
Website | Home URL |
Division | Organic |
Title |
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Specialties |
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neilgarg@g.ucla.edu | |
Office | Molecular Sciences Building 5505C |
Office Phone | (310) 825-1536 |
Lab | Molecular Sciences Building 5234, 5235 |
Office Lab | (310) 794-9264 |
Biography
Neil is a Distinguished Professor and the inaugural holder of the Kenneth N. Trueblood Endowed Chair in Chemistry and Biochemistry. He has served as Vice Chair for the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (2012–2016 and 2023-present), as well as the Department Chair (2019–2023). He also served as Faculty-in-Residence in the UCLA undergraduate community for nine years. Neil is a co-founder of ElectraTect as well as a popular speaker and consultant for teaching, scientific, policy, government, and legal matters.
Prior to joining the faculty at UCLA, Neil received a B.S. in Chemistry from New York University where he did undergraduate research with Professor Marc Walters. During his undergraduate years, he spent several months in Strasbourg, France while conducting research with Professor Mir Wais Hosseini at Université Louis Pasteur as a NSF REU Fellow. Neil obtained his Ph.D. in 2005 from the California Institute of Technology under the direction of Professor Brian Stoltz. He then joined Professor Larry Overman’s research laboratory at the University of California, Irvine as an NIH Postdoctoral Scholar.
Neil joined the faculty at UCLA in 2007. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2012, and then to Full Professor in 2013. In 2020, he was promoted to the rank of Distinguished Professor.
Research Interests
The Garg Lab develops synthetic strategies and methods that enable the synthesis of complex bioactive molecules. Our specific interests lie primarily in three main areas: (a) transition metal-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions of unconventional electrophiles, (b) the use of historically-avoided strained intermediates, such as cyclic allenes and alkynes, in organic synthesis, and (c) the total synthesis of complex small molecules, such as drugs and natural products We also enjoy the opportunity to collaborate in areas such as natural product biosynthesis, green chemistry, solar cell technologies, THC detection, and studies of fundamental reactivity.
Honors & Awards
- David A. Evans Award for the Advancement and Education of Organic Synthesis (ACS), 2025
- Royal Society of Chemistry’s Horizon Prize (Molecular Strainers Team), 2024
- UCLA Herbert Newby McCoy Award, 2023
- AAAS Mani L. Bhaumik Award for Public Engagement with Science, 2023
- UCLA Faculty Mentoring Honor Society, 2022
- Fellow of the American Institute of Chemists, 2022
- Mukaiyama Award, 2022
- Royal Society of Chemistry’s Horizon Prize (Garg Molecular Educators Team), 2021
- Royal Society of Chemistry’s Horizon Prize (Tang/Houk/Garg Team), 2021
- Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists, Finalist, 2020
- UCLA Athletics Uncommon Bruin Honoree, 2020
- Edward Leete Award, 2019
- James Flack Norris Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Teaching of Chemistry, 2019
- US Defense Science Study Group (DSSG 2020-2021), 2019
- New York University’s Distinguished Alumnus Award, 2019
- ASBMB Award for Exemplary Contributions to Education, 2019
- Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2018
- Fellow of the American Chemical Society, 2018
- Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists, Finalist, 2018
- Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching, 2018 (Watch Neil’s Public Lecture) (NY Times)
- Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching, Finalist, 2017
- Elias J. Corey Award for Outstanding Original Contribution in Organic Synthesis, 2017
- Mitsui Chemicals Catalysis Science Award of Encouragement, 2016
- Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, 2016
- Royal Society of Chemistry’s Merck Award, 2016
- Guggenheim Fellowship, 2016
- Thieme-IUPAC Prize, 2016
- Tetrahedron Young Investigator Award, 2016
- California’s US Professor of the Year, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, 2015
- UCLA Herbert Newby McCoy Award, 2015
- Gold Shield Faculty Prize, 2015
- Novartis Chemistry Lectureship, 2015–2016
- Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award, 2015
Representative Publications
[ Selected Publications ]
- Small molecule inhibition of RNA binding proteins in haematologic cancer. Amit K Jaiswal, Michelle L Thaxton, Georgia M Scherer, Jacob P Sorrentino, Neil K Garg, Dinesh S Rao. RNA biology, 2024, 21 (1), 1-14
- Organic chemistry for kids. Arismel Tena Meza, Laura G Wonilowicz, Neil K Garg. Nature Reviews Chemistry, 2024, 1-2
- Fragment-Guided Genome Mining of Octacyclic Cyclophane Alkaloids from Fungi. Yalong Zhang, Lin Wu, Tyler A Kerr, Neil K Garg, Yi Tang. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2024
- Diels–Alder Cycloadditions of Oxacyclic Allenes and α-Pyrones. Laura G Wonilowicz, Milauni M Mehta, Lisa L Kamecke, Sarah A French, Neil K Garg. Organic Letters, 2024, 26 (30), 6465-6470
- Access to Complex Scaffolds Through [2+ 2] Cycloadditions of Strained Cyclic Allenes. Matthew S McVeigh, Jacob P Sorrentino, Allison T Hands, Neil K Garg. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2024
- Total Synthesis of Lissodendoric Acid A. Francesca M Ippoliti, Laura G Wonilowicz, Nathan J Adamson, Evan R Darzi, Joyann S Donaldson, Daniel J Nasrallah, Milauni M Mehta, Andrew V Kelleghan, KN Houk, Neil K Garg. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2024, e202406676
- Evaluation of Retro-Aldol vs Retro-Carbonyl-Ene Mechanistic Pathways in a Complexity-Generating C–C Bond Fragmentation. Ana S Bulger, Daniel W Turner, Qingyang Zhou, KN Houk, Neil K Garg. Organic Letters, 2024, 26 (17), 3602-3606
- Generation and reactivity of unsymmetrical strained heterocyclic allenes. Andrew V Kelleghan, Arismel Tena Meza, Neil K Garg. Nature Synthesis, 2024, 3 (3), 329-336
- Enantioselective nickel-catalyzed Mizoroki–Heck cyclizations of amide electrophiles. Ana S Bulger, Daniel J Nasrallah, Arismel Tena Meza, Neil K Garg. Chemical Science, 2024, 15 (7), 2593-2600
- Correction to “Electrochemical Oxidation of Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol: A Simple Strategy for Marijuana Detection”. Evan R Darzi, Neil K Garg. Organic Letters, 2023, 25 (43), 7946-7946
- Studies pertaining to the emerging cannabinoid hexahydrocannabinol (HHC). Daniel J Nasrallah, Neil K Garg. ACS chemical biology, 2023, 18 (9), 2023-2029
- Electrochemical Oxidation of Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol at Nanomolar Concentrations. Christina R Forbes, Katie A Spence, Neil K Garg, Evan R Darzi. The Journal of Organic Chemistry, 2023, 88 (15), 11358-11362
- Cyclic allene approach to the manzamine alkaloid keramaphidin B. Milauni M Mehta, Jordan AM Gonzalez, James L Bachman, Neil K Garg. Organic Letters, 2023, 25 (30), 5553-5557
- Total Synthesis of Phenanthroindolizidines Using Strained Azacyclic Alkynes. Katie A Spence, Marie Hoffmann, Neil K Garg. Organic Letters, 2023, 25 (27), 5044-5048
- Strain-promoted reactions of 1, 2, 3-cyclohexatriene and its derivatives. Andrew V Kelleghan, Ana S Bulger, Dominick C Witkowski, Neil K Garg. Nature, 2023, 618 (7966), 748-754
- Elucidating the molecular programming of a nonlinear non-ribosomal peptide synthetase responsible for fungal siderophore biosynthesis. Matthew Jenner, Yang Hai, Hong H Nguyen, Munro Passmore, Will Skyrud, Junyong Kim, Neil K Garg, Wenjun Zhang, Rachel R Ogorzalek Loo, Yi Tang. Nature Communications, 2023, 14 (1), 2832
- Catalyst-controlled annulations of strained cyclic allenes with π-allylpalladium complexes. Dominick C Witkowski, Matthew S McVeigh, Georgia M Scherer, Sarah M Anthony, Neil K Garg. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2023, 145 (19), 10491-10496
- Total synthesis of lissodendoric acid A via stereospecific trapping of a strained cyclic allene. Francesca M Ippoliti, Nathan J Adamson, Laura G Wonilowicz, Daniel J Nasrallah, Evan R Darzi, Joyann S Donaldson, Neil K Garg. Science, 2023, 379 (6629), 261-265
- Facile synthesis of 2-aza-9, 10-diphenylanthracene and the effect of precise nitrogen atom incorporation on OLED emitters performance. Evan R Darzi, Dane A Stanfield, Luca McDermott, Andrew V Kelleghan, Benjamin J Schwartz, Neil K Garg. Materials Advances, 2023, 4 (15), 3351-3355
- A symmetry-driven approach toward the total synthesis of dodecahedrane. Jason V Chari, Luca McDermott, Jacob E Dander, Bryan J Simmons, Neil K Garg. Tetrahedron, 2022, 126, 133041
- Mentoring is more important than ever. Jennifer M. Heemstra, Neil K Garg. Nature Reviews Chemistry, 2022, 6 (11), 757-758
- A Cannabinoid Fuel Cell Capable of Producing Current by Oxidizing Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol. D Huang, Christina R. Forbes, Neil K. Garg, Evan R. Darzi. Organic Letters 2022, 24 (37), 6705-6710
- Merging Metals and Strained Intermediates. Katie A. Spence,† Arismel Tena Meza,† and Neil K. Garg. Chem Catalysis 2022, 2, 1–10. DOI: 10.1016/j.checat.2022.06.014
- Gaming Stereochemistry. Francesca M. Ippoliti, Melinda M. Nguyen, Amber J. Reilly, and Neil K. Garg. Nature Reviews Chemistry 2022, DOI: DOI: 10.1038/s41570-022-00395-5
- pi-Extension of Heterocycles via a Pd-Catalyzed Heterocyclic Aryne Annulation: pi-Extended Donors for TADF Emitters. Katie A. Spence,† Jason V. Chari,† Mattia Di Niro, Robert B. Susick, Narcisse Ukwitegetse, Peter I. Djurovich, Mark E. Thompson, and Neil K. Garg. Chem. Sci. 2022, 13, 5884–5892.
- Advancing Global Chemical Education Through Interactive Teaching Tools. Francesca M. Ippoliti,† Jason V. Chari,† and Neil K. Garg. Chem. Sci. 2022, 13, 5790–5796.
- Catalysis in Modern Drug Discovery: Insights from a Graduate Student-Taught Undergraduate Course. Jason V. Chari,† Rachel R. Knapp,† Timothy B. Boit, and Neil K. Garg. J. Chem. Educ. 2022, 99, 1296–1303.
- Interception of 1,2-Cyclohexadiene with TEMPO Radical. Matthew S. McVeigh and Neil K. Garg. Tetrahedron Lett. 2021, 87, 153539–153543
- A Convenient Method for the Removal of Tetrabutylammonium Salts from Desilylation Reactions. Luca McDermott, Dominick C. Witkowski, and Neil K. Garg. Org. Synth. 2022, 99, 53–67.
- Synthesis of Phenanthridinones via the Palladium-Catalyzed Annulation of Benzyne. Dominick C. Witkowski, Luca McDermott, and Neil K. Garg. Org. Synth. 2022, 99, 159–173.
- Synthesis of Carboxylic Acids from Benzamide Precursors Using Nickel Catalysis. Ana S. Bulger, Dominick C. Witkowski, and Neil K. Garg. Org. Synth. Submitted.
- Cell-Free Total Biosynthesis of Plant Terpene Natural Products using an Orthogonal Cofactor Regeneration System. Undramaa Bat-Erdene, John M. Billingsley, William C. Turner, Benjamin R. Lichman, Francesca M. Ippoliti, Neil K. Garg, Sarah E. O’Connor, and Yi Tang. ACS Catal. 2021, 11, 9898–9903.
- Cycloaddition Cascades of Strained Alkynes and Oxadiazinones. Melissa Ramirez, † Evan Darzi, † Joyann Donaldson, Kendall N. Houk, Neil K. Garg. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2021, 60, 18201–18208.
- Leveraging Fleeting Strained Intermediates to Access Complex Scaffolds. Sarah M. Anthony, Laura G. Wonilowicz,† Matthew S. McVeigh,† and Neil K. Garg* JACS Au 2021, 1, 897–912.
- Palladium-Catalyzed Annulations of Strained Cyclic Allenes. Andrew V. Kelleghan, Dominick C. Witkowski, Matthew S. McVeigh, Neil K. Garg. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2021, 143, 25, 9338–9342.
- A Platform for On-the-Complex Annulation Reactions with Transient Aryne Intermediates. Jason V. Chari,† Katie A. Spence,† Robert B. Susick, and Neil K. Garg. Nat. Commun. 2021, 12, 3706.
- Total Synthesis of (−)-Strictosidine and Interception of Aryne Natural Product Derivatives “Strictosidyne” and “Strictosamidyne”. Sarah M. Anthony,† Veronica Tona,† Yike Zou,† Lucas A. Morrill, John M. Billingsley, Megan Lim, Yi Tang,* K. N. Houk,* Neil K. Garg* J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2021, 143, 10, 7471–7479.
- Origins of Endo Selectivity in Diels–Alder Reactions of Cyclic Allene Dienophiles. Melissa Ramirez, Dennis Svatunek, Fang Liu, Neil K. Garg, and K. N. Houk. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2021, 60, 14989–14997.
- Palladium-Catalyzed Acetylation of Arylbromides. Milauni M. Mehta, Andrew V. Kelleghan, and Neil K. Garg. Org. Synth. 2021, 98, 68-83
- Taming Radical Pairs in the Crystalline Solid State: Discovery and Total Synthesis of Psychotriadine. Jordan J. Dotson, Ieva Liepuoniute, J. Logan Bachman, Vince M. Hipwell, Saeed I. Khan, K. N. Houk*, Neil K. Garg*, and Miguel A. Garcia-Garibay.* J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2021, 143, 10, 4043–4054.
- The Adult Organic Coloring Book. Jacob E. Dander,† Evan R. Darzi,† and Neil K. Garg
- Cyanoamidine Cyclization Approach to Remdesivir’s Nucleobase. Rachel R. Knapp,† Veronica Tona,† Taku Okada, Richmond Sarpong, and Neil K. Garg. Org. Lett. 2020, 22, 8430–8435.
- Reductive Arylation of Amides via a Nickel‐Catalyzed Suzuki–Miyaura Coupling and Transfer Hydrogenation Cascade. Timothy Boit,† Milauni M. Mehta,† Junyong Kim, Emma L. Baker, and Neil K. Garg. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2021, 60, 2472–2477
- Activation of C–O and C–N Bonds Using Non-Precious-Metal Catalysis. Timothy Boit,† Ana, S. Bulger,† Jacob E. Dander,† and Neil K. Garg. ACS Catalysis 2020, 10, 12109–12126.
- An Enzymatic Alder-Ene Reaction. Masao Ohashi, Cooper S. Jamieson, Yujuan Cai, Dan Tan, Daiki Kanayama, Man-Cheng Tang, Sarah M. Anthony, Jason V. Chari, Joyann S. Barber, Elias Picazo, Thomas B. Kakule, Shugeng Cao, Neil K. Garg, Jiahai Zhou, K. N. Houk, and Yi Tang. Nature 2020, 586, 64–69.
- Intercepting Fleeting Cyclic Allenes with Asymmetric Nickel Catalysis. Michael M. Yamano,† Andrew V. Kelleghan,† Qianzhen Shao,† Maude Giroud, Bryan J. Simmons, Bo Li, Shuming Chen, K. N. Houk, and Neil K. Garg. Nature 2020, 586, 242–247.
- The Organic Coloring Book: Cheesy Goes to the Doctor. Kaylie Garg,† Elaina Garg,† and Neil K. Garg.
- Putting Mentoring First. Jen Heemstra and Neil Garg. Chemical & Engineering News 2020, 98, (https://cen.acs.org/careers/employment/Putting-mentoring-first/98/i35).
- Treating a Global Health Crisis with a Dose of Synthetic Chemistry. Melissa A. Hardy, Brandon A. Wright, J. Logan Bachman, Timothy B. Boit, Hannah M. S. Haley, Rachel R. Knapp, Robert F. Lusi, Taku Okada, Veronica Tona, Neil K. Garg*, and Richmond Sarpong.* ACS Cent. Sci. 2020, 6, 1017–1030.
- Discovery and Total Synthesis of a Bis(Cyclotryptamine) Alkaloid Bearing the Elusive Piperidinoindoline Scaffold. Jordan J. Dotson, J. Logan Bachman, Miguel A. Garcia-Garibay, Neil K. Garg. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2020, 142, 11685–11690.
- Silyl Tosylate Precursors to Cyclohexyne, 1,2-Cyclohexadiene, and 1,2-Cycloheptadiene. Matthew S. McVeigh, Andrew V. Kelleghan, Michael M. Yamano, Rachel R. Knapp, and Neil K. Garg. Org. Lett. 2020, 22, 4500–4504.
- Evaluation of the photodecarbonylation of crystalline ketones for the installation of reverse prenyl groups on the pyrrolidinoindoline scaffold. Jordan J. Dotson, Neil K. Garg, and Miguel A. Garcia Garibay. Tetrahedron 2020, 76, 131181.
- Dual Neutral Sphingomyelinase-2/Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitors for the Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease. Tina Bilousova, Bryan J. Simmons, Rachel R. Knapp, Chris J. Elias, Jesus Campagna, Mikhail Melnik, Sujyoti Chandra, Samantha Focht, Chunni Zhu, Kanagasabai Vadivel, Barbara Jagodzinska, Whitaker Cohn, Patricia Spilman, Karen H. Gylys, Neil K. Garg, and Varghese John. ACS Chem. Biol. 2020, 15, 1671–1684.
- Electrochemical Oxidation of Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol: A Simple Strategy for Marijuana Detection. Evan R. Darzi and Neil K. Garg. Org. Lett. 2020, 22, 3951–3955
- Nickel-Catalyzed Conversion of Amides to Carboxylic Acids. Rachel R. Knapp, Ana S. Bulger, and Neil K Garg. Org. Lett. 2020, 22, 2833–2837.
- Ni-Catalyzed Suzuki–Miyaura Cross-Coupling of Aliphatic Amides on the Benchtop. Milauni M. Mehta, Timothy B. Boit, Jacob E. Dander, and Neil K. Garg. Org. Lett. 2020, 22, 1–5.
- Total Synthesis as a Vehicle for Collaboration. Lucas A. Morrill, Robert B. Susick, Jason V. Chari, and Neil K. Garg. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2019, 141, 12423–12443.
- Chemoenzymatic Conversion of Amides to Enantioenriched Alcohols in Aqueous Medium. Jacob E. Dander, Maude Giroud, Sophie Racine, Oscar Alvizo, David Entwistle, and Neil K. Garg. Communications Chemistry, 2019, 2, 82.
- Cyclic Alkyne Approach to Heteroatom-Containing Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Scaffolds. Evan R. Darzi, Joyann S. Barber, and Neil K. Garg. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2019, 58, 9419–9424.
- Cycloadditions of Oxacyclic Allenes and a Catalytic Asymmetric Entryway to Enantioenriched Cyclic Allenes. Michael M. Yamano, Rachel R. Knapp, Aurapat Ngamnithiporn, Melissa Ramirez, K. N. Houk, Brian M. Stoltz, and Neil K. Garg. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2019, 58, 5653–5657.
- Diels–Alder Cycloadditions of Strained Azacyclic Allenes. Joyann S. Barber, Michael M. Yamano, Melissa Ramirez, Evan R. Darzi, Rachel R. Knapp, Fang Liu, K. N. Houk, and Neil K. Garg. Nature Chemistry 2018 10, 953–960.
- Arynes and Cyclic Alkynes as Synthetic Building Blocks for Stereodefined Quaternary Centers. Elias Picazo, Sarah M. Anthony, Maude Giroud, Adam Simon, Margeaux A. Miller, K. N. Houk, and Neil K. Garg. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2018, 140, 7605–7610.
- Enantioselective Total Syntheses of Methanoquinolizidine-Containing Akuammiline Alkaloids and Related Studies. Elias Picazo, Lucas A. Morrill, Robert B. Susick, Jesus Moreno, Joel Smith, and Neil K. Garg. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2018, 140, 6483–6492.
- Engineering the Biocatalytic Selectivity of Iridoid Production in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. John M. Billingsley, Anthony B. DeNicola, Joyann S. Barber, Man-Cheng Tang, Joe Horecka, Angela Chu, Neil K. Garg, and Yi Tang. Metab. Eng. 2017, 44, 117–125.
- Conjugated Trimeric Scaffolds Accessible From Indolyne Cyclotrimerizations: Synthesis, Structures, and Electronic Properties. Janice B. Lin, Tejas K. Shah, Adam E. Goetz, Neil K. Garg, and K. N. Houk. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2017, 139, 10447–10455.
- Total Synthesis of (–)-Tubingensin B Enabled by the Strategic Use of an Aryne Cyclization. Michael A. Corsello, Junyong Kim, and Neil K. Garg. Nature Chemistry 2017, 9, 944–949.
- The Organic Coloring Book. Elaina Garg, Kaylie Garg, and Neil K. Garg.
- Conversion of Amides to Esters by the Nickel-Catalysed Activation of Amide C–N Bonds. Liana Hie, Noah F. Fine Nathel, Tejas K. Shah, Emma L. Baker, Xin Hong, Yun-Fang Yang, Peng Liu, K. N. Houk, and Neil K. Garg. Nature 2015, 524, 79–83.