The unifying theme of our research is the discovery and application of new reactions for organic synthesis.  Many of the transformations we target are based on common structural motifs or functional group patterns present in molecules provided to us by Nature, while others have their origins in unexpected products we have obtained in the course of other experiments.

Nickel-Catalyzed Carbon-Carbon Bond Formation.  The vast majority of the transformations we have developed are carbon-carbon bond-forming reactions that are promoted by catalysts containing the transition metal nickel.  We have found that a number of types of functional groups can be joined and that several types of selectivity are governed by the nature of the supporting ligand on Ni.  Please see the Nickel Catalysis section of our website for further information and downloadable publications.

Target-Oriented Synthesis.  In order to test the scope of the utility of the methods developed, we employ them in many contexts.  One of these is the total synthesis of natural products that were the original inspiration for their development.  We have found that the nickel-catalyzed reactions are compatible with an array of functional groups, making them useful in very complicated settings, such fragment coupling or macrocyclization operations at a late stage in synthesis of a natural product. Please see the Total Synthesis section of our website for further information and downloadable publications.

Epoxide-Opening Cascades.  Over two decades ago, Nakanishi proposed a provocative explanation for the structural and stereochemical similarities found in the ladder polyether natural products, which are associated with the Red Tide and other marine phenomena – the transformation of a polyepoxide into a ladder polyether via a cascade of epoxide-opening events.   An ongoing effort in our group is the replication or emulation of such cascades with several goals in mind.  One aim is the efficient synthesis of these extremely complex natural products and another is the exploration of Nakanishi’s original hypothesis, that is, whether or not Nature does use such cascades to synthesize the ladder polyethers. Please see the Epoxide Cascades section of our website for further information and downloadable publications.

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