News and Publications

Chairman's Overview

K.C. Nicolaou, Ph.D.

As the "central science," chemistry stands between biology and medicine and provides the crucial bridge for drug discovery and development. But chemistry has a much more profound role in science and society. It is the discipline that continually creates the myriad of new substances from which we all benefit in our everyday lives: pharmaceuticals, high-tech materials, polymers and plastics, insecticides and pesticides, fabrics and cosmetics, fertilizers and vitamins--basically everything you can touch, smell, and feel.

Chemistry at TSRI focuses on chemical synthesis and chemical biology, the two most relevant areas to biomedical research and material science. Our faculty are distinguished teacher-scholars who maintain highly visible and independent research programs in areas as diverse as biological and chemical catalysis, natural products synthesis, molecular design, molecular recognition, chemical evolution, materials science, and chemical biology. The chemistry graduate program, under the auspices of Dean Gilula and Senior Vice President Beers, attracts some of the best qualified candidates from the United States and abroad. Our major research facilities under the direction of Dee H. Huang (nuclear magnetic resonance), Gary Siuzdak (mass spectrometry), and Raj Chadha (x-ray crystallography) are second to none and continue to provide crucial support to our research programs. Finally, the Mabel and Arnold Beckman Center for the Chemical Sciences has received high praises from visitors around the world for its architectural design and operational aspects, both highly conducive to research.

Research in the chemistry department goes on unabated, attracting international visibility and attention as evidenced by numerous lecture invitations, visits by outside scholars, and headline news in the media. The Institute for Scientific Information, for example, ranked TSRI as the top institution in the world in terms of high-impact articles in chemistry for the 1994--1996 period.

The Lerner group continues to make advances in the catalytic antibody area, with new antibodies catalyzing unfavorable reactions such as hydroxy epoxide openings, exo Diels-Alder reactions, syn eliminations, and asymmetric aldol reactions and with applications in the synthesis of natural products. The Sharpless group proceeds in its endeavors to discover and develop better catalysts for organic synthesis and to construct novel compound libraries for biological screening purposes.

The La Jolla--based Eschenmoser group forges ahead in their experimental studies on the chemical etiology of nucleic acid structure by focusing on the investigation of a number of pentopyranosyl nucleic acid systems that are isomeric to RNA. The Nicolaou group continues explorations of chemical synthesis and chemical biology, focusing on new anticancer agents, neurotoxins associated with the red tide, antibiotics, and combinatorial chemistry.

The Rebek research group progresses in studies on molecular recognition, self-assembly, and self-replicating molecules. During the past year, they developed "molecules within molecules" capable of encapsulation and transport of medicinal agents. These studies give new insights on intermolecular forces and the structure of the liquid state.

Dr. Wong's group has further advanced the field of chemoenzymatic organic synthesis and accomplished the synthesis of a glycoprotein. The members of this group have also developed new inhibitors of glycosyltransferases and HIV protease, uncovered the molecular recognition specificity in interactions between aminoglycoside antibiotics and RNA, and developed new aminoglycoside antibiotics.

The Boger group continues work in the area of combinatorial chemistry, heterocycle synthesis, and anticancer agents, including CC-1065, duocarmycin, bleomycin, and sandramycin. The Joyce group continues their breakthrough research in chemical evolution and biological catalysis. Their work has resulted in the development of a variety of novel RNA and DNA enzymes, including molecules with potential therapeutic application. The Janda group carries on their research efforts in the areas of combinatorial chemistry, catalytic antibodies, enzyme inhibition, and immunopharmacotherapy.

The Ghadiri laboratory has made several contributions toward understanding the origin of molecular complexity in living systems. Members of this group showed for the first time the feasibility of peptide self-replication and the formation of complex nonlinear chemical systems with dynamic error-correcting and hypercyclic emergent properties. These studies serve as the platform for ongoing research on the construction of chemical networks and molecular ecosystems.

The Sorensen group has embarked on their research programs on organic synthesis, novel synthetic strategies, and chemical biology. Targets include novel anticancer agents, antibiotics, and enzyme inhibitors. The Schimmel group is investigating molecular recognition and the chemical steps in the decoding of genetic information in translation.

The Kelly group focuses on the conformational properties of proteins and the alteration of protein structure through small-molecule binding. The members of this group are studying the mechanisms of several neurodegenerative diseases, examining the basic mechanism of ß-sheet folding, and using the power of chemistry and biology to develop composite materials.

The following internationally renowned scientists visited the department as lecturers during the 1997­1998 academic year: Philip D. Magnus, University of Texas at Austin (Frontiers in Chemistry Lecturer); A. Ian Scott, Texas A&M University (Frontiers in Chemistry Lecturer); Sir Jack E. Baldwin, University of Oxford (Frontiers in Chemistry Lecturer); the late Sir Derek H.R. Barton, Texas A&M University (Frontiers in Chemistry Lecturer); and Richard L. Schowen, University of Kansas (Tanabe Research Lecturer).