Robert Pascal

Robert Pascal holds the Bernard Villars Baus Chair in Chemistry at Tulane University's School of Science & Engineering. His interdisciplinary research bridges biochemistry and physical organic chemistry, with current emphasis on strained aromatic systems and crystal engineering. Educated at Rice University (Ph.D., 1980) and MIT (postdoc), he previously served at Princeton University for 26 years.

Research explores:

• Design of sterically crowded aromatic molecules
• Kinetic isotope effects and molecular association
• Enzyme inhibition mechanisms
• Natural product biosynthesis

Pascal's syntheses of record-breaking twisted polycyclic aromatics and novel cyclophanes have yielded insights into London dispersion forces and molecular strain. Recent publications focus on perphenylterphenyls, heterohelicenes, and dodecaphenyltetracene.