About the Seminar:

Complex alkaloids bearing unusual structural features serve as challenging proving grounds for modern chemical methods and inspiration for the development of new synthetic strategies. Here, we showcase our recent work towards the total synthesis of unique alkaloids from the Lycopodium, rauvomine, and stephaoxocane families.

About the speaker:

Myles Smith is a synthetic organic chemist and native of Cape Town, South Africa. He obtained his B.Sc. (Hons) degree at the University of Cape Town and subsequently undertook graduate studies at Columbia University under the direction of Scott Snyder. His doctoral research focused on the total synthesis of complex alkaloids and the development of novel pyrone-based methods. After obtaining his Ph.D. in 2015, Myles conducted postdoctoral training at The Scripps Research Institute and then at Stanford University with Phil Baran and Noah Burns, respectively, where his research centered upon the synthesis of bioactive natural products and asymmetric catalysis. Myles began his independent career at UT Southwestern in June 2019, where his lab seeks to streamline the synthesis of complex molecules of medicinal value and develop tools in asymmetric catalysis.