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Current Research Projects
STUDIES TOWARD THE TOTAL SYNTHESIS OF
TROCHELIOPHOROLIDE A:
Trocheliophorilide A was recently isolated from the Red Sea soft coral
S. trocheliophorum that has been shown to inhibit the growth of certain
bacteria. Our efforts are focused on using palladium coupling methods
to facilitate a convergent construction of the lactone with an unsaturated
side chain. The chiral center on the lactone ring will conveniently
be installed via the use of commercially available (S)-ethyl lactate
as a starting material.
STUDIES TOWARD THE SYNTHESIS OF A CROSS-OVER PROBE: Synthesis of a cross-membrane probe that will show both nonpolar and polar spectrochromic sensitivity should help in determining the location of bound probe and its partitioning between a surfactant membrane and an aqueous core. Our tethered fluorescence probe (2) is comprised of 9-aminoacridine and dansylamide, separated by an octyne spacer. The spectrochromic sensitivity of secondary dansylamides in nonpolar environments is matched by the sensitivity of 9-aminoacridine in polar and aqueous systems. By tethering these two probes with a hydrocarbon spacer, the resulting probe system can be anchored across a surfactant-based membrane.
Students conduucting research in the Collison group are required to attend at least one science seminar per quarter of research during the academic school year. A speaker evaluation form must be filled out and returned to my office by week 10 of each quarter.
Additionally, each student must fill out a self-evaluation form based on their performance in the lab based on their productivity and committment to the project. Self-evaluation forms must be returned to me by week 10 of each quarter.
Forms for Research Students