معرفی
David Sarlah is a Professor of Chemistry at Rice University's Department of Chemistry. Previously, he served as faculty at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign before joining Rice in 2024. His research focuses on total synthesis of complex natural products, methodology development in organic synthesis (particularly dearomatization reactions), and exploring asymmetric catalytic strategies. His group investigates the synthesis of biologically active molecules with applications in drug discovery and chemical biology.
Education: B.Sc. in Chemistry from University of Ljubljana (Slovenia), Ph.D. in Chemistry from The Scripps Research Institute (2011) under Prof. K.C. Nicolaou. Postdoctoral research with Prof. Erick M. Carreira at ETH Zurich (Switzerland).
Research interests emphasize innovative synthetic approaches to challenging targets, including terpenoids, alkaloids, and macrocyclic natural products. Key areas include:
- Development of catalytic dearomatization methods for arenes
- Synthesis of bioactive compounds with anticancer, antiparasitic, and neuroactive properties
- Exploration of iridium- and palladium-catalyzed asymmetric transformations
- Studies on cannabinoid metabolism and bioactivity
Recent work highlights include:
- Discovery of novel arenophile-mediated dearomatization reactions
- Total syntheses of complex natural products like nimbolide and scabrolides
- Investigations into metabolic pathways of phytocannabinoids
Lab activities are centered at Rice University's Sarlah Group, focusing on interdisciplinary projects bridging organic synthesis with biological applications. Active in developing scalable synthetic methods and exploring structure-activity relationships in drug candidates.
