Tags: Organic Seminar


Programming the Properties and Degradation of Sustainable Polymers

Main-chain and side-chain functionality are critical to polymeric thermal properties and degradation behavior.  This presentation will describe synthetic routes for polymerizing bioaromatics and other biogenic cyclics to yield polymers with high glass transition temperatures or high melting temperatures.  Some of these monomers are already present in common biomass sources, including vanillin, coumaric acid, ferulic acid, and sinapic…


Developing Biocatalysts for the Synthesis of Enantiomerically Pure Amines


Ladderizing Functional Organic pi-Systems

The main research focus of the Fang group is conjugated ladder molecules and macromolecules, in which the entire molecular backbone is fused and π-conjugated. The structures of these ladder-type systems mimic the constitution of graphene nanoribbons, endowing them with promising electronic, optical, and mechanical properties. These unique fused-ring constitutions, however, also impose formidable synthetic and processing challenges on the…


Chemical approaches to challenging drug delivery problems: From gasotransmitters to enrichment-triggered release

Abstract: Prodrug approaches are often used to solve drug delivery problems. In doing so, the chemistry needed to bioreversibly derivatize the drug molecule is the key. Along this line, bioreversible derivatization of gasotransmitters such as nitric oxide, hydrogen sulfide and carbon monoxide are especially challenging. Furthermore, the chemistry used to prepare antibody-drug conjugates also has much room for improvement. This presentation will…


Small-molecule detection and enantiopurity measurement using DNA-based sensors

Nucleic acids are exquisitely adept at molecular recognition and self-assembly, enabling them to direct nearly all of the processes that make life possible. These capabilities have been fine-tuned by billions of years of evolution, and more recently, have been harnessed in the laboratory to enable the use of DNA and RNA for applications that are completely unrelated to their canonical biological roles. In our lab, we seek to use DNA and RNA for…


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

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