The enantioselective total synthesis of quinolizidine-containing natural product cermizine D and formal syntheses of senepodine G and cermizine C has been achieved. These natural products are members of the lycopodium alkaloids, which have attracted significant attention due to their exciting biological activities and the diverse structural scaffolds. Key steps in...
Pharmaceuticals, molecular catalysts, and secondary metabolites often contain nitrogen. The problems faced synthesizing compounds which contain nitrogen was because of the Lewis base reactivity of nitrogen lone pairs, and the acidic protons of some nitrogenous functional groups. We developed two methods for the synthesis of nitrogeous compounds. Additionally, we successfully...
Ambifunctional axially chiral 2,2',6,6'-tetrasubstituted biphenyls containing nucleophilic (or basic) functional groups juxtaposed with hydrogen-bond donors were synthesized and their properties studied. Applications for the prepared biaryls as potential organocatalysts for enantioselective carbon-carbon bond forming reactions were examined. Processes investigated included: aldol, Michael, nitroaldol (Henry), and Baylis-Hillman reactions.
The novel amidoamine...
The overall concept of reducing laboratory operations to a scale that fits on a single microfluidic chip has been an attractive area of research over the last several decades. Despite a surge in research, few commercial success stories have been written. Lab-on-a-chip technologies have the capability to be cost effective...
The concept of reducing laboratory operations in scale such that they fit on a microfluidic chip has been met with great enthusiasm. Lab-on-a-chip devices promise to be cost effective to operate due to reduced reagent consumption, have the potential to offer shorter analysis times due to their short path lengths,...
Structure-property relationships have always underpinned the field of solid state chemistry; dependable structural descriptions are integral to understanding and controlling the physical properties of inorganic compounds old and new. While a handful of crystal structures are celebrated for their versatility, flexibility, and functionality, the existence of more exotic structures is...
In this dissertation, my research work on excited state dynamics of small organic molecules in solutions is presented. Using femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy (FSRS) as the main experimental tool, the excited state hydrogen-bonding dynamics (ESHBD) of Coumarin 102, a common laser dye molecule, in ethanol solution is examined with <150...
Oxides of post-transition metals often show unique structures and properties due to the presence of lone pair electrons and the diffused s orbitals. The present work focuses on synthesis and characterizations of oxides containing Te, a heavy post transition metal.
New series of pyrochlore oxides of the formula Cs(M,Te)₂O₆ (M...
Crystals of an incongruent-melting compound, Ba₃MgSi₂O₈, were grown by the flux method and its structure was determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction methods. Ba₃MgSi₂O₈ crystallizes in trigonal space group P-3[bar]m1 with a = 5.6123(3) Å, c = 7.2667(9) Å and Z = 1. Eu²⁺ ions prefer one crystallographic Ba site...