Research Overview

Our main research interest is in the area of synthetic organic chemistry. Our group is developing novel methodologies for the total synthesis of biologically active natural and unnatural products. Another area of focus is in the utilization of amino acids as chirons in the synthesis of chiral ligands and metal complexes. The development of synthetically useful radical reactions, which are generally inaccessible by ionic methods, is of high priority. Development of chiral Lewis acid-mediated enantioselective transformations is an area of active pursuit. We are also exploring the utilization of agricultural materials as feed-stocks for the generation of commercially useful materials.