Synthetic Chemistry
Synthetic chemistry spans the fields of organic, inorganic, materials, and even biological sciences. Chemical synthesis leverages the fundamental reactivity of the elements to construct increasingly complex molecular architectures through the purposeful execution of chemical reactions.
Areas of Focus
Bioactive natural products • Organic materials • Inorganic materials • Nanomaterials • Quantum materials • Polymers • Metal organic frameworks • Organometallic reagents • Inorganic metal complexes • Catalysis • New reaction development
Affiliated Faculty
Jonathan Barnes
Synthetic organic chemistry, polymer chemistry, supramolecular chemistry, stimuli-responsive materials, bionanotechnology
Vladimir Birman
Asymmetric catalysis, organocatalysis, tandem transformations, rational design, synthetic methodology, total synthesis
John Bleeke
Organometallic chemistry, pentadienyl- and heteropentadienyl-metal complexes, metallabenzenes and other aromatic metallacycles
Kevin Moeller
Synthetic organic chemistry, electrochemistry, addressable molecular libraries, new chemical probes for mapping biological receptors
Bryce Sadtler
Solar energy conversion, light-matter interactions, catalysis, nanoscale materials, single-particle fluorescence imaging
John Taylor
Bioorganic chemistry
Tim Wencewicz
Antibiotic drug discovery, new therapeutic strategies to combat antibiotic resistance, natural product biosynthesis, synthetic organic chemistry, mechanism-based enzyme inhibitors, structural and mechanistic basis of enzyme reactions, chemoenzymatic synthesis of value chemicals, green chemistry, targeted drug delivery, membrane transport paradigms for siderophore-mediated iron acquisition in bacteria
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I chose WashU because I hoped for a collaborative and interdisciplinary research experience, with access to a wide array of top-class professors and instruments. What I didn't expect to gain as well was a community of people who have been so supportive and encouraging throughout my journey, and a department that cares deeply about my safety both on and off campus.
―Chanez SymisterPhD Candidate, Chancellor's Fellow, Wencewicz Lab