Yoon Laboratory

The Yoon Research Group is a collaborative team of researchers in synthetic organic chemistry. We specialize in organic photochemistry, radical chemistry, and stereoselective synthesis. We are particularly interested in the development of novel catalytic methodology as a strategy for increasing process efficiency, controlling reaction selectivity, and reducing the environmental impact of chemical synthesis.

A central theme of research in the Yoon lab is the development of synthetically useful photochemical reactions that can be conducted using visible light. Most organic compounds, however, absorb light only at short UV wavelengths that are relatively poorly emitted in the solar spectrum. We are investigating strategies to use transition metal photosensitizers that can catalyze interesting new photochemical reactions at long wavelengths of visible light that are abundant in the solar spectrum.

Another research thrust in our lab involves the investigation of novel oxidation reactions that can be induced by activation of heteroatom-heteroatom bonds. We have been particularly interested in the chemistry of oxaziridines, which are three-membered heterocycles composed of nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon. We are developing transition metal-catalyzed processes that induce oxaziridines to react with organic substrates in a variety of useful transformations.