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Natural products are important resources for discovering new chemical
therapeutics and small-molecule probes for studying biological systems.
They also provide valuable platforms for developing new methods for chemical
synthesis. We seek to refine the synthetic tools and understand the
fundamental principles that govern chemical transformations through
synthesis of complex natural products. As many natural products can
only be obtained from the nature in limited quantities, evaluation of their
biological and clinical significance is difficult. Synthetic chemistry
not only offers an important solution to the re-supply issue, but also
allows modifications of these natural products for new or improved
biological functions.
The focus of our research group is the total synthesis of natural products.
We aim to develop new synthetic strategies and methodologies to address
unsolved synthetic problems or to improve the efficiency of existing
approaches. We are most interested in the synthesis of structurally
complex natural products with unique skeletons. Specific synthetic
targets include oroidin family alkaloids, polycylic triterpenoids,
halogenated steroids, and diazobenzofluorenes. Another direction of
our research program is the development of new probes for studying signal
transduction pathways and examination of their therapeutic values through
collaborations at UT Southwestern.
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