Paul Williard
Professor:
Chemistry
Phone: +1 401 863 3589
Phone 2: +1 401 863 2256
paul_williard@brown.edu
Paul Williard works in the area of organic synthesis. His research topics include: X-Ray crystal structure determination of intermediates for organic synthesis; total synthesis of physiologically active compounds; and development of synthetic methodology.
Biography
EDUCATION
B.S. Bucknell University 1972
M.S. Bucknell University 1972
M.Phil. Columbia University 1974
Ph.D. Columbia University 1976 (with Gilbert Stork)
Dissertation Topic: Investigation of a Novel Carbon-Carbon Bond Forming Reaction.
PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS
National Institute of Health Trainee, MIT; 1976-1978
NIH Postdoctoral Research Associate, MIT: 976-1979, (with G. Büchi)
Brown University:
Assistant Professor, 1979-1985
Jr. Faculty Sabbatical Leave, Spring, 1984
Associate Professor, 1986-1992
Professor, 1992-present
Chair, Dept. of Chemistry, 1999-2005
Interests
My research projects are grouped into three distinct areas.
The first of these focuses on obtaining structural and mechanistic
information for reactive intermediates such as enolate anions and
amide bases. Hence I have discovered and published an extensive
sequence of crystal structures of aggregates that are formed upon
mixing enolizable substrates with amide bases. A sequence of
aggregated 15-20 structures depicting different possible stages of an
aldol reaction can be found on my web page.
Most recently, I have begun to utilize diffusion oriented NMR (DOSY
or DO-NMR) to correlate the solid state crystal structure determined
by x-ray diffraction analyses with the corresponding solution state
species. We are also developing the DOSY NMR methodology to allow us
to determine molecular weights of these species in solution. This is
extremely exciting because it allows us to determine the solvation
state of the aggregates in solution directly by NMR. This is the
only convenient way to obtain such information at the subambient
temperatures where these species are typically utilized.
The second main area of research focuses on developing asymmetric
synthetic reaction methods based upon the structural and mechanistic
information accumulated in my group. Most recently, we are looking at
several template aggregates that have cropped up with a wide range of
structure variation but which maintain the same general 2:1 chiral
co-factor to reactive nucleophile stoichiometry. Also, we have
recently begun to expand this project by preparing small polymeric
versions of these chiral templates. Initial results of this study
are available.
Finally, I have maintained an involvement in several purely drug
development projects with different collaborators at the affiliated
Brown University Hospitals, the Rhode Island Nuclear Science Center,
and the RI Cancer Council. These projects involve synthesis of and
discovery of new drugs for cancer chemotherapy. The currently active
project involves synthesis of gadolinium containing porphyrin
derivatives and both in vitro and in vivo screening of these as
neutron capture agents.
Awards
Gertrude H. Deppen Scholarship, 1968-72
Phi Lambda Upsilon, 1969
Phi Beta Kappa, Bucknell University, 1971
ACS Susquehanna Valley Section Award, 1972
University Faculty Fellow, Columbia University, 1972-73
Sigma Xi, 1973
George B. Pegram, Distinguished Fellow, Columbia University, 1976
National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellow, 1977-79
Visiting Scientist Suntory Institute for Bioorganic Chemistry, Osaka, Japan, 1984
National Institutes of Health, Research Career Development Award, 1988-93
Vitamin D Research Group Award, 1998
Affiliations
American Chemical Society
American Crystallographic Association
Teaching
Organic chemistry; x-ray diffraction analysis; structure determination by NMR spectroscopy; organic synthesis.
Funded Research
National Science Foundation - Structure Based Development of Organic Reactions - Aug, 2007-July, 2010
