Annaliese Franz

Research in the Franz group combines organic synthesis, catalyst development, and chemical biology with applications for the synthesis of bioactive products, biofuels and materials. Our primary focus is to develop new reactions and catalysts for the efficient and enantioselective synthesis of bioactive and therapeutically-relevant molecules. An integral part of our research is to investigate the mechanism and molecular interactions that dictate the reactivity and selectivity of these synthetic transformations. In addition to developing new transformations for the synthesis of complex small molecules, we are interested in using chemical triggers to enhance the production of bioactive lipids and biofuels from microalgae.

Graduate Groups and Academic Affiliations

• Chemistry and Chemical Biology Graduate Group
• Biochemistry, Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology (BMCDB) Graduate Group
• Agricultural & Environmental Chemistry Graduate Group
• Energy Graduate Group, Founding Member
• Designated Emphasis in Biotechnology (DEB) Program
• California Center for Algae Biotechnology (Cal-CAB)

Education, Awards and Professional Highlights

• Associate Dean, College of Letters and Science, 2022 – present
• American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Fellow, 2022
• American Chemical Society (ACS) Fellow, 2022
• Chair, ACS Division of Organic Chemistry (2021-23)
• Scientific Advisory Council, Arnold & Mabel Beckman Foundation, Irvine, CA (2018-25)
• Distinguished Teaching Award for Graduate and Professional Teaching and Mentoring, UC Davis (2018)
• ADVANCE Scholar Award (2016)
• Mentoring at Critical Transitions Fellowship Award (2015, 2016)
• Outstanding Mentor Award, Consortium for Women & Research (2013)
• Faculty Development Award for Mentoring and Outreach (2012)
• ACS WCC Rising Star Award (2012)
• Thieme Chemistry Journal Award (2011)
• NSF CAREER Award (2009)
• 3M Nontenured Faculty Award (2009)
• Appointed to UC Davis faculty (2007)
• NIH Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard University (2002-2005)
• Abbott Laboratories Graduate Research Fellow (2000)
• Ph.D. University of California, Irvine
• B.S. Trinity University, San Antonio, TX

Representative Publications

• Jagannathan, J. R.; Fettinger, J. C.; Shaw, J. T.*; Franz, A. K.* Enantioselective Si–H Insertion Reactions of Donor/Donor Carbenes for the Synthesis of Silicon-Stereogenic Silanes, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2020, 147, 11674-11679. DOI: 10.1021/jacs.0c04533
• Jennings, J. J.; Mira, M.; Targos, K.; Franz, A. K.* NMR Quantification of H-Bond Donating Ability for Medicinal Functional Groups and Isosteres, Eur. J. Med. Chem., 2020, 207, 112693. DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2020.112693
• Catalytic Asymmetric Synthesis of Cyclopentene-spiroxindoles Bearing Vinylsilanes Capable of Further Transformations, Org. Lett, 2019, 21, 8196-8200. DOI: 10.1021/acs.orglett.9b02852
• Jennings, J. J.; Wigman, B. W.; Armstrong, B. A.; Franz, A. K.* NMR Parameterization for the Effects of Counterions, Ligands and Additives on Lewis Acidity, J. Org. Chem., 2019, 24, 15845-15853. DOI: 10.1021/acs.joc.9b02107
• Diemoz, K. M.; Franz, A. K.* NMR Quantification of Hydrogen-Bond-Activating Effects for Organocatalysts including Boronic Acids, J. Org. Chem., 2019, 84, 1126-1138. DOI: 10.1021/acs.joc.8b02389. **Selected as Feature Article and for Cover Art 
• Armstrong, B. A.; Sayler, R. I.; Shupe, B. H.; Stich, T. A.; Britt, R. D.; Franz, A. K.* EPR Evidence for the Origin of Nonlinear Effects in an Enantioselective Cu(II)-Catalyzed Spiroannulation, ACS Catalysis, 2019, 9, 1224-1230. DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.8b03822
• Diemoz, K. M.; Wilson, S. O.; Hein, J.; Franz, A. K.* Reaction Progress Kinetics Analysis of 1,3-Disiloxanediols as Hydrogen-bonding Catalysts, J. Org. Chem., 2017, 82, 6738-6747. DOI: 10.1021/acs.joc.7b00875
• Diemoz, K. M.; Wilson, S. O.; Franz, A. K.* Synthesis of Structurally Varied 1,3-Disiloxanediols and Activity as Anion-binding Catalysts, Chemistry - European Journal, 2016, 22, 18349-18353. DOI: 10.1002/chem.201604103. **Selected as a HOT PAPER
• Burch, A. R.; Franz, A. K. Combined Nitrogen Limitation and Hydrogen Peroxide Treatment Enhance Neutral Lipid Accumulation in Marine Diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum, Bioresource Technology, 2016, 219, 559-565. DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2016.08.010
• Jennings, J. J.; Bhatt, C.; Franz, A. K.* Lanthanum(III)-catalyzed three-component reaction of coumarin-3-carboxylates for the synthesis of fluorescent indolylmalonamides, J. Org. Chem., 2016, 81, 6211-6222. DOI: 10.1021/acs.joc.6b00541
• Badillo, J. J.; Ribeiro, C. J. A.; Olmstead, M. A.; Franz, A. K. Titanium(IV)-Catalyzed Stereoselective Synthesis of Spirooxindole-1-pyrrolines, Org. Lett., 2014, 16, 6270–6273. DOI: 10.1021/ol5028128
• Franz, A. K.*; Danielewicz, M. A.; Wong, D. M.; Anderson, L. A.; Boothe, J. R. Phenotypic Screening with Oleaginous Microalgae Reveals Modulators of Lipid Productivity, ACS Chem. Biol. 2013, online. DOI:10.r1021/cb300573
• Hanhan, N. V.; Ball-Jones, N. R.; Tran, N. T.; Franz, A. K.* Catalytic Asymmetric [3+2] Annulation of Allylsilanes with Isatins: Synthesis of Spirooxindoles, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2012, 51, 989-992. DOI: 10.1002/anie.201105739
• Hanhan, N. V.; Tang, Y. C.; Tran, N. T.; Franz, A. K.* Enantioselective Scandium(III)-catalyzed Allylsilane Allylation of Isatins, Org. Lett. 2012, 14, 2218-2221. DOI:10.1021/ol300496v
• Anderson, L. A.; Franz, A. K.* Real-time Monitoring of Transesterification by 1H NMR Spectroscopy: Catalyst Comparison and Improved Calculation for Biodiesel Conversion, Energy & Fuels, 2012, 26, 6404-6410. DOI:10.1021/ef301035s
• Min, T.; Fettinger, J. C.; Franz, A. K.* Enantiocontrol with a Hydrogen-bond Directing Pyrrolidinylsilanol Catalyst. ACS Catalysis. 2012, 2, 1661-1666. DOI:10.1021/cs300290j
• Tran, N. T.; Wilson, S. O.; Franz, A. K.* Cooperative Hydrogen-bonding Effects in Silanediol Catalysis. Org. Lett. 2012, 14, 186-189. DOI:10.1021/ol202971m
• Badillo, J. J.; Silva-Garcia, A.; Shupe, B. H.; Fettinger, J. C.; Franz, A. K.* Enantioselective Pictet-Spengler Reactions of Isatins for the Synthesis of Spiroindolones, Tetrahedron Lett, 2011, 52, 5550-5553. DOI:10.1016/j.tetlet.2011.08.071
• Tran, N. T.; Min, T.; Franz, A. K.* Silanediol Hydrogen-bonding Activation of Carbonyl Compounds. Chem. Eur. J. 2011, 17, 9897-9900. DOI: 10.1002/chem.201101492
• Hanhan, N. V.; Sahin, A. H; Chang, T. W.; Fettinger, J. C.; Franz, A. K.* Catalytic Asymmetric Synthesis of Substituted 3-Hydroxy-2-Oxindoles, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2010, 49, 744-747. DOI: 10.1002/ange.200904393