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Research Group URL
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Jonathan A. Ellman
Professor of Chemistry
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Email: jellman@berkeley.edu
Office: 826 Latimer
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Phone: (510) 642-4488
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Research Interests:
Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology --
New strategies in organic synthesis are being developed to solve problems in
chemistry and biology.
Professor Ellman's group is focused on three major areas of
chemistry development: (I) The development of robust, general and efficient
methods for the asymmetric synthesis of amine-containing compounds. (II) The
application of C-H bond activation methods to the rapid construction of complex,
bioactive structures. (III) The application of chemistry to systematically
characterize biological systems to advance the treatment of disease.
(I) Asymmetric Synthesis
of Amines: The
Ellman group has developed practical and
general methods for the asymmetric synthesis
of amines, which are among the most important
functionalities present in drugs. The methods
that they have developed are now extensively
used in academics and industry. In addition
to continued methods development, the Ellman
group is also currently applying their methods
to the synthesis of complex, bioactive natural
products and drug candidates.
(II) Application
of C-H Activation to Organic Synthesis: C-H
bond activation followed by carbon-carbon
bond formation will become one of
the most important new methods in
synthesis due to the high functional
group tolerance of the chemistry
and due to virtually unlimited substrate
availability. However, despite the
vast potential of this approach,
relatively few synthetic methods
based upon C-H activation have been
developed. Over the past several
years the Ellman and Bergman groups
have collaborated to develop efficient
new synthetic methods based upon
C-H activation chemistry, and they
are applying this chemistry to the
efficient synthesis of complex natural
products and drug candidates.
(III) Application of Chemical Tools to Study Biological Systems: The
Ellman group has developed powerful
chemical tools to systematically
establish the function of proteases, which
play a critical role in regulating a majority
of biological processes, including
cell differentiation, blood coagulation,
the life cycles of bacterial, parasitic
and viral pathogens, and apoptosis.
The chemical tools that the Ellman
group has developed have been broadly
applied by academic and industrial
researchers to elucidate the biological
function of newly identified proteases.
The Ellman group also continues to
make significant contributions to
the development of potent protease inhibitors
with an emphasis towards proteases
implicated in third world disease.
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Biography:
Professor, born 1962; B.S. Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (1984); Ph.D.
Harvard University (1989); NSF Postdoctoral
Fellow, University of California, Berkeley
(1992). Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship
(1994-1996); Eli Lilly Grantee Award
(1994-1996); Office of Naval Research
Young Investigator Award (1994-1997);
Burroughs Wellcome Fund 1993 George Herbert
Hitchings Award for Drug Design and Discovery
(1993-1997); Arnold and Mabel Beckman
Foundation Young Investigator Award (1993-1995);
National Science Foundation Young Investigator
Award (1993-1995); UC, Berkeley Department
of Chemistry Teaching Award (1998);
American Chemical Society Arthur C. Cope
Scholar Award (2000); Society of Biomolecular
Screening Achievement Award (2003);
Scheele Award selected by the Swedish
Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences (2003).
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