To kick off Halloween weekend, the Engle lab put their pumpkin carving skills to the test, in an evening filled with cider, pizza, and pumpkin-flavored everything. You can be the judge which group member’s pumpkin took the cake (err… pie).
With three papers appearing in J. Am. Chem. Soc. in the past two months, the Engle lab has had a lot to celebrate. Check out a few of selected photos for recent celebratory lunches and dinners. Work hard, eat hard… words to live by. Awesome job, team!
In a manuscript that appears in today’s online version of J. Am. Chem Soc., Zhen, Tian (May), and Kin describe a new method to carry out β,γ-vicinal dicarbofunctionalization of 3-butenoic acid derivatives using a directed nucleopalladation strategy. Of special note, May becomes the first undergraduate student to co-author a paper in the Engle group. Way to go, team! Click here for a link to the paper.
(not pictured: Kin)
Members of the Engle lab took the short trip north to UCLA’s conference center in Lake Arrowhead, CA, where despite the steady rain, everyone enjoyed a series of posters, talks, a good meals.
UCSD senior Miranda Sroda joins the Engle Lab to pursue her passion for organic chemistry and catalysis research. A native of Green Bay, WI, and Santa Barbara, CA, Miranda has previously worked as a summer research student with Prof. Javier Read De Alaniz at UCSB and at Apeel Sciences. Welcome aboard, Miranda!
Congratulations to Kin, John, and Zhen on the group’s newest paper, “Catalytic, Regioselective Hydrocarbofunctionalization of Unactivated Alkenes with Diverse C–H Nucleophiles,” which appeared online today in J. Am. Chem. Soc. This reaction accomplishes a “homo-Michael” γ-selective addition of carbon-based nucleophiles to alkenyl carbonyl compounds. Click here for a link to the article.
The Engle lab bids farewell to our first postdoc, Kin, who will be starting a new job in medicinal chemistry at Gilead in the Bay Area. Thanks for sharing your chemistry and weightlifting wisdom with us over the past year, and best of luck in your next adventure!
Despite the long journey being a true test of endurance, De-Wei safely arrives in San Diego from China to begin his postdoctoral position conducting research in the Engle lab. De-Wei has come equipped with an impressive skill set from his prior appointment as a graduate student at the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry (SIOC) under the guidance of Prof. Shu-Li You ranging from asymmetric catalysis to the development of new synthetic methodology. Ready to apply these skills in the lab, De-Wei was quick to collect glassware and begin screening.
Congratulations to Zhen and Joe on their paper entitled, “Palladium(II)-Catalyzed Regioselective syn-Hydroarylation of Disubstituted Alkynes Using a Removable Directing Group,” the Engle lab’s second research publication! The manuscript was accepted for publication in J. Am. Chem. Soc. this afternoon and appeared online shortly thereafter. Click here for a link to the article. Keep your eyes out for celebratory photos!
After a “cracking” — see we even learned some British English this summer! — wrap-up presentation, Josh completes his summer research in the Engle lab. We gave him a rousing send-off over the weekend, and now he begins a few weeks of sightseeing before flying back across the pond for his third year at King’s. Props to Miriam for being an awesome mentor throughout the summer and for finding some appropriately hilarious parting gifts. We can’t wait to follow Josh’s exciting career in chemistry moving forward!
Molecular Complexity through Catalysis 