Reseach

Synthesis of Organic Peroxides – Peroxide natural products remain challenging (and often unexplored) synthetic targets because of the lack of suitable methodology for introduction or elaboration of the peroxide or hydroperoxide functional groups. Our group is a leader in the development of new methods for peroxide synthesis and the application of these methods to natural product synthesis.

New Oxidation Chemistry – Although ozonolysis of alkenes has been studied for more than a century, exploiting the reactivity of the short-lived carbonyl oxide intermediates has remained an unsolved problem. We have recently demonstrated the ability to employ Lewis acidic or dipolar reagents to harness the reactivity of carbonyl oxides and greatly extend the synthetic utility of ozonolysis.

Chemical Biology – Our collaboration with Prof. Ken Nickerson (UNL School of Biological Sciences) recently uncovered the first example of fungal quorum sensing, in which a released chemical signal (farnesol) provides the basis for population-dependent cell-cell communication. Ongoing research in this area focuses on the use of fluorescent and affinity-linked farnesol analogs to probe the mechanism of quorum sensing, as well as the investigation of farnesol analogs as therapeutic agents against system fungal infections.