Collaborative Mechanistic Studies in the Vetticatt Group
In the Vetticatt group, we attempt to be at the forefront of new reaction discovery and catalyst design by collaborating with some of the top methodology groups from around the world. Our goal is to minimize the time-lag between new reaction discovery and its complete mechanistic description. We follow the literature and identify topical problems of broad interest and propose collaborative mechanistic studies based on preliminary calculations. Graduate students in the Vetticatt Lab design the isotope effect experiments that are performed in the collaborator's laboratory. The samples are then shipped to us for natural abundance isotope effect measurements. The combined experimental and theoretical results are used to elucidate key aspects of the mechanism of the reaction. The mechanistic picture that emerges is used as a blueprint for new reaction development and catalyst design. If you are interested in collaborating with us, please email Matt at vetticatt@binghamton.edu.
Our current list of collaborators are listed below
- Dr. Paul Ha-Yeon Cheong Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon (June 2018-present) Proline catalyzed aldol reactions
- Dr. Jason Hein University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada (June 2018-present) Proline catalyzed aldol reactions
- Dr. Richmond Sarpong, University of California, Berkeley, California (December 2017-present) Mechanism of palladium catalyzed C-H functionalization reactions
- Dr. David Nagib, The Ohio State University, Ohio (October 2017 - present) Mechanism of radical relay chaperone catalysis
- Dr. Steven Townsend, Vanderbilt University, Tennessee (December 2016 - present)
- Dr. John Chisholm, Syracuse University, New York (October 2016 - present) Mechanism of trichloroacetimidate reactions
- Dr. Daniel Seidel, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida (June 2016 - present) Mechanism of thiourea organocatalyzed reactions
- Dr. Santanu Mukherjee, Indian Institute of Science, India (June 2015 – present) Mechanism of organocatalyzed sp2-alkylation and vinylation reactions
- Dr. Karl A. Jørgensen, Aarhus University, Denmark (June 2015 – present) Mechanism of enamine activation of cyclopropanes
- Dr. Frank Glorius, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Germany (May 2015 – present) Mechanism of N-heterocyclic carbene catalyzed hydroacylation reaction
- Dr. Mario Waser, Institute of Organic Chemistry, Johannes Kepler University, Linz, Austria (July 2014 – present) Mechanism of bifunctional quarternary amine-urea catalysis and studies on the effect of catalyst-deuteration on enantioselectivity
- Dr. Gary B. Evans, Ferrier Institute, New Zealand (August 2013 – present) Synthesis of Proline-based chiral and isotope-edited catalysts
- Dr. Andrew S. Murkin, SUNY Buffalo, New York (July 2013 – present) Theoretical investigation of the reactions catalyzed by 1-deoxy-D-xylulose-5-phosphate reductoisomerase (DXR) and D-Ala-D-Ala ligase (Ddl)
- Dr. Tristan H. Lambert, Cornell University, New York (July 2013 – present) Mechanism of catalysis by chiral aromatic ions
- Dr. William D. Wulff, Michigan State University, Michigan (July 2013 – present) Experimental and computational studies on asymmetric BOROX catalysis