Apr 29
Chemistry Department Seminar: Ken Houk
Fri, April 29, 2022
• 3:30pm
- 4:30pm (1h) • Anderson 329
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"Pericyclic Reactions: Theory, Mechanisms, Dynamics, and Role in Biology"
Dr. James D. ('30) and Julia P. Morrison Lectureship
K. N. Houk,
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
University of California, Los Angeles
Pericyclic reactions were defined by Woodward and Hoffmann in the 1960s. Pericyclic reactions are concerted processes involving a cyclic reorganization of bonding. I will describe computational studies focusing on four recent discoveries: 1) defining mechanisms of these reactions in terms of dynamics of bonding changes; 2) finding ambimodal polypericyclic transition states that give more than one product; 3) explaining orbital symmetry forbidden reactions that nevertheless occur readily; and 4) identifying the role of pericyclic reactions in biosynthesis, catalyzed by a class of enzymes that we have named pericyclases.
Meeting ID: 986 1353 0769 Passcode: 028102
Event Contact: Tami Little