Chemistry

Biographical Info

Research in our lab is directed at the development of new synthetic methodology to address difficulties in target-oriented synthesis. To control specificity, nature has evolved enzymes that perform chemical reactions with exquisite chemo- diastereo- and enantioselectivity. Our goal is to develop new small molecule catalysts that exhibit synthetically useful levels of selectivity in new chemical transformations. The significance of this work lies in its application to synthesis. Particular attention is given to bioactive natural products with interesting molecular architecture, wherein the objective is to develop efficient synthetic strategies that facilitate extensive structural modifications to probe biological activity. Students in our group will be exposed to the full repertoire of reactions and learn the analytical skills to plan, execute, and optimize reaction sequences.