Research

We are synthetic chemists and are driven by a desire to make molecules which have important biological functions. In order to address the problems of disease, new pharmaceuticals must continuously be investigated. Our job as synthetic chemists is to come up with efficient and selective ways to make new molecules. Often new methods are tested by carrying out the total synthesis of natural products which have interesting structures as well as interesting biology. In the development of any new reactions it is important to understand the mechanism by which the process proceeds. Much of our work has been dedicated to developing and understanding new reactions utilizing allyl organometallics. In particular, electrophilic pi-allyl palladium complexes and nucleophilic sigma-allyl indium complexes have been very interesting to us. Please explore the links below to find out more details about our research efforts.

New Methodology

Palladium Catalyzed Isomerization
Palladium-Catalyzed Regiocontrolled Amination
Regiodivergent Kinetic Resolution
Indium-Mediated Atom Transfer Cyclization
Indium-Catalyzed Friedel-Crafts
Palladium-Catalyzed, Indium-Mediated Allylation of Carbonyls
Asymmetric Indium-Mediated Allylation of Imines

Synthesis and Applications

Synthesis of Unusual Amino Acids
Total Synthesis of Natural Products
Synthesis of Inhibitors for Matrix Metalloproteinases and Histone Deacetylases

Funding

We are grateful to the following for funding our research programs

National Science Foundation
National Institutes of Health
North Dakota EPSCoR - North Dakota Network in Catalysis, Graduate Fellowship for Robert Kargbo
Pfizer - Diversity Fellowship for Robert Kargbo