amos Jacobsen, Kim Madsen, Jorgen Scheel-Kruger, and Sandra Gemma; , J. Med. Chem., 2010, 53, 4803-4807. Impact Factor- 5.2

3

Development of Antitubercular Compounds Based on a 4-Quinolylhydrazone Scaffold. Further Structure-activity Relationship Studies Sandra Gemma, Luisa Savini, Maria Altarelli, Pierangela Tripaldi, Luisa Chiasserini, Salvatore Sanna Coccone, Vinod Kumar, Caterina Camodeca, Giuseppe Campiani, Ettore Novellino, Sandra Clarizio, Giovanni Delogu, and Stefania Butini, Bio. Med. Chem., 2009, 17, 6063-6072. Impact Factor-2.99

4

Larvicidal and Structure-Activity Studies of Natural Phenylpropanoids and Their Semisynthetic Derivatives against the Tobacco Armyworm Spodoptera litura (Fab.) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) Anu Bhardwaj, Dhananjay Kumar Tewary, Rakesh Kumar, Vinod Kumar, Arun Kumar Sinha, and Adarsh Shankera; Chemistry and Biodiversity, 2010, 7, 168-177. Impact Factor-1.9

5

Specific Targeting of Peripheral Serotonin 5-HT3 Receptors. Synthesis, Biological Investigation and Structure-Activity Relationships Elena Morelli, Sandra Gemma, Roberta Budriesi, Giuseppe Campiani, Ettore Novellino, Caterina Fattorusso, Bruno Catalanotti, Luisa, Salvatore Sanna Coccone, Sindu Ros, Giuseppe Borrelli, Vinod Kumar, Marco Persico, Isabella Fiorini, Vito Nacci, Pierfranco Ioan, Alberto Chiarini, Michel Hamon, Alfredo Cagnotto, Tiziana Mennini, Claudia Fracasso, Molena Colovic, Silvio Caccia, and Stefania Butini, J. Med. Chem., 2009, 52, 3548-3562. Impact Factor- 5.2

6

Unique versatility of Ionic liquids as clean and efficient decarboxylation catalyst: A metal and quinoline free paradigm towards synthesis of Indoles, Styrenes, Stilbenes and Arene derivatives under microwave in aqueous condition Abhishek Sharma, Rakesh Kumar, Naina Sharma, Vinod Kumar and Arun K. Sinha, Adv. Synth. Catal., 2008, 350, 2910-2920. Impact Factor-5.25

7

Neutral Ionic Liquid [hmim]Br as a Green Reagent and Solvent for the Mild and Efficient Dehydration of Benzyl Alcohols into (E)-Arylalkenes Under Microwave Irradiation Rakesh Kumar, Abhishek Sharma, Naina Sharma, Vinod Kumar and Arun K. Sinha, Eur. J. Org. Chem.. 2008, 5577-5582. Impact Factor-3.2

8

Isolation and purification of acetylshikonin and ß-acetoxyisovalerylshikonin from the cell suspension cultures of Arnebia euchroma (Royle) Johnston using rapid preparative HPLC Nandini Sharma, Upendra K. Sharma, Sonia Malik, Shashi Bhushan,Vinod Kumar, Subash C. Verma, Naina Sharma, Madhu Sharma, Arun K. Sinha J. Sep. Sci. 2008, 31, 629-635. Impact Factor-2.6

9

RP-HPTLC densitometric determination and validation of vanillin and related phenolic compounds in accelerated solvent extract of Vanilla planifolia Upendra K. Sharma, Nandini Sharma, Ajai P. Gupta, Vinod Kumar, Arun K. Sinha J. Sep. Sci. 2007, 30, 3174-3180. Impact Factor-2.6

10

An Unusual, Mild and Convenient One Pot Two Step Access to (E)-Stilbenes from Hydroxy Substituted Benzaldehydes and Phenylacetic Acids Under Microwave Activation: Revelation of a New Facet on the Classical Perkin Reaction
Arun K. Sinha, Vinod Kumar, Abhishek Sharma, Anuj Sharma and Rakesh Kumar Tetrahedron, 2007, 63, 11070-11077. Impact Factor-3.01

11

DDQ catalyzed benzylic acetoxylation of arylalkanes: A case of exquisitely controlled oxidation under sonochemical activation Vinod Kumar, Abhishek Sharma, Meenakshi Sharma, Upendra Sharma and Arun K. Sinha, Tetrahedron, 2007, 63, 9718-9723. Impact Factor-3.01

12

Remarkable Synergism in Methylimidazole-Promoted Decarboxylation of Substituted Cinnamic acids in basic water medium under Microwave Irradiation: A Clean Synthesis of Hydroxylated (E)-Stilbenes Vinod Kumar, Abhishek Sharma, Anuj Sharma and Arun K. Sinha, Tetrahedron, 2007, 63, 7640-7646. Impact Factor-3.01

13

Microwave-assisted Mild Conversion of Natural Dihydrotagetone into 5-Isobutyl-3-methyl-4,5-dihydro-2(3H)-furanone: an Analogue of Whisky Lactone Arun K. Sinha, Bhupender P. Joshi, Anuj Sharma, Vinod Kumar and Ruchi Acharya, Aust. J. Chem., 2007, 60, 124-127. Impact Factor-1.68

14

14. An Efficient Chemoselective Strategy for the Preparation of (E) -Cinnamic Esters from Cinnamaldehydes Using Heterogeneous Catalyst and DDQ Arun K Sinha, Anuj Sharma, Anand Swaroop and Vinod Kumar, Tetrahedron, 2007, 63, 1000-1007. Impact Factor-3.01

15

Solid-supported Green Synthesis of Substituted Hydrocinnamic Esters by Focused Microwave Irradiation
Vinod Kumar, Anuj Sharma and Arun K Sinha, Helv. Chim. Acta, 2006, 89, 483-495. Impact Factor-1.28

16

A Chemoselective Hydrogenation of the Olefinic Bond of ????-Unsaturated Carbonyl Compounds in Aqueous Medium Under Microwave Irradiation Anuj Sharma, Vinod Kumar and A. K Sinha, Adv. Synth. Catal., 2006, 348, 354-360. Impact Factor-5.25

17

A Microwave-Accelerated Esterification of ????-Unsaturated Acids with Alkyl or Aryl Carbonochloridate and Triethylamine in Acetonitrile as a Novel Esterifying Reagent Mixture Vinod Kumar, Anuj Sharma and Arun K. Sinha, Helv. Chim. Acta, 2005, 88, 811-816. Impact Factor-1.28

Under Preparation

1

Orvinols with Mixed KOR/MOR -Agonist Profile: Potential Pharmacotherapies for Cocaine Abuse
Vinod Kumar, Benjamin Greedy, Faye Bradbury, John Traynor and Stephen Husbands, J. Med Chem. 2011.

2

Synthesis, biological evaluation and SAR studies of 14ß-phenylacetyl substituted 17-cyclopropylmethyl-7,8-dihydronoroxymorphinones derivatives Vinod Kumar, Lawrence Toll, Willma Polgar, and Stephen Husbands; J. Med Chem. 2011.

Patents

1

A green process for the preparation of substituted cinnamic esters with trans- selectivity; Sinha; A K, Sharma; A, Swaroop; A, Kumar; V (US 7,741,508, Jun. 2010)

2

A microwave induced process for the preparation of substituted stilbenes and its analogs; Sinha; A. K., Kumar; V and Sharma; A, (US20070276172, filed).

3

A Microwave Induced one Pot Process for the Preparation of Arylethenes; Sinha; A. K., Kumar; V and Sharma; A, (US 7,759,527, Jul 2010)

Oral presentation

Presented paper entitled “Arylalkylpiperazines as Potential Atypical Antipsychotics -From Rational Design to Pharmacokinetic Optimization” Vinod Kumar, Stefania Butini, Sandra Gemma and Giuseppe Campiani (NCFP-3, Nuove Prospettive in Chimica Farmaceutica; III Meeting - Workshop, Il Ciocco - Castelvecchio Pascoli (LU), February 12-14, 2009, (Italy).

Seminars/Conferences :

1

Presented poster entitled “An Ecofriendly Method for Hydrogenation of Olefinic Compounds under Microwave Irradiation on a Solid support.” V. Kumar, A. K. Sinha and A. Sharma; at International Conference on Chemistry Biology Interface:Synergistic New Frontiers (CBISNF), PP24-66, November 21-26, 2004, Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, India.

2

Presented poster entitled “A Microwave Assisted Green Synthesis Of Bioactive Phenylpropanoid: Kekoul Occurring In Asarum Sieboldii” Vinod Kumar, Anuj Sharma and Arun K. Sinha at national conference on ‘Recent Trends In Synthetic And Polymer Chemistry ( RTSPC-1)’, PP-46, December 5-6, 2005, Himachal Pradesh university Shimla.

3

“Solid Supported Green Synthesis of (E)-cinnamaldehydes under Microwave Irradiations.” Anuj Sharma, Vinod Kumar, and Arun K. Sinha. (Second International Symposium on Green/Sustainable Chemistry. 10-13, January, 2006, University of Delhi, Delhi-110007 (India).

4

Presented poster entitled “Decarboxylation of Substituted Cinnamic acids in Basic Water Medium under Microwave Irradiation: A Green Synthesis of Hydroxylated (E)-Stilbenes.” Vinod Kumar, Abhishek Sharma and Arun K. Sinha. (CARBO-XXI, Recent developments in Carbohydrate Chemistry. PP 58, November 26-29, 2006, department of Chemistry, University of Delhi, Delhi-110007 (India).

5

“Comparison of different analytical techniques for the qualitative and quantitative determination of vanillin and related phenolic compounds in Vanilla planifolia pods.” Upendra K Sharma, Nandini Sharma, Ajai P Gupta, Vinod Kumar, Arun K. Sinha. National symposium on “Latest Developments in the Analytical Sciences.” PP-18, April 9-11, 2007, Department of Chemistry, Himachal Pradesh University Shimla.

6

Presented poster entitled “Drug Abuse Treatment: Buprenorphine Derivatives as Potential Pharmacotherapies for Cocaine Abuse.” Vinod Kumar, Benjamin Greedy, Faye Bradbury, John Traynor and Stephen Husbands. Biological and Medicinal Chemistry 4th Post Graduate Symposium. Dec. 10, 2010, Department of Chemistry, Lensfield road, Cambridge, UK.

7

Presented poster entitled “Synthesis, Biological Evaluation and SAR Studies of 14-phenylacetyl Substituted Naltrexone Derivatives”. Vinod Kumar, Lawrence Toll, Wilma Polgar, and Stephen Husbands. Neuroscience Netwrok University of Bath Third Early-Career researcher’s Symposium May 10, 2011, University of Bath, Bath, UK.