Diastereoselectivity of ester formation on carbohydrate scaffolds: Stereochemical selectivity in correlation to reaction conditions and additives can change significantly. Thorough understanding of the reaction mechanism and factors enhancing selectivity is essential to rational design of synthetic strategies.

NMR Solution Geometry of Oligosaccharides: Oligosaccharides are present in all life kingdoms and are essential to the biochemistry of protein folding/quality control, immune response to infection, cell-cell interaction, fertilization, cancerogenesis, cancer metastasis, blood group antigens, and neuronal development. Accurate description of the glycan's solution geometry is critical to biochemical functional studies. We use NMR techniques toward this end.

Structure elucidation of glycosylated polyphenols from plants: While plants do not have an "immune" system, they do respond to infection by pathogens with characteristic changes in their metabolome. Especially polyphenols are known to play a role in the plant's defense against infection. Structure identification of specific plant defense chemcials and total synthesis thereof might lead to "green" pesticides.

Collaborative projects with Dr. Vyacheslav V. Samoshin and Dr. Nataliya Samoshina.

Graduate Students

Undergraduate Students