The Wilkerso
The Hill group is yet another new group at Carolina Chemistry. Members in this laboratory strive to develop
new enantioselective reaction methodology in order to synthesize complex molecules with important biolog-
ical function. This research merges Assistant Professor Sidney Wilkerson-Hill’s training in synthetic organic
chemistry and enantioselective catalysis, to address unsolved problems in synthesis with the long-term goal
to provide new non-invasive tools for studying the living human brain, using positron emission tomography,
PET. With these methods the group members will advance the knowledge of chemical reactivity in complex
environments and provide new knowledge about how the central nervous system, CNS, functions.
Specifically, the group members are interested in developing new biomimetic cyclopropanation reactions
using
1) frustrated Lewis acid-base pairs, FLP’s,
2) ketenes, bisketenes, and their equivalent compounds, and
3) asymmetric functionalization reactions of pyridines.
Natural Products
Isolated from plants, bacteria, marine sponges and other natural sources, complex secondary metabolites,
natural products, often have important biological function, for example, active in the central nervous system,
anti-HIV, anticancer. As such, this chemical matter provides a unique starting point for the development of
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