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Dr. Ronald K.
Castellano
Associate
Professor of
Chemistry
Phone:
(352) 392-2752
E-mail: castellano@chem.ufl.edu
B.S.
1995, Gettysburg
College; Ph.D. 2000,
Massachusetts Institute of
Technology; NSF Postdoctoral Fellow
2000-2002, Swiss Federal Institute of
Technology (ETH); Assistant
Professor 2002-2009, Associate Professor 2009-, University of
Florida; Research Corporation Research Innovation Award 2003; NSF CAREER Award 2006; Chair of the Florida Section of the American Chemical Society, 2007–2009. |
Organic and
Supramolecular Chemistry
Welcome!
Research in our laboratory uses organic synthesis, physical organic chemistry, spectroscopic methods, and computation to design, prepare, and study novel organic molecules that show unique and useful behavior. In this context we are particularly interested in predicting and controlling properties that emerge when individual molecules aggregate, by weak noncovalent interactions, in solution. The phenomenon is called "self-assembly," and it is a process borrowed from nature to achieve complexity rapidly and reversibly (e.g., assembly of the DNA duplex or binding of a receptor to its enzymatic target). It is also the central theme of supramolecular chemistry, an established field that studies chemistry "beyond the molecule". Our specific areas of interest and expertise include: stereoelectronic effects in supramolecular chemistry, construction of novel donor–acceptor molecules with useful electronic or optical properties, functional molecules (for materials and/or sensing applications) from biorelevant building blocks, and molecular-based strategies to novel therapeutics.
Please
contact
us if
you have questions or if you are interested in our
open positions.
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