Research Endeavors

My research interest lie primarily in Organic synthesis and synthetic methodology. As a graduate student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, I studied the diastereoselective cyclization of hydroperoxy acetals to form 1,2-dioxanes and 1,2,4-trioxanes. In post doctorate work, at Vanderbilt University, I gained experience with stereoselective radical addition reactions, utilizing chiral Lewis acids.

Currently at WSU, I have been working on the synthesis of 4-hydroxy amino acids. The key amino acid in this category is 4-hydroxyisoleucine, a rare amino acid, found in few plant sources. 4-Hydroxyisoleucine has been shown in animal studies to have blood glucose regulating activity. In addition to 4-hydroxyisoleucine, we desire to perform the synthesis of closely related 4-hydroxy amino acid derivatives to examine structure activity relationships.

We have been working on this project for a couple of years and have learned a great deal about amino acids. In the course of this time period, several undergraduate students have gained a valuable research experience.