秋葵视频

Research Areas

Organic Synthesis, Organofluorine Chemistry, Natural Product Synthesis, and Heterocyclic Chemistry

Students working in my laboratory will be trained on various techniques in organic synthesis such as experimental design, literature search, purification and characterization of organic compounds. In this process, students also gain hands-on experience on various research related instruments.

Education

Ph.D. 鈥� University of Massachusetts, Boston, MA
Postdoctoral 鈥� Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
Postdoctoral Fellow 鈥� Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Publications

1. Dylan Smeyne, Steven Boyles, Ricardo Belloso, Katherine Verboom, Bryce White, Abid Shaikh, 鈥�(Diethylamino)sulfur Trifluoride (DAST)-Mediated Oxidation of Benzylic Alchols and Amines to Carbonyl Compounds.鈥� Synthetic Communications, 2024, 54, 1620-1628.
   
2. Ashley Williams, Laurie Villamor, Jake Fussell, Reid Loveless, Dylan Smeyne, Jack Philp, Abid Shaikh, Vinoth Sittaramane, 鈥�Discovery of Quinoline-Derived Trifluoromethyl Alcohols as Antiepileptic and Analgesic Agents That Block Sodium Channels.鈥� ChemMedChem, 2022, 17, e202100547. 
   
3. Dylan Smeyne, Katherine Verboom, Maria Bryan, James LoBue, Abid Shaikh, 鈥�Electrochemical Esterification via Oxidative Coupling of Aldehydes and Alcohols.鈥� Tetrahedron Letters, 2021, 68, 15174.
   
4. Sean Spurlin, Mark Blocker, James LoBue, Ji Wu, Clifford Padgett, Abid Shaikh, 鈥�Regioselective Electrolytic 5,8-Difluorination of Quinolines.鈥� Tetrahedron Letters, 2020, 61, 151474.

Funding

Current Grants

1. College Office of Undergraduate Research COUR Award, (Mentor), 2025-2026, $3000.

Previous Grants

1. Organic Syntheses, PUI, (PI, mentor), Sulfinamide as sacrificial chiral auxiliary for the enantioselective amination of 伪-diazo esters, 2022-2024, $16,000

Research Projects

Synthesis and anticancer activity evaluation of novel bis(indolyl)methane and bis(indolyl)sulfide analogs

Bis(indolyl)methanes (BIM) and related compounds are important nitrogen- containing motif that are present in a variety of natural products and commercial products. Our group is focused on design and synthesis of bis(indolyl)-methane class of compounds using commercially available starting materials and using (diethylamino)sulfur trifluoride (DAST) as an effective reagent when combined with oxidative solvent such as dimethyl sulfoxide. The primary objective of this study is to synthesize a library of compounds and evaluate their anticancer activities against a range of cell lines.

Electrochemical regioselective fluorination of organic
compounds and total synthesis of biologically active
natural products

Incorporation of a fluorine atom at a certain position of organic compounds remarkably improves its drug-like properties. Fluorine-containing compounds are important targets in organic synthesis due their unique physical and biological properties. My group has developed an electrochemical method for fluorination of quinolines. We would like to further explore this methodology in other heterocyclic cores.

Synthesis, antibacterial activity and QSAR studies of
novel small molecules bearing Linezolid core

Linezolid (trade name Zyvox 庐 ) is an antibiotic that is on the World Health Organization鈥檚 list of essential medicines. It is used to treat serious infections caused by Gram-positive bacteria, especially those that are resistant to other antibiotics. Developing new antibiotics to combat multidrug-resistant bacteria and achieve broad-spectrum activity remains at the forefront of chemical research. The molecular hybridization approach could be an effective strategy to develop potential drug candidates by modifying the known scaffolds. My current research interest involves a rational design and synthesis of novel Linezolid analogues by incorporating other known antibacterial cores at two different sites. Later, these compounds will be subjected to in vivo antimicrobial activity evaluation.

News

1. Former undergraduate student Kate Verboom, currently pursuing Ph.D. at UT Austin, TX.
2. Former undergraduate student Sean Spurlin, currently pursuing Ph.D. at Auburn Univ. AL
3. Former MS student Ayobami Adisa, pursuing Ph.D. at Old Dominion Univ. VA

Research Group

Undergraduate Students

• Patrick Bernard
• Dakari Coachman
• Saniya Pathan

Graduate Students