Construction of specific molecules on demand is an important challenge to modern chemistry. The synthesis groups at UT tackle this problem with a variety of interesting goals including the elaboration of natural products, catalysts, polymers, and pharmaceuticals. The design and construction of useful and unique molecules often require development of new synthesis methods, typically employ application of state-of-the-art spectroscopic techniques, and often exploit sophisticated computational methods to resolve various problems. Thus the synthesis student is challenged to use cutting-edge tools and techniques.
Contributions in the biomedical, materials, and environmental areas have high priority. Research groups at UT have discovered new reactions, synthesized compounds active against HIV, developed a therapeutic agent used to destroy tumors, prepared bifunctional polymer reagents, and designed and synthesized new silicate-based sorbents which exhibit enhanced ion recognition for the removal of toxic metal ions from aqueous waste streams.