Research Expertise and Interest

organic synthesis, total synthesis, natural products chemistry, catalysis, synthetic methodology, medicinal chemistry, organic chemistry, drug discovery

Research Description

Synthesis is the unifying theme of the Maimone Research Group—total synthesis, new methods for organic synthesis, and the synthesis of new catalyst architectures. In the former area, they are actively pursuing innovative solutions to the total chemical synthesis of a number of complex, biologically active natural products. The identification and realization of powerfully simplifying transformations, which allow for rapid access to the target structure, is a major driving force of our research program. In addition, the interplay between structure and function, and the ability to “re-engineer” natural product structures in an attempt to increase their applicability to problems in biology and medicine is also of particular interest and target selection typically reflects this objective. In a second area, they are interested in exploring unorthodox approaches to catalyst design for transition metal-mediated processes. Traditional metal/ligand catalyst systems often feature rigid ligands with well-defined steric and electronic parameters.  They are interested in the synthesis and study of fluxional ligand structures with the potential to access many different steric and electronic states during catalysis. They will use the tools of organic and organometallic chemistry to synthesize and characterize the behavior of these systems.