Natural product inspired synthetic methods

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Natural products or chemicals isolated from environmental sources such as plants, trees, bacteria, fungi or ocean sponges are the origin of nearly all lead structures resulting in large molecule pharmaceutical therapies for treating infections, cancers and other diseases.  Our research consists of two complementary components related to natural products.  The first area involves the preparation of natural products that show some promising biological activity, but are scarcely available from the environment, so additional testing and evaluation depends on making additional quantities in the laboratory.  The second area involves the discovery and development of new chemical reactions and synthetic transformations that may offer advantages over existing technologies in terms of economy, selectivity and environmental impact.  A separate area of investigation involves collaborative projects based on the synthesis of organosilicon compounds for applications in materials science.  These research efforts provide students excellent training in synthetic chemistry and graduates find employment as researchers in the pharmaceutical and materials industries or as academics.