We seek to develop reagents and methods for chemoselective derivatization of complex biological mixtures, such as exhaled breath or tissue extracts. Our work toward identifying markers of lung cancer, for example, features a silicon microreactor containing thousands of micropillars coated with an aminooxy reagent that selectively captures carbonyl metabolites for quantification.
Lung Cancer 2015, 90, 92
Analytical Methods 2015, 7, 6027
Analytical & Bioanalytical Chemistry 2014, 406, 4371
Cancer Medicine 2014, 3, 174
Sensors and Actuators 2013, 180, 130
Metabolomics 2012, 8, 989
We also are interested in developing magnetic nanoparticles to serve as triggerable carriers of small molecules. This work aims to exploit application of an alternating magnetic field to induce local hyperthermia that, in turn, powers small molecule release. Research efforts here are devoted to preparation of functionalized lipid-, silica- and gold-coated iron oxide nanoparticles.
Langmuir 2015, 31, 3326
Tetrahedron 2014, 70, 3422
In the course of preparing targets or fitting nanoparticles with custom linkers, we often uncover unexpected reactivity that leads us to pursue synthetic projects only tangentially related to the two principal thrusts described above. For example, we recently solved how to selectively isolate xylose from distillers dried grains, how to prepare oxime ether lipids for optimal siRNA delivery, how to use mass spectral fragmentations as a tool for quantifying analytes in multiplexed samples, and how to convert aldehydes to nitriles in one pot. Organic synthesis is a joy!
ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering 2015, 3, 2452
Nanomedicine 2015, 10, 2805
Analytical Methods 2013, 5, 4701
Journal of Organic Chemistry 2012, 77, 9334
Samples of our past work….