Tags: Organic Seminar


Importance of Electrostatic Effects in Stacking Interactions of Heterocyclic Drug Fragments

Stacking interactions are an important contributor to drug binding, as heterocycles are common in drugs. Beyond π-stacking interactions, unconventional stacking interactions of heterocyclic drug fragments with backbone amide bonds, and Arg-Asp salt bridges can also contribute significantly to the enthalpy of drug binding.  These interactions can be quite strong, but are not generally well understood. I will present highly-accurate computed…


Synthesis of Active Protein Polymer Hybrids

Protein polymer hybrids are an important class of materials that are used as catalysts, sensors, and therapeutics. By conjugating polymers to proteins the protein stability and activity can be enhanced under native and non-native conditions. A key challenge to preparing these biohybrid materials is the polymer ligation strategy wherein the polymer can be grafted-from the protein or a preformed polymer grafted-to a protein.  Each method has…


A Drug Delivery Strategy for Trypanosomiasis

African sleeping sickness is a disease caused by an infection of eukaryotic pathogens called trypanosomes.  The disease is endemic to sub-Saharan Africa with the potential to affect millions of people. Although a few treatments for the disease have existed for fifty years, many are characterized by poor efficacy or severe adverse side-effects. Bloodstream form (BSF) Trypanosoma brucei generate ATP solely by glycolysis. Previous…


Non-covalent interactions in chiral metal-phosphate catalysis


Recent Advances in Direct (hetero) Arylation Polymerization for the Synthesis of Conjugated Polymers


Macrocyclic 1,4-Diketones: Versatile Intermediates for the Chemical Synthesis of Complex, Congested and Constrained Molecules

Our group has recently demonstrated that macrocyclic 1,4-dketones can be converted into highly strained arene-bridged systems, which represent (macrocyclic) benzenoid segments of armchair carbon nanotubes (CNTs). This non-cross-coupling-based approach enables the incorporation of strategically placed (aryl) halides that can later be engaged in programmed carbon-carbon bond forming reactions, resulting in longitudinal pi-extension of benzenoid…


Alkyne annulations: A toolkit for accessing chemical diversity from terpenoids to conjugated materials

Readily available alkyne-containing compounds are attractive as high-energy starting materials that allow an efficient, step- and atom-economical synthesis of a host of useful chemical products. Alkynes and polyynes can be used as linchpins in multicomponent and tandem reactions to provide rapid access to biologically pertinent terpenoid scaffolds. The alkyne functional group also allows for the facile synthesis of novel nanographenes and…


Transition Metal-Catalyzed Amination and Amidation Reactions

  Carbon–nitrogen bonds are ubiquitous in pharmaceuticals, organic materials, and natural products. These C–N bonds are often incorporated as amines or amides. Despite their prominence, they are often formed in poor atom and step economy. One of the primary goals of the Hull Group is to develop alternative syntheses of this two important functionalities. Our work towards chemo-, stereo-, and regioselective oxidative amidiation,…


Smart and Sweet Molecules: From Mannose to Self-Assembling Rods, Molecular Probes and Immunostimulatory Glycoclusters against Allergies and Cancer


Novel Applications of Photochemically Generated Quinone Methides and Naphthoquinone Methides in the Design of Metal Ion Chelators and Caged Fluorescent Dyes

Photochemical generation of o-naphthoquinone methides from 3-(hydroxymethyl)-2-naphthol derivatives (NQMPs) has been extensively studied by the research group of Dr. V. V. Popik.1-3 The application of NQMP-based photochemistry has been demonstrated on a variety of substrates. Thus, introduction of NQMP moiety into ion-selective chelators can be considered as a novel approach to control and change on-demand free ion metal concentration. We have…
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