1 minute read
The Wilkerson-Hill Group
from Fall 2019
by uncchemistry
The Hill group is yet another new group at Carolina Chemistry. Members in this laboratory strive to develop new enantioselective reaction methodology in order to synthesize complex molecules with important biological function. This research merges Assistant Professor Sidney Wilkerson-Hill’s training in synthetic organic chemistry and enantioselective catalysis, to address unsolved problems in synthesis with the long-term goal to provide new non-invasive tools for studying the living human brain, using positron emission tomography, PET. With these methods the group members will advance the knowledge of chemical reactivity in complex environments and provide new knowledge about how the central nervous system, CNS, functions.
Specifically, the group members are interested in developing new biomimetic cyclopropanation reactions using
1) frustrated Lewis acid-base pairs, FLP’s, 2) ketenes, bisketenes, and their equivalent compounds, and 3) asymmetric functionalization reactions of pyridines.
Natural Products Isolated from plants, bacteria, marine sponges and other natural sources, complex secondary metabolites, natural products, often have important biological function, for example, active in the central nervous system, anti-HIV, anticancer. As such, this chemical matter provides a unique starting point for the development of
The Wilkerson-Hill Group
new pharmaceuticals. Additionally, these compounds are often used as tools for understanding biology, and their complex architectures are well-suited for investigating molecular reactivity in complex chemical environments.
A major thrust in the Hill lab focuses on using natural products as tools for understanding complex biology. Group members are currently trying to access plagiochianin B, a pyridine-containing ent-2,3,-seco-aromadendrane derivative reported in 2018. The lab members are excited about this molecule due its relationship to plagiochilal B, a small molecule isolated in 1991 from Plagiochila fruticosa. Plagiochilal B was reported to enhance choline acetyltransferase activity in rat cerebral hemisphere, which may make it an important molecule for studying Alzheimer’s disease.
Continued on page 24
