Organic Chemistry

The faculty engaged in Organic Chemistry research have interdisciplinary programs that span the field of chemistry, including bioorganic mechanisms, complex carbohydrates, molecular recognition, biotechnology, natural products structure elucidation, new materials, organometallic synthesis, polymers, supramolecular assembly, synthetic methodology, total synthesis, and theoretical investigations of molecular structure.  Our program offers the chance to obtain graduate education in chemistry in a department with state-of-the-art facilities and an active faculty.

Personnel

Geert-Jan Boons

Distinguished Professor in Biochemical Science

Protein- and lipid-bound saccharides play essential roles in many molecular processes impacting eukaryotic biology and disease. Progress in glycoscience is, however, hampered by the inaccessibility of well-defined oligosaccharides and glycoconjugates for biological and biomedical studies. My laboratory is addressing these issues by developing…

Prof. David Crich

Eminent Scholar

Eric Ferreira

Associate Professor

Organic Chemistry

Research in our group is focused on the development of new synthetic transformations, primarily centered around transition metal catalysis.  Critical to the invention of these methods is our ability to derive inspiration from both reaction mechanisms and natural products.  Our understanding of intermediates…

Robert Huigens III, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Jason Locklin

Professor

The research programs in our laboratory are centered on the materials properties of polymers and plastics. Our research activities involve organic and polymer synthesis, thermomechanical characterization, rheology, extrusion, and polymer processing. We also assess the end-of-life fate for plastic materials, with a special emphasis on…

Christopher Newton

Assistant Professor

For details, visit newton-lab.org

Robert Phillips

Professor

Enzymes are remarkable biocatalysts, not only for the dramatic rate accelerations (up to 1020 fold) that they provide, but also for the high degree of substrate specificity, regiospecificity and stereospecificity that these reactions exhibit. The work in my laboratory is focused on the chemical basis for how enzymes achieve such high rates and…

Vladimir Popik

Professor

Photoswitchable bioactive compounds: Photoactivation of drugs, enzymes, and other bio-molecules allows for achieving of the spatial and temporal control of their action. We design and synthesize compounds that are inactive in the dark but are converted into bioactive form upon irradiation with light of an appropriate wavelength. One of our…

Peter R. Schreiner

Adjunct Professor

We are interested in organocatalytic reactions and methods (thioureas, oligopeptides), nanodiamonds (diamondoids) as building blocks and materials (e.g., organic electronics), matrix isolation of reactive intermediates (e.g., carbenes) and computational chemistry . Our group consists of scientists from the People's Republic of China, Germany,…

Black-and-white head shot of Prof. Sherburn, dark-haired caucasian man wearing a striped shirt

Guest Speaker: Prof. Michael Sherburn

Prof. Michael Sherburn, Professor, Research School of Chemistry/ANU College of Science (Australian National University)

iSTEM-2 Building, Room 1218
Head shot of Nicolas Osorio-Morales, Latinx man wearing a blue shirt

Controlling the Side Chain Conformation and the Anomeric Selectivity in Gluco- and Galacto-hexopyranosyl Donors with the Aid of a Dummy Ligand

Nicolas Osorio-Morales, Graduate Student, Department of Chemistry (University of Georgia)

iSTEM-2 Building, Room 1218
Image depicts blonde caucasian woman in black sweater

Guest Speaker: Prof. Kami Hull

Prof. Kami Hull, Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry (University of Texas at Austin)

iSTEM-2 Building, Room 1218
image depicts causasian woman with long brown hair, standing in front of a laboratory fume hood

Cycloadditions Enabled by Chromium(III) Photoredox Catalysis

Avery Smith, Graduate Student, Department of Chemistry (University of Georgia)

iSTEM-2 Building, Room 1218
Jay Lawrence, speaker, in a lab setting

Metal–Hydrogen Atom Transfer (MHAT)-Initiated Intramolecular Giese Reactions in Total Synthesis

Jay Lawrence, Graduate Student, Department of Chemistry (University of Georgia)

iSTEM Building 2, Room 1218
Photo of guest speaker Prof. Roman Manetsch

Confronting Pathogens with a Combination of Synthetic and Analytical Chemistry

Prof. Roman Manetsch , Associate Professor, Chemistry and Chemical Biology (Northeastern University)

iSTEM Building 2, Room 1218
Photo of guest speaker Prof. Zachary Wickens

Selective Synthesis Using Light and Electricity

Prof. Zachary Wickens, Assistant Professor of Chemistry (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

iSTEM Building 2, Room 1218
Headshot portrait of speaker, Prof. Mingji Dai

Guest Speaker: Prof. Mingji Dai

Prof. Mingji Dai , Asa Griggs Candler Professor, Department of Chemistry (Emory University)

iSTEM Building 2, Room 1218
Portrait of Dahai Ding, graduate student speaker

“The field of organic chemistry is not exhausted”: Baeyer–Villiger Monooxygenases as a Tunable Biocatalyst

Dahai Ding, Graduate Student, Department of Chemistry (University of Georgia)

iSTEM Building 2, Room 1218
Portrait of Nicolas Osorio, graduate student speaker

Strained Cyclic Allenes in Stereoselective Reactions and Total Synthesis of Lissodendoric Acid A

Nicolas Osorio Morales, Graduate Student, Department of Chemistry (University of Georgia)

iSTEM Building 2, Room 1218
Portrait of Jarvis Hill, graduate student speaker

Pure and Applied Chemistry of Trisubstituted Hydroxylamines: From Reaction Discovery to Drug Design

Jarvis Hill, Graduate Student, Department of Chemistry (University of Georgia)

iSTEM Building 2, Room 1218
Portrait of Patrick Foster, graduate student speaker

Photoredox Catalysis in Late-Stage Aryl C(sp3 )−H Functionalizations

Patrick Foster, Graduate Student, Department of Chemistry (University of Georgia)

iSTEM Building 2, Room 1218
Portrait of Prof. Liming Zhang, guest speaker, with a Chinese scroll in the backgroun

Guest Speaker: Prof. Liming Zhang

Prof. Liming Zhang, Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (University of California at Santa Barbara)

iSTEM Building 2, Room 1218
Portrait of speaker Geeta Goyal at work in the lab

Asymmetric Anion-Pairing Catalysis

Geeta Goyal,

iSTEM Building 2, Room 1218
Portrait of Prof. Mark Levin, guest speaker

Guest Speaker: Prof. Mark Levin

Prof. Mark Levin, Associate Professor of Chemistry (University of Chicago)

iSTEM Building 2, Room 1218
Portrait of Prof. Andrew Roberts, guest speaker

Natural Product-Inspired Peptide Cyclization Strategies and Their Therapeutic Applications

Prof. Andrew Roberts, Assistant Professor of Chemistry (University of Utah)

iSTEM Building 2, Room 1218
Portrait of Daniil Ahiadorme, graduate student speaker

Synthesis, Evaluation, Mechanistic Studies of Thiasugars and Their Dithia Derivatives for Application in Medicinal and Bioorganic Chemistry

Daniil Ahiadorme, Graduate Student, Department of Chemistry (University of Georgia)

iSTEM Building 2, Room 1218
Portrait of Prof. Jón Njardarson, guest speaker

Guest Speaker: Prof. Jón Njardarson

Prof. Jón Njardarson, Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (University of Georgia)

iSTEM Building 2, Room 1218
Picture of Patrick Foster, speaker, in a lab setting

Sulfur (VI) Fluoride Exchange (SuFEx) in Drug Discovery

Patrick Foster, Graduate Student, Department of Chemistry (University of Georgia)

iSTEM Building 2, Room 1218
Portrait of graduate student Wei-Chih Lo, speaker

Recent Advances of Metal Carbenoids: from Diazo Precursors to Safe Carbene Precursor

Wei-Chih Lo, Graduate Student, Department of Chemistry (University of Georgia)

iSTEM Building 2, Room 1218
Portrait of Prof. Alexander Greer, guest speaker

Mechanistic Underpinnings of Phototoxicity and Photobluing: Using Organic Photochemistry and DFT to Help Solve Problems in Photomedicine and Photobiology

Prof. Alexander Greer, Professor, Department of Chemistry (The City University of New York, Brooklyn College)

iSTEM Building 2, Room 1218
Portrait of Thomas Buckley, speaker

Synthesis of Erythropoietin

Thomas Buckley, Graduate Student, Department of Chemistry (University of Georgia)

iSTEM Building 2, Room 1218
Portrait of Ishanka Manatunga, speaker

Enzymatic Catalyzation of Diazo Compounds for the Formation of Lactones: An Intramolecular C–H Functionalization Strategy

Ishanka Manatunga, Graduate Student, Department of Chemistry (University of Georgia)

iSTEM Building 2, Room 1218
Portrait of Yan-Ting (Tim) Ke, speaker

Total Synthesis of Gelsemium Alkaloids and Synthesis of Ketohydroperoxides

Yan-Ting Ke, Graduate Student, Department of Chemistry (University of Georgia)

iSTEM Building 2, Room 1218
Portrait of Shivani Nagode, speaker

Synthesis and Application of Functional Nanoparticles for Precision Drug Delivery

Shivani Nagode, Graduate Student, Department of Chemistry (University of Georgia)

iSTEM Building 2, Room 1218
Portrait of Prof. Peter Schreiner, Distinguished Alumnus and seminar speaker

London Dispersion in Molecular Chemistry[1]

Prof. Peter Schreiner, Professor/Liebig Chair, Institute of Organic Chemistry (Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany)

iSTEM Building 2, Room 1218
Portrait of Thomas Beckler, speaker

Recent Applications of Photoexcited Nitroarenes in Organic Synthesis

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Thomas Beckler, Graduate Student, Department of Chemistry (University of Georgia)
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iSTEM Building 2, Room 1218
Portrait of Jacob Garber, speaker

α,β-Unsaturated Platinum Carbenes: New Avenues for Diverse Heterocycle Synthesis

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Jacob Garber, Graduate Student, Department of Chemistry (University of Georgia)
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iSTEM Building 2, Room 1218
Portrait of Prof. Yang Yang, guest speaker

New Strategies for Stereoselective Radical Biocatalysis

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Prof. Yang Yang, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (UC Santa Barbara)
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iSTEM Building 2, Room 1218
Portrait of Amanullah Mohammed Sani, speaker

Recent Total Syntheses of Vinigrol

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Amanullah Mohammed Sani,
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iSTEM Building 2, Room 1218
Portrait of Prof. Marvin Parasram, guest speaker

Guest Speaker: Prof. Marvin Parasram

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Prof. Marvin Parasram, Assistant Professor of Chemistry (NYU)
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Life Sciences, Room C112
Portrait of Margaret Solecki, speaker

Cubane as a Bioisostere of Benzene

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Margaret Solecki, Graduate Student, Department of Chemistry (University of Georgia)
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iSTEM Building 2, Room 1218
Portrait of Prof. Daniel Weix, guest speaker

Guest Speaker: Prof. Daniel Weix

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Prof. Daniel Weix, Wayland E. Noland Distinguished Professor of Chemistry (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
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iSTEM Building 2, Room 1218
Portrait of Prof. Andy Thomas, guest speaker

Guest Speaker: Prof. Andy Thomas

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Prof. Andy Thomas, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry (Texas A&M)
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iSTEM Building 2, Room 1218
Portrait of Erick Lopez, speaker

Development and Applications of Ring-Closing Alkyne Metathesis (RCAM) in Natural Product Synthesis

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Erick Lopez, Graduate Student, Department of Chemistry (University of Georgia)
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iSTEM Building 2, Room 1218
Portrait of Prof. Byoungmoo Kim, speaker

Asymmetric Deoxygenative Functionalization of Carboxylic Acids and Alcohols

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Prof. Byoungmoo Kim, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry (Clemson University)
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iSTEM Building 2, Room 1218
Portrait of Weihao Ma, speaker

Research Seminar: Weihao Ma

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Weihao Ma, Graduate Student, Department of Chemistry (University of Georgia)
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iSTEM Building 2, Room 1218
Portrait of Angel Yang, speaker

Nucleophilic Dearomatization of Pyridines and Applications in Natural Product Synthesis

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Angel Yang, Graduate Student, Department of Chemistry (University of Georgia)
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iSTEM Building 2, Room 1218
Portrait of Prof. Eric Nacsa, guest speaker

New Electron-Transfer Concepts in Organic Synthesis

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Prof. Eric Nacsa, Assistant Professor of Chemistry (Penn State University)
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iSTEM Building 2, Room 1218
Portrait of Shivani Nagode, speaker

Methods for Late-Stage Functionalization of N-heterocycles via Nitrogen Insertion

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Shivani Nagode, Graduate Student, Department of Chemistry (University of Georgia)
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iSTEM Building 2, Room 1218
Portrait of Chris DeAngelis, speaker

Aza-Diels–Alder Reactions of Furans

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Christopher DeAngelis, Graduate Student, Department of Chemistry (University of Georgia)
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iSTEM Building 2, Room 1218
Portrait of Zachary Dorward, speaker

Nucleophilic, Anionic C(sp3)-Fluorination via Catalytic Methodologies

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Zachary Dorward, Graduate Student, Department of Chemistry (University of Georgia)
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iSTEM Building 2, Room 1218

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Got More Questions?

Undergraduate inquiries: chemreg@uga.edu 

Registration and credit transfers: chemreg@uga.edu

AP Credit, Section Changes, Overrides, Prerequisites: chemreg@uga.edu

Graduate inquiries: chemgrad@uga.edu

Contact Us!

Assistant to the Department Head: Donna Spotts, 706-542-1919 

Main office phone: 706-542-1919 

Main Email: chem-web@franklin.uga.edu

Interim Head of Chemistry: Prof. Gary Douberly