Department of Chemistry
University of South Florida
4202 E. Fowler Avenue, CHE 205A
Tampa, FL 33620-5250
Office: (813) 974-7249, BSF 310
Lab: (813) 974-7392, BSF 363
Lab 2: (813) 974-7231, BSF 364
Email: pzhang@cas.usf.edu
Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, 1996
Postdoctoral Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1996-2001
The primary research interests of our group are in the areas of organic and organometallic chemistry. The research program involves the design and synthesis of new organic and organometallic compounds, and the exploration of their applications in areas of catalysis, medicine, biomimics and materials. Current research projects center on the synthesis of functional porphyrins including chiral porphyrins and their applications in the following fields: 1) Development of catalytic systems for selective chemical reactions, especially for asymmetric organic synthesis; 2) Discovery of new diagnostic and therapeutic agents for diseases such as cancer and neurodegenerative diseases; 3) Construction of functional models for enzymatic systems that can mediate important chemical and energy transformations; and 4) Synthesis of novel functional materials such as metal-organic frameworks for hydrogen storage and solar energy conversion.
Our approach in developing new catalytic systems for asymmetric organic synthesis is inspired by the extraordinary versatility and capability of heme and related enzymes. We are interested in designing and constructing metalloporphyrin-based artificial enzymes to catalyze selective chemical transformations. Current efforts include the development of efficient catalytic systems for asymmetric atom/group transfer reactions, including epoxidation, aziridination and cyclopropanation of alkenes as well as hydroxylation, amination and carbene insertion of C–H bonds. These catalytic synthetic methods will allow us to selectively convert inexpensive and abundant hydrocarbons into value-added functional molecules such as chiral compounds that have potential applications in medicine and materials.
Paul Goodland, Jess Jones, Jennifer Le, Neal Singh, Armani Tavarez
Dr. Velusamy Subbarayan, Dr. Shi Fa Zhu, Dr. Hongjian Lu
Siobhan Alexander, Bryan Davis, Estevan Delcastillo, Anita Frankhauser, Jericho de Mata
Kimberly Fields, Chung Sik Kim, Joshua Ruppel, Jingran Tao, Xue Xu