Richard Morrison

We are currently engaged in the development of organic methodologies toward the synthesis of active pharmaceutical ingredients. Our recently patented methodology for the decarboxylation of natural and synthetic amino acids utilizes microwave promotion to yield bioactive amines. This work is supported by Innovation Gateway at UGA and the Georgia Research Alliance.

Our natural product synthetic efforts focus on the total synthesis of Calopins. Calopins are a new class of mushroom metabolites, which are in part responsible for the bitter taste of Caloboletus radicans, a type of mushroom.  All calopins have a delta-lactone ring with three contiguous stereogenic centers (A).  Their structures vary slightly by the moieties attached to rings B and C.        

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Calopin

Calopins exhibit anti-staphylococcal activity in the treatment of antibiotic-resistant MRSA infections.

Our organic chemistry-based engineering research targets the development of  metal organic frameworks(MOFs) for use as molecular switches.  Cargo is sequestered in the MOF by a gate and released at a specific location and within a specific time window using 365 nm light. 

Pedagogical research in our group involves the use of eye-tracking to study how chemistry problems are analyzed and structures are elucidated.  The location and frequency of fixation points as tracked by a headset or eye-tracking monitor provides data that are being sorted using machine learning and artificial intelligence to detect patterns of analysis.

The production of new multi-outcome experiments (MOEs) for the undergraduate laboratory curriculum is another challenging area of effort in the Morrison group.  Experiments that require students to develop logical and analytical skills are essential to the undergraduate laboratory.  This is accomplished by introducing “unknown” reagents or substrates into the experiment.  The introduction of “unknowns” allows students to perform standard procedures while obtaining unique results.  Importantly, these experiments must be 1) economical; 2) safe; 3) reproducible; and 4) able to be performed in a standard 3-hour laboratory period.  A MOE variation of the Williamson Ethers Synthesis laboratory experiment is shown.

Reaction Scheme:

Unknown Alkyl Halides: