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Chemical Research Honor's Contract - Laulhé Lab
In my Spring semester of 2026, I had the opportunity to use my research experience in the Laulhe Lab for an Honors contract and for my research as a capstone. I first joined the lab as a junior, in the spring of 2025. I then continued with the research project of "dehalogenation functionalization" into the summer through a program called MURI. This honors research experience has provided me a challenge as I am constantly faced with reactions not working and having to start a project from the beginning again. In addition, research also gave me an opportunity to learn how potential medications or pharmaceuticals may be made. This can be insightful when prescribing medications and understanding their effects when I am treating future patients as a Physician Assistant.
Into the Chemistry...
In many biology courses I learned about amino acids and how they are the building block of proteins but never about what can you do with amino acids if they did not become proteins. In the research lab I had the ability to examine these "what if" quesitions. Specifically we studied the functionalization of amino acids that we would utilize non-canonical amino acids that we would synthetically make them within the lab. This bridged a connection between ideas that I previously learned in biology / chemistry classes into reality.
Afterwards ultraviolet lights were used for the functionalization of the substrates in efforts to promote greener pathways for pharmaceutical and other chemical companies within our lab. This opportunity allowed me to see how the specific changed to the amino end or carboxyl end of the amino acid back bone can change the reactivity of the alpha hydrogen in which the chemistry is reactive too.
While doing mechanistic light on and off studies within the Lewis Base project that utilized (N,N-Diisopropylethylamine), also known as Hünig's base, trials had to be ran multiple times do to variability in data. This demonstrated that results are not always linear. Sometimes the chemical reactions that we would set up did not work and we did not always know why. Through trial and error, we adjusted temperature, reaction times, and concentrations to produce a purer yield. These setbacks ultimately deepened my understanding of how sensitive chemical systems can be and reinforced the value of persistence, flexibility, and collaborative troubleshooting in a research environment.
Picture above are from mechanistic light on/off study of Hünig's base reacting with tert-butyl 3-iodoazetidine-1-carboxylate. Each reaction initially on for 45 with UV at 490nm then 45 min off, were one reaction is removed as the 45 minute is up to see the amount of product formed in the time period.
Interested in learned more about the dehalogenation and functionalization project? Click HERE.
Reflection
My experience in chemical research was both challenging and rewarding as there never was a guarantee that a reaction would work. Unexpected results pushed me to adapt quickly and well as troubleshoot what might have caused the results I have obtained. As I become more comfortable with the process I also strengthened my ability to analyze the results and think how small changes could still influence the end product. Some of the skills I have developed in this lab such as adaptability, patience, and analytical reasoning skills, are skills that can be essential as a PA when they are evaluating patients or making a treatment plan. Overall, my experience not only strengthened my technical abilities but also clarified how my skills can be transferred over in a clinical setting.
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