Research Interest

Natural products provide a rich source of pharmaceutical drug leads. Inspired by the application(s) of secondary metabolites in understanding and treating human disease, research in the Frederich Laboratory focuses on developing new strategies and tactics to prepare architecturally complex natural products that exhibit important biological activity in living systems. A critical aspect of this endeavor involves the design of new reactions that build molecular complexity, thereby allowing us to approach challenging structures in a practical way. Longer-term, access to our targets opens up new avenues to explore their pharmacology. At this stage, exercises in molecular biology, biophysics, and medicinal chemistry become part of interdisciplinary research aimed at identifying new drug targets and developing prototype therapeutics.