Organic Chemistry Seminar

1. The dimerization of vitamin A is thought to trigger pathological cascades resulting in blindness for millions of people.  By using deuterated derivatives of vitamin A, we have exploited kinetic isotope effects to inhibit this dimerization as a means to prevent blindness.

2.  Many human conditions, originating from multiple genetic and environmental pressures, converge to overproduce superoxide radical anions. The bulk synthesis of cellular superoxides is believed to result from redox cycling of coenzyme q. We have designed light-responsive small molecules to control quinone redox cycling and correct superoxide fluxes as a means to prevent retinal degeneration.