Michael Hilinski
Associate Professor of Chemistry
Office Address/Hours
Room 288C, Chemistry Building
Education
B.S. Tufts University, 2000
Ph.D. Stanford University, 2007
DOD postdoctoral fellow, University of Virginia 2009-2013
Biography
The science of organic synthesis is central to both the discovery and manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and other fine chemicals and the emergence of subdisciplines of biology that are becoming increasingly focused on phenomena at the molecular level (e.g., synthetic biology and chemical biology). Over the last half-century revolutionary advances in synthetic organic chemistry have made it possible to synthesize virtually any molecule given enough time, money, and manpower. However, this is frequently not enough since a lack of practical and cost-effective synthetic access can and does prevent promising drug leads from ever helping patients. The grand challenge for synthetic organic chemistry is therefore to advance the field of synthesis to the point where any molecule can be not only synthesized, but also synthesized in a way that minimizes the cost, time, and manpower required as well as environmental impact. Our group’s research is focused on eliminating synthetic considerations as a barrier to the discovery of new therapeutics.
Recent Publications
Organocatalytic, Dioxirane-Mediated C-H Hydroxylation under Mild Conditions Using Oxone. W. G. Shuler, S. L. Johnson, M. K. Hilinski, Org. Lett. 2017, 19, 4790–4793.
An Iminium Salt Organocatalyst for Selective Aliphatic C–H Hydroxylation. D. Wang, W. G. Shuler, C. J. Pierce, M. K. Hilinski, Org. Lett. 2016, 18, 3826–3829.
Intermolecular Electrophilic Addition of Epoxides to Alenes: [3+2] Cycloadditions Catalyzed by Lewis Acids. W. G. Shuler, L. A. Combee, I. D. Falk, M. K. Hilinski, Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2016, 3335–3338.
Chemoselective Hydroxylation of Aliphatic sp3 C–H Bonds Using a Ketone Catalyst and Aqueous H2O2. C. J. Pierce, M. K. Hilinski, Org. Lett. 2014, 16, 6504–6507.