Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM) has been a powerful method of imaging surfaces with very high spatial resolution. Another important use of STM is the study of molecular reaction pathways brought about by inelastic electron tunneling. In this process, tunneling electrons containing energy above a threshold bring about an excitation in the molecular system which leads to reaction pathways as the excited molecule consequently relaxes along its potential energy surface.

CO dehydrogenase (CODH) and Acetyl CoA synthase (ACS) belong to the ancient Wood-Ljungdhal pathway, widely speculated to have been the first metabolic pathway to develop in the earliest lifeforms. Early life forms were strictly anaerobic and this metabolic pathway allowed those organisms to grow solely on CO and CO₂. CODH first catalyzes the reversible reduction of CO₂ to CO.

Our laboratory is deeply interested in the discovery and development of new reaction
methodology en route to the chemical synthesis of complex bioactive molecules. Over the course
of many years, research in our group at the California Institute of Technology has been pursued in
the general area of synthetic chemistry, with a focus on the development of new strategies for the
preparation of complex molecules. Concurrent to this program of target driven synthesis is a