News

Ayahuasca, a traditional Amazonian tisane used in religious and healing ceremonies, contains a complex mixture of psychoactive natural products.  The Olson Lab has recently discovered that N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), the principal hallucinogenic alkaloid in this concoction, produces antidepressant effects in rodents and reduces fear in an animal model of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).  This work highlights the potential for using psychedelics and related compounds for treating neuropsychiatric

The Davis−Beirut reaction is a versatile and robust N–N bond forming heterocyclization reaction for indazole synthesis developed at UC Davis by Prof. Mark J. Kurth and Visiting Prof. Makhluf J. Haddadin.

A combined effort between the Ames, Larsen, and Lagarias labs correlated spectral and photochemical properties underlying the intrinsic heterogeneity of the photoactive red/green cyanobacteriochrome NpR6012g4 from Nostoc punctiforme.

A combined effort between the Larsen, Cramer and Goodin labs characterized direct charge-transfer photodynamics in four iron-sulfur (FeS) proteins with femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy. The labs identified multiple ligand-to-metal charge transfer populations were found to be induced by laser excitation that evolve into low lying charge-transfer states, which is mediated by the density of states and reorganization energy.

A collaboration among several groups in chemistry and physics at UC Davis unraveled a new thermoelectric compound for direct thermal to electrical power generation. This material presents a new structure type and an optimized composition, resulting in remarkable efficiency in the temperature range of important applications, such as solar thermoelectric generators where heat harvested from the sun power the thermoelectric generation device.

The Chen Glyco Group reported a new strategy for the synthesis of complex carbohydrates by designing a chemoenzymatic synthon (PMID: 29349857. Accepted article, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.201712022/abstract). The synthon is easily accessible by chemical synthesis.

The research group of Alex Navrotsky recently published a new approach to the transformation of metal organic frameworks (Z. Akimbekov and coworkers, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2017, 139, 7952–7957). The novel mechanochemical synthesis approach overcomes kinetic barriers and unlocks new, more dense phases of increasing thermodynamic stability.