Professor David R. Williams

Professor David R. Williams
Department of Chemistry
Indiana University
Abstract

Inspiration and Discovery in Natural Product Synthesis

The presentation will discuss the generation of ideas, and aspects of strategy that led to experimentation and execution of a route for the total synthesis of cyathin D and related terpenes. Our retrosynthetic analysis is intended to provide a platform for discoveries of new methods. A fusion of ideas and novel applications stemming from the traditions of natural product synthesis will incorporate leading elements of transition-metal catalysis. Stereocontrolled and regiocontrolled transformations require careful attention to detail and a concept for mechanistic understanding of complex reactions.

David R. Williams

David R. Williams received his B.S. degree (Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa Honors) at St. Lawrence University (Canton, New York). He went on to graduate studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was awarded the Ph.D. in organic chemistry in 1976 under the direction of Professor George Büchi. Subsequently, he was awarded the National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellowship for studies at Harvard University with Professor E. J. Corey (Nobel laureate), and also served as an NIH Fellow at Harvard under the mentorship of Professor R. B. Woodward (Nobel laureate). Prof. Williams began his academic career at IU in 1980. His research has resulted in over 160 scholarly publications. To date, 130 graduate students and postdoctoral associates have studied in his laboratories. Prof. Williams’ research interests lie in the development of methodologies and strategies for the total synthesis of biologically active natural products. The Williams’ laboratories have made leading contributions of synthetic chemistry in areas of marine natural products, including macrocycles, antibiotics, and alkaloids. To date, these efforts have described new pathways to approximately 50 natural product syntheses of importance completed as potential therapeutic agents to advance treatments for cancer, as well as other diseases. 

Prof. Williams was named a Fellow of the American Chemical Society in 2024. In addition, he was the recipient of the ACS Ernest Guenther Award in the Chemistry of Natural Products (2018) and was recognized with the ACS Edward Leete Award (2005) for mentorship and scholarship in his research.

Hosted by Professor Chris Douglas