Abstract: The indole diterpenoids constitute a family of natural products that exhibit potent and selective Big Potassium (BK) ion channel inhibition. We have developed a unified synthetic strategy towards the indole diterpenoid class, culminating in the total synthesis of several representative congeners, including paspaline A and emindole PB. Density functional theory calculations are utilized to […]
“Structure-function relationship of an unstructured protein - the alpha-Synuclein case”
“Precision Synthesis of Quantum Material Building Blocks”
Challenging Problems in Quantum Chemistry: How to Diagnose Them and How to Tackle Them Quantum chemistry has become an indispensable tool in revealing the microscopic details of molecules and materials such as barrier heights, interaction energies, and correlation functions. The nature of electronic correlation is sometimes controversial, obscuring the optimal choice of quantum chemistry methods […]
Abstract: This lecture will describe recent developments in our efforts to develop catalysts for asymmetric reactions, in particular for the preparation of densely functionalized, stereochemically complex structures. Over time, our foci have been on enantioselectivity, site-selectivity and chemoselectivity. In much of our current work, we are studying issues of enantioselectivity as a prelude to the […]
“Characterization of RquA – a novel enzyme used in microbial rhodoquinone biosynthesis”
Abstract: Chemical reactivity can be utilized in many ways, including to improve synthetic access to new molecules and to devise tools to advance biomedicine. ‘Synthesis and catalysis’ are two themes interwoven throughout this presentation, which describes 1) the development of short synthetic routes to (–)-picrotoxinin, (–)-picrotin, and 5-methyl-picrotoxinin enabled by a late-stage strong-bond activation strategy for […]
"Multimetallic Nanomaterials by Design"
Abstract: Detailed understanding of catalytic transformations is key to designing better catalysts and overcome pertinent challenges in synthesis. This talk will give insights on case studies and reactivity designs recently undertaken in our laboratory. The focus will be on multinuclear metal catalysis for the chemoselective and modular construction of molecules, the exploration of organogermanes in […]
"Sortase-catalyzed surface assembly in monoderm bacteria"
Harnessing Bifunctional Ligands for Regioselective C–H Bond Functionalization
“Physics and the HIV-1 virus”
