Event

Abstract

Natural products continue to provide inspiration for the development of improved synthetic design processes and reaction development and remain powerful tools for biological discovery.  This lecture will focus on the design and execution of efficient total synthetic pathways toward biologically active and architecturally distinct terpene, alkaloid, and polyketide natural products.

Research 

Complex Molecule Synthesis

We are actively engaged in the pursuit of innovative solutions to the total synthesis of complex, biologically active natural products with relevance to issues of human health. The identification and realization of powerfully simplifying transformations and strategies in synthesis, which allow for rapid access to the target structure, is the principle driving force for our research program. During the course of our studies, researchers become acclimated to all facets of organic synthesis including: strategy-level synthetic planning, reaction discovery and optimization, organometallic synthesis, and small-molecule catalyst development. Being able to rapidly access complex targets in meaningful quantities and systematically alter their molecular structures in useful timeframes places us in a powerful position for further exploring structure/function relationships, target identification studies, and medicinal chemistry exploration. 

Biographical Sketch

Tom Maimone was born and raised in Warsaw, a small town in western New York. He began undergraduate studies at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo, and after two years, transferred to the University of California, Berkeley where he obtained his B.S. degree with high honors in chemistry in 2004. While at Berkeley, Tom conducted undergraduate research in the laboratory of Prof. Dirk Trauner. In the fall of 2005, he began doctoral studies at The Scripps Research Institute under the guidance of Prof. Phil Baran. At Scripps, Tom completed total syntheses of the alkaloids hapalindole U and ambiguine H, and was part of the team that completed the first laboratory synthesis of the complex diterpene vinigrol. In the fall of 2009, he moved to MIT to pursue post-doctoral studies in the laboratory of Prof. Steve Buchwald where he worked in the area of palladium-catalyzed carbon-oxygen and carbon-fluorine bond formation. In July of 2012, Tom returned to UC-Berkeley wherein his research interests encompass the chemistry and biology of complex natural products.

http://www.cchem.berkeley.edu/tjm/Lab_website/Home.html

HOST: Prof Trauner