The Tang, Garg, and Houk research groups have discovered nature’s natural protein catalysts (enzymes) that catalyze the Alder-ene reaction. All groups are part of the UCLA Department of Chemistry & […]

Harran and Houk groups create computer software that predicts structure and three-dimensional conformations of products made from synthetic reaction sequences.   The Composite Peptide Macrocycle Strategy, used to make the synthetic […]

In the journal Nature, the Garg and Houk groups report the use of unusual strained intermediates in asymmetric catalysis, work highlighted in C&EN.  “Intercepting fleeting cyclic allenes with asymmetric nickel […]

Professor Kendall Houk receives the 2021 Roger Adams Award in Organic Chemistry, one of the most important awards given by the ACS.  The biannual award recognizes outstanding contributions to research […]

Professor Ken Houk receives 2019-20 Edward A Dickson Emeritus Professorship Award in recognition of his outstanding contributions and service since retirement. “Professor Houk’s activity since retirement has been at least […]

Professor Ken Houk’s group joins with the Scott Denmark group at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to explain the autocatalytic Soai reaction. The Soai reaction shown below was discovered in the […]

A two and a half-day conference in honor of Professor Kendall N. Houk will take place August 12-14, 2020, at UCLA’s CNSI Auditorium.   Houk’s former graduate students and postdoctoral scholars […]

Two Southern California research teams joined efforts to reveal the mechanistic underpinnings of an unusually efficient carbon-carbon bond formation.  The reaction allowed drug-like molecules to be accessed with exquisite control […]