Levi Stanley

The Stanley Group aims to identify new catalysts that address unsolved problems in organic synthesis and that enable the development of new and improved synthetic methods.  Specific topics of interest include: 1) the development of the next generation of catalysts for the hydroacylation of alkenes: 2) the development of catalytic reverse prenylation reactions for the synthesis of indole alkaloids; and 3) the identification of chiral Lewis acid catalysts that enable the synthesis of complex heterocycles.  In addition to the discovery of catalysts for the synthetic methods listed above, the Stanley Group also seeks to establish fundamentally new or underexplored areas of catalysis as synthetically useful.  The scope of these studies ranges from establishing catalysis through transition metal arene complexes as a practical synthetic strategy to developing a platform for the evolution of artificial metalloenzymes for applications in synthetic chemistry.