Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, UCLA

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Organic Chemistry Research at UCLA

Exciting research is going on in Organic Chemistry at UCLA. We have unusual strengths in several areas of organic chemistry and you will find our environment and opportunities to be unsurpassed.

A new thrust in Organic Chemistry is the Exotic Materials Institute directed by professors Fraser Stoddart and Fred Wudl.

Wudl

This Institute has created associations between supramolecular architects and materials fabricators and characterizers, and embodies a vision of the new organic materials chemistry of the future.

Stoddart

The Work of Yves Rubin on modified fullerines and the synthesis of carbon-based materials rounds out this unusually strong group designing and synthesizing architecturally novel organic materials.

Rubin

Garcia-Garibay chem drawing

Garcia-Garibay

Complementary studies in the physical organic chemistry of materials are represented in the work of Miguel Garcia-Garibay on chemistry of the solid state.

Robin Garrell on the creation of new monolayers and characterization of organic and biochemical molecules on surfaces,

Robin Garrell chem. sequence

Garrell

And Kendall Houk on computational methods to understand and predict how organic molecules interact to form materials and molecular machines.

Houk

In synthesis, Mike Jung explores innovative syntheses of natural products and molecules of pharmaceutical interest,

Jung

Merlic

While Craig Merlic develops novel synthetic methods based on organometallic reactions and applies these to natural product synthesis. We expect another faculty member with research interests in organic synthesis to join us in 2000.

UCLA provides a superb environment for research on the chemistry/biology interface. David Sigman's work on the organic chemistry of DNA regulation leads the effort.

Sigman

Foote

And the work of Chris Foote on biological oxidations, Ken Houk's on biological catalysis,

Robin Garrell on biological adhesion, and Craig Merlic and Mike Jung's work on natural product synthesis and enzyme inhibitors provide rich
opportunities in organic chemical biology.

Combined with the research of outstanding colleagues such as Fred Hawthorne, David Eisenberg, and Joan Valentine and fellowship support from our NIH Chemistry/Biology Interface Training Grant, we offer a fine experience in Chemical Biology.

This is an extraordinary atmosphere in which to do Organic Chemistry, while enjoying a beautiful and stimulating environment. Explore our website, but
we hope you will visit us in person, too!

For a complete list of Faculty Research Interests, visit Research Page 2

updated 5/5/00 by Alice Ramirez (alice@chem.ucla.edu)