About

Distinctions

· Research Corporation Cottrell Scholar, class of 1998 (CS 1998).

· Plumeri Award for Faculty Excellence at William & Mary (2015).

· Jennifer and Devin Murphy Faculty Award for outstanding integration of Research with teaching (W&M 2014-2016).

· Only PUI participant invited to the 2008 NSF Workshop on Organic Synthesis

· Invited Speaker (Poster Award) at Organic Reactions and Processes Gordon Research Conference) in 2007

· Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar (2002-2007)

· NSF CAREER Award (1999-2003)

Work Experience

William & Mary

· Vice-Dean for Natural, Physical and Computational Sciences and Interdisciplinary Programs (2021 to present)

· Chair of Chemistry (2017 to 2021)

· Professor of Chemistry (2011 to present)

· Associate Professor of Chemistry (2002-2011)

· Assistant Professor of Chemistry (1996-2002)

· NIH Postdoctoral Associate with Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Larry E. Overman (Overman's Homepage) at the University of California, Irvine (1994-1996). Professor Overman is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and has won innumerable awards. Please see his website for the complete list of awards.

Education

· PhD with Distinguished Professor Peter J. Stang (Stang's Homepage) at the University of Utah (1994). Professor Stang is the 2013 recipient of the American Chemical Society's Priestly Medal . . . the ACS's highest honor. Professor Stang is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

· A. B. in chemistry (Summa Cum Laude) from Bowdoin College (1986)

Research

• Polyyne Synthesis and Bioactivity. We are working on this new area of research with Prof. Doug Young, also in Chemistry at William & Mary. Large-scale syntheses of diynes and triynes are being conducted in my laboratory whereas biological testing of those diyne and triyne products is being done in Young's Lab. Alternatively, small-scale, chemoselective syntheses of analogues are being done using solid-supported chemistry developed by Young.

• Oxocarbenium Ions and the Synthesis of Cyclic Ethers and other oxygen heterocycles. This work is currently funded by William & Mary, but was previously funded by the National Science Foundation (2010-2015), and the National Institutes of Health (2007-2011). Please see the "Current Research on Oxocarbenium Ions" link to the upper right to visit our research page.

• Iodonium Salts (1996-2004 and 2017!). Although most recognize that iodine can routinely adopt a -1 charge, it can also adopt formal charges of III and V. We synthesized a wide variety of alkenyl(aryl)iodonium salts and found that they fragmented readily under neutral conditions in chloroform, or dichloromethane. Although we originally proposed that primary alkenyl cations were involved in these fragmentations, we later realized that anchimeric assistance with concerted alkyl migration and SN2 processes were more likely mechanistic explanations for the fragmentation products. Please see the "Iodonium Salt Chemistry" link to the upper right of this page for a short summary.

Courses taught over the last 15 years

· Beyond Petroleum as a Fuel (Chem. 150W). This discussion-intensive class is designed to introduce students to scholarly forms of writing as well as innumerable petroleum and energy related topics. We have written letters to Congress, learned about biofuels, photovoltaics, "fracking" for natural gas, the role of petroleum-derived molecules in polymers and other consumer products, wave-energy, nuclear energy, wind power, etc. Students give the class a final presentation on an energy, or petroleum-related topic.

· Organic Synthesis (Chem. 457/657). Organic Synthesis focuses on stereoselective reactions, retrosynthetic analysis, and stategies towards the selective construction of larger molecules. Professor Jonathan R. Scheerer and I have both taught this course and will both continue in this regard -- usually in 3-4 year cycles.

· Organic Chemistry II (Chem. 209). This second semester course in organic chemistry emphasizes organic reactions and the mechanisms by which they occur. Simple stereoselectivity (e.g., cis- & trans-) as well as regioselectivity are described. In contrast to Organic Chemistry II for Life Sciences (Chem. 307), we generally don't cover biomolecules such as carbohydrates, proteins, and nucleic acids (DNA, RNA).

· Organic Chemistry I (Chem. 206). This first semester course lays the structural and mechanistic foundations for Organic Chemistry II (Chem. 209/307), as well as

· Organic Laboratory Courses (Chem. 206L and 353). These two lab courses are associated with Organic Chemistry I and II described above.