Congratulations to Alana and Cade for receiving an NSF GRFP Award and Honorable Mention, respectively! These awards are increasingly competitive, and we’re incredibly proud of everyone who applied.
News
Transitions
This month has a lot of transitions for the group. We welcome Alana, Matthieu, and Max as new first-years in the group, and GM as a new undergraduate researcher. We also bid fond farewells to …
TA spectroscopy for photocatalytic synthesis
TA spectroscopy can provide detailed insight into the mechanisms of photocatalytic reactions. Read Wes’ tutorial review in this year’s Specialist Periodical Reports – Photochemistry.
Cross-ketonization
Andrew developed a method to selectively combine two different carboxylic acid feedstocks into unsymmetrical ketones using a metallaphotoredox strategy. The result is a modern take on the industrial process of acid ketonization, updated for complex …
Uncontrolled Sensitization in Asymmetric Photocatalysis
Steven worked with Zeb Girvin (Miller group), Laura Cotter and Hyung Yoon (Mayer group) in a fun three-lab collaborative project on asymmetric [2+2] photocycloadditions of acyclic vinylpyiridines, now up at JACS. The reaction involves an …
LED-NMR + RPKA
LED-NMR is a data-rich analytical tool that is suitable for modern RPKA techniques. In studing an enantioselective photocatalytic reaction, Wes and Steven found that LED-NMR RPKA enabled determination of rate laws in a fraction of …
Cooperative Photocatalytic Stereocontrol
In the process of developing an enantioselective [2+2] photocycloaddition of vinylpyridines, Steven and Wes discovered stereochemical cooperativity between a chiral Brønsted acid catalyst and a chiral Ir photocatalyst. It’s a gratifying demonstration that matched/mismatched effects …
Cu-mediated Decarboxylative Coupling
The Yoon lab’s first publication of 2022 is a new oxidative decarboxylative coupling process based on the intrinsic photochemistry of Cu(II) carboxylate complexes. Check out the paper in Nature Chemistry. Congratulations Yukki, Sam, Grace, Kimberly, …
Chiral Photocatalyst Review
How have photochemists approached the design of chiral photocatalysts? Matt, Jesse, and Wes have thoughts in their new comprehensive review in Chem Rev.
Brønsted Acid Catalyzed Chromophore Activation
Evan, Matt, and Bohyun investigated a novel strategy for highly enantioselective organocatalytic photochemistry in which no individual reaction component absorbs light. Very pleased to announce the publication of this collaborative project with the Baik group …