News

Latest from the Yoon Lab

  • Enantioselective 6π Photoelectrocyclizations

    The latest chapter in our ongoing collaboration with the Baik group is now published in JACS. Wes and Hanna lead a comprehensive synthetic, spectroscopic, and computational study of highly enantioselective 6π photoelectrocyclizations. Previously on the …

  • Cu oxidant review

    A coda to Grace’s successful PhD career: her review describing the use of Cu(II) salts as terminal oxidants in photochemical reactions is online at OBMC.

  • General synthesis of the truxinates

    Part of the motivation for continued development of enantioselective photocatalysis has been the possibility of streamlining the synthesis of densely substituted small-ring compounds. Matt, Matthew, and Herman have devised a demonstration of this principle by …

  • Allylic amination

    Grace, Ellie, and Nic have leveraged an unexpected observation into an unusual method for allylic amination using Cu(II)-mediated radical–polar crossover.  Online now at OL!

  • Photosensitized De Mayo reactions

    Riley, Andrew, and Eunji’s study showing how Lewis acids can improve the scope of sensitized De Mayo reactions is online at Org Lett!

  • Fe-mediated decarboxylative coupling

    Grace and Sam’s magnum opus on Fe(III)-mediated photochemical couplings of carboxylic acid feedstocks is published in Chem. This is the second installment in a productive collaboration with Scott Bagley and Mark Bundesmann at Pfizer.

  • NSF awards

    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.

  • 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 …

  • More News posts

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2018

March

April

  • 04/17 – Org Lett Paper of the Year – Shishi, Shane, and Chris’ Org Lett paper has been selected for Outstanding Publication of the Year.  Tehshik will be presenting an award lecture on this work at the ACS National Meeting in Boston.

May

  • 05/11 – Hawa Graduates – Hawa Keita, our superstar undergraduate, graduates from UW-Madison and is off to UNC for her PhD. Best of luck Hawa!

June

  • 06/02 – Farewell Luca – We bid a fond farewell to Luca Capaldo, who returns to the Ravelli/Fagnoni group at Pavia after a productive internship with us.

September

  • 09/05 – Asymmetric triplet-state reactions – Evan’s review of enantioselective triplet state photoreactions has been published as part of the most recent volume of the RSC’s Specialist Periodic Updates on Photochemistry.
  • 09/05 – Welcome Wes – Welcome to Wes Swords, who is joining us as a postdoc after defending his PhD at UNC with the Meyer lab. Excited to have you!

2017

February

  • 02/22 – Highlights – Travis and Zach’s Science paper has been highlighted in Synform and in C&E News.

March

  • 03/17 – NSF Awards – Hey! NSF Fellowship to Jesse and honorable mention to Chris! Congratulations!

April

  • 04/06 – Visible light photochemistry of titanium oxide – Former visiting student Spencer Pitre’s work on visible light photochemistry with titanium dioxide has been accepted in Chem Comm. This is our first paper in collaboration with the Scaiano lab. Congratulations!
    news update

June

  • 06/30 – Poster Prize at NOS2017 – Mary Beth won a prize for her poster at the NOS meeting! Thanks to Organometallics for sponsoring.

July

  • 07/12 – Adrian graduates – Adrian Amador is Yoon lab PhD #14!  He’s off for a postdoc with Hillmyer at Minnesota.

August

  • 08/07 – Kaz graduates – Kaz Skubi is Yoon lab PhD #15!  Next stop is a postdoc with Pat Holland at Yale.
  • 08/21 – Spencer graduates – Spencer Scholz is Yoon lab PhD #16 (capping off a fantastic summer of defenses). He’s off to a postdoc with Toste at Berkeley.
  • 08/24 – Enantioselective Synthesis of Diarycyclobutanes – Zach and BJ’s paper on crossed [2+2] cycloadditions of styrenic olefins is published in Angewandte. Featuring a slick synthesis of a norlignan natural product.
    news update
  • 08/26 – Heterogeneous Photocatalysis of Indole Diels–Alder Cycloaddition – The second paper from our collaboration with the Scaiano group is now online at ACS Catalysis. Congratulations Spencer!
    news update

November

  • 11/15 – New group members – Kimberly DeGlopper and Yukki Li are the newest members of the Yoon lab!
  • 11/17 – Intermolecular [3+2] cycloadditions –  Adrian and Evan’s paper on intermolecular [3+2] photocycloadditions is published in Synthesis.
    news update
  • 11/17 – “Designer” chiral Ir photocatalyst – Kaz and Jesse’s paper on an enantioselective chiral Ir photosensitizer is published in JACS. The product of a fun collaboration with Hoimin Jung and Mookie Baik at KAIST.
    news update

2016

January

  • 01/06 – Photocatalytic aziridination – Spencer and Elliot’s approach to synthetically useful photochemical aziridination is online in ACIE!
    news update
  • 01/06 – Dr. Blum! – Lucky Yoon PhD #13!  Travis successfully defends his dissertation. Next up, a postdoc with David Liu at Harvard.
  • 01/23 – Meggers highlight – Adrian’s highlight of the Meggers chiral-at-iridium photocatalyst system is online at ACIE.
    news update

April

  • 04/01 – Asymmetric [3+2] photocycloaddition – Adrian and Evan’s report of an enantioselective [3+2] photocycloaddition method is online at JACS.
    news update
  • 04/27 – Review of Dual Photocatalysis – Kaz and Travis have published a new Chem Rev on dual catalysis strategies in photochemistry.
    news update

August

  • 08/09 – Org Synth Prep – Shane and Shishi’s Org Synth article on a large-scale synthesis of Ru(bpz)32+ and its use in a radical cation Diels-Alder reaction has been published.
  • 08/09 – Mary Beth Daub – Mary Beth Daub, a PhD from Chris Vanderwal’s lab at UC-Irvine, has joined the lab as a postdoc. Welcome Mary Beth!
  • 08/09 – Accounts article – Tehshik is co-editing a special issue of Accounts of Chemical Research on photoredox catalysis with Corey Stephenson. His contribution on asymmetric photoredox reactions is now online.
    news update

September

  • 09/05 – JOC Special Issue – Tehshik guest-edited a Special Issue of JOC on Photoredox Catalysis. This issue features contributions from many of the major contributors to this field. The guest editorial can be found here.
    news update

December

  • 12/28 – Asymmetric catalysis of triplet photoreactions – Travis and Zach’s initial report on chiral Lewis acid catalysis of triplet sensitization reactions appears online at Science.
    news update
  • 12/30 – Oxidizable Redox Auxiliaries – Shishi, Shane, and Chris’ work on the development of aryl sulfides as traceless “redox auxilaries” for radical cation cycloadditions is online at Org Lett.
    news update

 

2015

January

  • 01/09 – We have a brand new website up and running. Thanks to Libby, Al, and Ariel for making it happen!
  • 01/09 – Spencer Pitre, a doctoral student in Tito Scaiano‘s laboratory at Ottawa, is spending an NSERC-funded internship period with us for the semester. Welcome Spencer!
  • 01/14 – Scalable synthesis of bpz – Dani and Jim’s improved procedure for a scalable synthesis of Ru(bpz)32+ has been reported in BJOC. The catalyst can now be purchased from Sigma-Aldrich.  See their product portal on our group’s chemistry for more information!
    news update
  • 01/20 – Dr. Lin! – Shishi successfully defends her dissertation! After a bit of R&R back in Singapore, she’s off to the Merck Process group for a postdoc.

February

  • 02/12 – Enantioselective α-amino radical additions – Laura, Iain, and Eric’s paper on enantioselective α-amino radical additions is accepted to JACS.
    news update

March

  • 03/05 – Romnes Fellowship – Tehshik is named as one of this year’s recipients of the Romnes Faculty Fellowship for mid-career UW faculty.
  • 03/17 – Bessel Award – Tehshik has been awarded a Bessel Award from the Humboldt Foundation. See coverage in Angewandte.

May

  • 05/21 – Dr. Farney! – Elliot successfully defends his dissertation to become Yoon Lab PhD #11!  Next up, a postdoc in the Reisman lab.

 July

  • 07/08 -Radical chain process in photoredox catalysis – Megan’s study of radical chain processes in photoredox reactions is published in Chem Sci.
    news update
  • 07/28 – Dr. Cismesia! – Megan Cismesia is Yoon lab PhD #12!  She’s off for a postdoc with Melanie Sanford at Michigan.

 September

October

  • 10/14 – Highlight in Science – Many thanks to the Stephenson group for highlighing Megan’s chain propagation paper in Science.

2014

February

  • Dani’s review on photocatalytic synthesis appears in Science.
  • We’re pleased to contribute Zic’s endoperoxide synthesis to a symposium-in-print in honor of Sarah Reisman inTetrahedron.

April

  • Juana, Kaz, and Dani’s paper on asymmetric photocycloadditions is published online in Science.
  • Kevin’s review on contemporary oxaziridine chemistry appears in Chem Rev.
  • Laura is the recipient of a Goering Award from the Department. Congratulations!

May

  • Jim earns his MS degree and starts a job at Abbvie. Good luck, Jim!

June

  • Anna defends her dissertation and is off for a postdoc with Scott Miller at Yale!
  • Kevin and Jim’s paper on iron-catalyzed kinetic resolution of oxaziridines is published online in Chem Sci.

July

  • Laura is now Dr. Laura! She is off to start a job at Dow.
  • We bid a fond farewell to Dani as she finishes her postdoc and starts a job at Merck Process.
  • Anna’s paper on [2+2] photocycloadditions of 1,3-dienes is a Hot Paper in ACIE.

August

  • Travis’s paper on oxidative cycloadditions of phenols is published online in ACIE.September 2014: Tehshik and Corey Stephenson have co-edited a special issue of Adv Synth Catal on photocatalytic synthesis.

September

  • We welcome Amy Challinor, who will be conducting research in our laboratory for the Fall semester. She’s a visiting student from the Thomas group at the University of Edinburgh.
  • Travis returns from a summer internship with Merck’s biocatalysis group in Rahway.

November

  • Welcome to our new first-years, Shane and Craig!
  • Kaz authors Nature News and Views highlight of an asymmetric photoredox alkalyion reaction reported by Meggers.

2013

January

  • Kevin becomes a freshly minted PhD. Next up: a postdoc in the Leighton group at Columbia.
  • Tehshik receives the Kiekhofer Distinguished Teaching Award from the university

March

  • Laura and Eric’s study of Bronsted acid co-catalysts in photocatalytic radical amine functionalizations is published in JOC.

April

  • Megan’s study of photocatalytic nitroarene reduction is published as part of a special issue of Synthesis on light-mediated organic synthesis.

May

  • We make the cover of ACS Catalysis.
  • Awards season! Elliot receives a Goering award from the department. Eric is in the inaugural cohort of ACS Division of Organic Chemistry Undergraduate Awardees. And Sarah wins a Hilldale scholarship. Congratulations!

June

  • We’re sending some great undergrads off into the world — Eric to Michigan and Zach to Utah. Good luck in grad school, guys!

July

  • Liz Tyson defends her dissertation and starts a postdoc at PNNL!

October

  • The Yoon lab welcomes its newest members, Iain and Evan.

November

  • Elliot’s paper on photocatalytic pyrrole synthesis is a VIP paper in ACIE.
  • Tehshik is elected into the 2013 class of AAAS Fellows

2012

February

  • Jon, Michael, and Zic’s paper on aerobic endoperoxide synthesis appears online in Org Lett.
  • Liz and Elliot’s paper on cleavable redox auxiliaries appears online in Org Lett.

April

  • Megan receives a fellowship from the NSF!
  • Kevin wins a Hirschmann-Rich award in Organic Chemistry from the department, and has been selected to attend the Abbott Scholars Symposium in August. Shishi wins a summer research fellowship from Eastman. Congratulations!
  • A good month for our undergrads. Eric wins a Hilldale fellowship, and REU student Christian’s work on radical cation IMDA reactions is published in TL.

May

  • Shishi’s paper on radical cation Diels-Alder cycloadditions is highlighted in JACS Select.
  • Michael’s mini-review on radical ion chemistry appears online at EurJOC.
  • Juana defends her dissertation. She leaves for a postdoc in the Hartwig lab soon.

June

  • Michael and Mike’s paper on crossed oxidative [2+2] cycloadditions is published in Chem Sci.

July

  • Kevin’s paper on enantioselective iron-catalyzed oxyaminations is published in JACS.

August

  • New postdoc Dani joins our group from the Wolfe lab. Welcome!

September

  • Zic’s paper describing visible light-induced [2+2] cycloadditions by energy transfer photocatalysis is published in Angewandte.

November

  • Liz’s paper on transition metal photocatalysis of radical thiol-ene reactions is published as part of Howard Zimmerman’s memorial issue of JOC.
  • We welcome new graduate student Jim Sawicki to the group!

2011

January

  • Tamas’ paper on indole oxyamination is Synfact of the Month.
  • Zic and Meihua’s paper on photocatalytic [3+2] cycloadditions appears on JACS ASAPs.

February

  • Group members visit the state capitol during the budget protests.

March

  • Anna, Megan, and Michael’s paper on photocatalytic radical anion hetero-Diels-Alder cycloadditions is published in Tetrahedron.

April

  • Two group awards: Michael receives a Charles & Martha Casey Award for Excellence in Research, and Juana receives a Goering Organic Fellowship.

May

  • Congratulations to Michael on the defense of his dissertation! He’s off soon to a postdoc in the Ellman group.

June

  • Christian Padilla from Carleton College joins the lab as a summer REU student. Welcome!

July

  • Dr. Ye Zhu, who received his Ph.D. from the Burgess group, joins our lab as a postdoc. Welcome!
  • Tehshik gets tenure, and the group celebrates with a trip up to Devil’s Lake.

August

  • Juana and Laura’s paper on the photocatalytic reductive couplings of enones is published online in Chemical Science.

September

  • Two group members win awards: Kevin Williamson wins a 2011 Aldrich Graduate Student Innovation Award, and Juana Du wins the 2011 Abbott Award in Synthetic Chemistry.

October

  • Shishi and Michael’s communication on photocatalytic radical cation Diels-Alder cycloadditions appears online in JACS.

November

  • Adrian, Spencer, and Kaz join the group. Welcome!

December

  • Tehshik is named an Honored Instructor by students in University Housing for the third semester in a row.

2010

March

  • Kevin’s JACS communication describing alkene oxyaminations catalyzed by iron is now online.

April

  • Former undergraduate Amanda Turek receives an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, which will support her research in the Jacobsen group at Harvard. Congratulations, Amanda!

May

  • Michael wins a Goering Organic Chemistry Fellowship from the department, and is selected as a presenter at the ACS DOC’s first Graduate Research Symposium. Congratulations!
  • Tehshik is the recipient of a 2010 Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award.

June

  • Michael and Zic’s paper on [2+2] photocycloadditions of styrenes appears on JACS ASAPs.
  • Congratulations to Tamas on the successful defense his dissertation, and good luck at BMS Process!
  • Former Yoon group member David Michaelis is a finalist for the Reaxys PhD Prize.

July

  • Dr. Larry Tardibono joins the group. Welcome!

August

  • Congratulations to Juana for winning an ACS Division of Organic Chemistry fellowship!
  • The research of our former undergrads, Sandra and Ashley, has been accepted to TL. It will be featured on the cover of the Oct 6 issue. Congratulations!

November

  • Travis, Megan, and Derek join the group. Welcome!
  • Tehshik is named an Eli Lilly Grantee for 2011. Congratulations to the other awardees, and thanks as always to Lilly for their generous support!

December

  • Tehshik has been selected as an Honored Instructor by students living in the University Residence Halls.October 2010: Tamas’ paper on indole oxyamination appears on Angewandte “Early View.”

2009

February

  • We thank the Sloan Foundation for recognition of our work and extend our congratulations to all of the other 2009 Fellowship winners.

March

  • Tehshik is selected to receive a 2009 Amgen Young Investigator’s Award.
  • David and Kevin’s enantioselective aminohydroxylation paper appears online. This article will be part of a Tetrahedron Symposium-In-Print in honor of Mike Krische.

April

  • The Boston University Department of Chemistry has invited Tehshik to present the first Organic Syntheses, Inc., lecture.
  • Tehshik has participated in a discussion on the epistemology of reaction mechanisms, which appears online at J Chem Ed.

May

  • Juana’s crossed intermolecular [2+2] cycloaddition paper appears on JACS ASAPs.
  • Congratulations to Amanda for winning the 2009 Iota Sigma Pi Undergraduate Award for Excellence in Chemistry!
  • Congratulations to David, who has won a Charles and Martha Casey Award for Excellence in Research and the Farrington Daniels Ethical Leadership Fellowship.
  • Congratulations to Tamas and David, who have each received an Undergraduate Research Mentor Award.

June

  • Tamas and Juana’s paper on halocuprate-catalyzed aminohdyroxylations appears on JOC ASAPs.

August

  • Charlie, Tamas, and Amanda’s paper on C-H bond amination appears on JACS ASAPs.
  • Read some coverage of our work at the Sceptical Chymist blog.

September

  • Dr. Zhan (Zic) Lu joins the group. Welcome!

October

  • Our work on photocatalytic [2+2] cycloaddition is featured on the cover of JACS.

November

  • New first-years: Elliot, Shishi, Jon, and Laura join the group. Welcome!
  • Our communication on oxaziridine-mediated C-H amination is highlighted in Synfacts.

December

  • Katie’s Angewandte communication on the first method for cycloaddition of carbonyl imines is now online.
  • Our communication on crossed [2+2] cycloadditions is highlighted in Synfacts.
  • Congratulations to Katie on the successful defense of her dissertation! She’s off to be a postdoc in the Montgomerygroup.
  • Congratulations to David on the successful defense of his dissertation! He’s off to be a postdoc in the Trost group.

2008

January

  • Michael presents a department seminar on the synthesis of cyclophane natural products.

February

  • Mary Beth presents a department seminar on ladder polyether natural products.
  • Katie and Mary Beth’s JACS paper appears online. Congratulations!

March

  • We thank the Beckman Foundation for their generous support and congratulate all of the other 2008 Young Investigator Award recipients.

April

  • David and Michael’s full paper is published on JACS ASAP.
  • Our nitrone paper is highlighted in Synfacts and our aminohydroxylation work is highlighted by Prof. Taber on Organic Chemistry Portal.
  • Two departmental awards: Katie wins the Goering Organic Chemistry Fellowship, and Tamas wins the Organic Chemistry Excellence in Research Award. Congratulations!

May

  • The Chem 346 Blog Project is highlighted in campus news.

June

  • David is the recipient of a 2008 Sigma-Aldrich Graduate Student Innovation Award. Congratulations!

July

  • Tehshik is a 2008 Cottrell Scholar, funded by the Research Corporation.

August

  • David wins an ACS Division of Organic Chemistry fellowship, funded by Boehinger Ingelheim. Congratulations David!

September

  • Our paper on visible light photocatalysis appears on JACS ASAP. See coverage in Science and C&E News.

November

  • Olga, Anna, and Liz join the group. Welcome!

December

  • Tehshik is the recipient of a 2009 Thieme Synlett/Synthesis Journal Award and was selected as an Honored Instructor by students living in the University Residence Halls.

2007

January

  • Our first paper appears on JACS ASAP. Congratulations, Dave and Chris!

February

  • Tamas Benkovics presents a department seminar on the alkane aminations using metal nitrenes.

March

  • Our aminohydroxylation paper makes the list of Top 20 Accessed Articles in JACS for the first quarter of 2007.

September

  • Tamas, David, and Charlie successfully defend their second-year research summaries.
  • Charlie Allen presents a department seminar on the Nazarov cyclization.

October

  • Katie is the recipient of the department’s Abbott Fellowship in Synthetic Organic Chemistry for 2008. Congratulations, Katie!

November

  • Juana Du and Kevin Williamson join the group. Welcome to the lab!

December

  • Tehshik is the recipient of a Research Service Award from the UW.

2006

September

  • Katie Partridge presents a department seminar on microfluidic devices.

October

  • Katie successfully defends her research summary. One last step to dissertator status!

November

  • Dave Michaelis presents a department seminar on the synthesis of guanidinium alkaloids.
  • We are funded by an NSF CAREER Award.
  • Mary Beth Anzovino and Michael Ischay join the group. Welcome to the lab!