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I
am interested in all aspects of organic synthesis. Specifically,
my goals involve the development
of new synthetic methods and strategies for improved efficiency and elegance
in molecular construction. These methods are then applied in the
synthesis of small molecules having interesting structures or biological
activities.
I actively encourage students
to become involved in research as an important part of their undergraduate
experience. If you are a UW Oshkosh student and are curious about
research opportunities in my lab, please stop by or email
me.
The benzofuran heterocycle is a commonly occurring substructure in organic
chemistry, and appears in a variety of structurally and biologically interesting
natural products. Hence, there has been much interest in developing
new methods for their synthesis. A powerful yet relatively unexplored
strategy for creating benzofuran natural products involves the reaction
of a quinone with an enol ether. The development of this strategy
will be explored in the context of the total syntheses of several small
natural products: cacalol, frondosin B, (-)-galanthamine, and radermachol.
Thiazoline
rings are important reoccurring structural elements that appear in a variety
of natural products. I am particularly interested in the tantazoles
mirabazoles and thiangazole natural products, which contain a linear array
of fused thiazolines In
addition to their interesting polyheterocyclic structures, these compounds
have demonstrated significant biological activity. Members of the
tantazole and mirabazole families have displayed selective cytotoxicity
against murine solid tumors, and thiangazole has been reported to be a
potent and selective inhibitor HIV-1.
As
one aspect of my research,
I am interested in exploring more efficient and/or faster methods toward
the synthesis of these molecules. This should prove useful in further
exploration of the promising biological activities of these molecules.
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