Seth Herzon

Assistant Professor of Chemistry
Member of Yale faculty since 2008

E-mail: seth.herzon@yale.edu
Web site: http://www.yale.edu/herzongroup

Research Research in the Herzon group encompasses the disciplines of natural products synthesis and synthetic methods development. In the former area, we are working to develop efficient, flexible syntheses of complex natural products. Our synthetic routes will present challenges to the capabilities of the field and, in the search for solutions, force an extension of its current boundaries. A prudent, thoughtful approach to target selection is undertaken so that the success of these investigations may potentially serve a broader cause as well. For example, our efforts may provide synthetic material for the study and treatment of human diseases, or alternatively, facilitate investigation of the structure and function of otherwise inaccessible molecules. Thus, the syntheses we develop may be incorporated into larger interdisciplinary programs, however a passion for complex molecule synthesis is what drives us and this forms the core of our program.

In the area of synthetic methods, we seek to identify and reduce to practice essential transformations that are currently not feasible, or only of limited scope. In searching for solutions to these problems we will make use of any tools available to us. Thus, our investigations might lead us to explore the chemistry of novel organic and inorganic reagents, and organometallic complexes, and will be complemented by mechanistic studies, where appropriate. The primary goal of these investigations is the development of practical synthetic methods of broad utility.

Education
B.S. Temple University, 2002
Ph.D. Harvard University, 2006
Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Illinois, 2006-2008

Honors
Petroleum Research Fund Undergraduate Research Fellowship, 2001-2002
The F. Albert Cotton and Al Tulinsky Prize, 2002
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, 2003
Harvard University Certificate of Distinction in Teaching, 2003
National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2006
Lilly New Faculty Award, 2008

Recent Publications
S.B. Herzon & A.G. Myers. Enantioselective Synthesis of Stephacidin B. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2005, 127, 5342.

A.G. Myers & S.B. Herzon. Identification of a Novel Michael Acceptor Group for the Reversible Addition of Oxygen- and Sulfur-Based Nucleophiles. Synthesis and Reactivity of the 3-Alkylidene-3 H -indole 1-Oxide Function of Avrainvillamide. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2003, 125, 12080.

S.B. Herzon & J. F. Hartwig. Direct, Catalytic Hydroaminoalkylation of Unactivated Olefins with N- Alkyl Arylamines. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2007, 129, 6690.

J.E. Wulff, S.B. Herzon, R. Siegrist, & A.G. Myers. Evidence for the Rapid Conversion of Stephacidin B into the Electrophilic Monomer Avrainvillamide in Cell Culture. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2007, 129, 4898.

S.B. Herzon & J. Hartwig. Hydroaminoalkylation of Unactivated Olefins with Dialkylamines. J. Am Chem. Soc. 2008, 130, 14940