Event

Research 

The Levin group is focused on the discovery, development, and mechanistic study of innovative chemical reactions.

Synthetic chemistry has delivered world-changing molecules by employing a common philosophical approach wherein a “lead” molecule is optimized for its function through iterative changes to its structure. The tedious resynthesis of analogs along the series of candidate leads, however, is out of step with the intellectual roots driving this process. We seek to empower chemists to make any change to a candidate structure's skeleton directly at the single-atom level. We apply a wide range of chemistries to enable single-atom logic, often repurposing exotic chemical space to suit our needs, and employ mechanistic elucidation as a design tool. 

Because of the far reach of synthetic molecules, our methods have the potential to influence medicinal, material, and radiological applications by enabling access to molecules whose synthesis remain difficult or even impossible with current technology. Students in the Levin group are exposed to a highly multidisciplinary approach including air-sensitive synthesis and isolation, catalyst development, spectroscopy, and kinetics.

Host. Dr. Kozlowski