Profile

Organic chemistry has developed by leaps and bounds over the past 100 years but it is very far behind achieving what nature has been able to in the millions of years of evolution. Novel complex strucutures are found everyday and some possess pheonmenally useful properties for mankind. As a synthetic chemist, I am working on making one such family of complex molecules called microsclerodermins. They all possess anti-fungal and anti-cancer properties. In making these molecules, I help to develop some important tools that can be used to make many more useful molecules.

Although all my work happens within the confines of a round bottomed flask when chemicals react, most of my time is spent in working on what to put in the flask and then analysing what comes out of it. My work is very exciting because of the diversity of my everyday work. I get to work with exotic chemicals and subject them to different reaction conditions.
For example, one of the most important metal in the synthesis of my molecule is Osmium. Also, some of my reactions are conducted at temperatures that are as low as -90 degrees (which is 90 degrees below the freezing point of water) while there are others at temperatures as high as 180 degrees (which is 80 degrees higher than the boiling point of water). Sometimes I use only two chemicals to perform a single reaction, sometimes I can have as many as five different chemicals to do the same job. 
My work is challenging and being able to understand what happens at the molecular level with such precision gives me a high. Seeing the complexities involved in a single chemical reaction helps me appreciate the vastly complex lives we live even more.