Dean J Tantillo

Research in the Tantillo group is driven by puzzling mechanistic questions. The group is particularly interested in elucidating the origins of low activation barriers and high regio- and stereoselectivities for various cascade polycyclization reactions used by Nature and by organic chemists to synthesize complex natural products, non-statistical dynamic effects and effects of entropy on selectivity of reactions occurring on both ground state and excited state surfaces, and applying quantum chemical predictions of NMR spectra to structure elucidation. 

Awards and Professional Highlights

• Edward Leete Award, Division of Organic Chemistry, American Chemical Society (2025)
• Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award, American Chemical Society (2023)
• ADVANCE Scholar Award, UC Davis (2022)
• Associate Member, American Chemical Society Committee on Chemists with Disabilities (2021-present)
• Graduate Program Advising and Mentoring Award, UC Davis (2021)
• Inclusion & Diversity Prize, Royal Society of Chemistry (2017)
• Fellow, American Chemical Society, ACSF (2017)
• Associate Editor, ACS Omega (2017-2019)
• Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science, AAAS (2016)
• Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, FRSC (2016)
• Bertram Dillon Steele Lectureship, U Queensland (2016)
• Academic Senate Distinguished Teaching Award: Graduate and Professional, UC Davis (2016)
• Andrew Streitwieser Lectureship, UC Berkeley (2014)
• Soaring to New Heights Diversity and Principles of Community Faculty Diversity Award, UC Davis (2014)
• Natural Product Reports Lectureship (2012)
• Lawrence J. Schaad Lectureship in Theoretical Chemistry, Vanderbilt University (2011)
• Academic Senate Distinguished (Undergraduate) Teaching Award, UC Davis (2011)
• Kavli Fellow, US National Academy of Sciences (2010 and 2011)
• Journal of Physical Organic Chemistry Award for Early Excellence in the Field of Physical Organic Chemistry (2007)
• NSF CAREER Award (2005)
• Appointed to UC Davis faculty (2003)

Representative Publications

• Tantillo, D. J. Chem Catal. 2025, 5, 101431: "Dynamically Controlled Kinetic Selectivity in Reactions Promoted by Transition Metal Catalysts"
• Tantillo, D. J. Acc. Chem. Res. 2024, 57, 1931-1940: "Quantum Chemical Interrogation of Reactions Promoted by Dirhodium Tetracarboxylate Catalysts – Mechanism, Selectivity and Non-statistical Dynamic Effects"
• Kong, W.-K.; Hu, Y.; Guo, W.; Potluri, A.; Schomaker, J. M.; Tantillo, D. J. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2025, 147, 5310-5319: "Synthetically Relevant Post-Transition State Bifurcation Leading to Diradical and Zwitterionic Intermediates: Controlling Nonstatistical Kinetic Selectivity through Solvent Effects"
• Guo, W.; Kong, W.-Y.; Tantillo, D. J. Chem. Sci. 2024, 15, 15577-15587: "Revisiting a Classic Carbocation – DFT, Coupled-Cluster, and ab initio Molecular Dynamics Computations on Barbaralyl Cation Formation and Rearrangements"
• Tantillo, D. J. American Scientist 2019, 107, 22-23: "Wiggling and Jiggling"
• Tantillo, D. J. Chem. Soc. Rev. 2018, 47, 7845-7850: "Questions in Natural Products Synthesis Research that Can (and Cannot) be Answered Using Computational Chemistry"
• Tantillo, D. J. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2017, 56, 10040-10045: "Importance of Inherent Substrate Reactivity in Enzyme Promoted Carbocation Cyclization/Rearrangements"
• Hong, Y. J.; Tantillo, D. J. Nature Chem. 2014, 6, 104-111: "Biosynthetic Consequences of Multiple Sequential Post-Transition State Bifurcations"
• Nguyen, Q. N. N.; Tantillo, D. J. Chem. Asian J. 2014, 9, 674-680: "The Many Roles of Quantum Chemical Predictions in Synthetic Organic Chemistry"
• Lodewyk, M. W.; Soldi, C.; Jones, P. B.; Olmstead, M. M.; Larrucea, J. R.; Shaw, J. T.; Tantillo, D. J. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2012, 134, 18550-18553: "The Correct Structure of Aquatolide - Experimental Validation of a Theoretically-Predicted Structural Revision"
• Wedler, H. B.; Cohen, S. R.; Davis, R. L.; Harrison, J. G.; Siebert, M. R.; Willenbring, D.; Hamann, C. S.; Shaw, J. T.; Tantillo, D. J. J. Chem. Educ. 2012, 89, 1400-1404: "Computational Chemistry for the Blind and Visually Impaired"
• Zu, L.; Xu, M.; Lodewyk, M. W.; Cane, D. E.; Peters, R. J.; Tantillo, D. J. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2012, 134, 11369-11371: "Effect of Isotopically Sensitive Branching on Product Distribution for Pentalenene Synthase - Support for a Mechanism Predicted by Quantum Chemistry"
• Tantillo, D. J. Nat. Prod. Rep. 2011, 28, 1035-1053: "Biosynthesis via Carbocations: Theoretical Studies on Terpene Formation"