Brian L Pagenkopf

pagenkopf@mail.utexas.edu
Organic Chemistry
Assistant Professor, Adjunct Faculty
Brian L Pagenkopf

Contact Information

Office
WEL 5.224
Office Phone
+1 (519) 661-2111 x 81430
Lab Phone
(512) 232-5893
Fax
+1 (519) 661-3022

Research Group

Pagenkopf Group

Education

BS, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities (1991);   PhD, Montana State University - Bozeman (1996);   NIH Postdoctoral Fellow, California Institute of Technology and ETH-Zurich, Switzerland (1999)

Awards

College of Natural Sciences Teaching Excellence Award (2003);   Department of Defense New Investigator Award (2001)

Synthesis and Organometallic Chemistry

Research in the Pagenkopf group uses the tools and strategies of contemporary synthetic organic and organometallic chemistry to discover new reactions, explore reactivity and prepare complex molecular architectures with interesting structural (e.g., reaction design, mechanistic probes and molecular recognition), biological (e.g., anti-cancer therapeutics) or physical characteristics (e.g., organic electronic materials). The Pagenkopf group is credited with several important research firsts including: silicon-tethered Pauson-Khand reductive enyne cyclizations (see full publications list, publications 9 and 10), Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons type couplings with non-stabilized phosphonates (12 and 13), cyclopropane-nitrile [3 + 2] cycloadditions (16, 19 and 22), regiochemical reversed alkynylations of quaternary epoxides (17), diastereoselective pinacol-type acyloin aldols (22) and asymmetrical extended silole chromophores (23). The group has also made significant contributions in organometallic chemistry with efficient access to optically active scaffolds for multi-dentate cyclopentadienyl transition metal complexes (15) and group(IV) transmetallations (20). On-going Texas-based collaborative research projects involve: a) biological testing (including gene regulation) of anti-cancer compounds, and b) the synthesis of π-conjugated silole chromophores with emphasis on optimizing their properties for electroluminescence, electrogenerated chemiluminescence, organic photovoltaic devices, nonlinear optics and molecular sensors. The asymmetric syntheses of natural products currently under investigation include peloruside A, several annonaceous acetogenins (including squamotacin) and the indole alkaloid goniomitine.



Representative Publications

  • "Synthesis and Electronic Properties of Donor-Acceptor p-Conjugated Siloles." J. Am. Chem. Soc. (2004) View Publication

  • "Synthesis of the C(1) - C(12) Segment of Peloruside A by an a-Benzyloxymethyl Ketone Aldol Strategy." Org. Lett. 6 (2004): 663 - 666. View Publication

  • "Formal [3+2] Cycloadditions of Donor-acceptor Cyclopropanes and Nitriles." J. Am. Chem. Soc. 125 (2003): 8122 - 8123. View Publication

  • "A New Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons Type Coupling Reaction Between Non-stabilized a-Hydroxy Phosphonates and Aldehydes or Ketones." J. Am. Chem. Soc. 125 (2003): 1821 - 1824. View Publication