Igor Alabugin

In short, we study chemical structure and reactivity trying to understand what organic molecules are and what they are capable of. Most of our research is hypothesis-driven and aims to discovery new transformations of organic molecules. Reactions previously discovered in our lab have been applied for efficient light-activated cleavage of double-stranded DNA in cancer cells, sequence selective modification of single-stranded oligonucleotides, preparation of complex polycyclic structures related to carbon nanotubes and design of hybrid organic-inorganic materials.

The art of making organic molecules plays important role in our projects. But the real fun starts once the molecules are made and one's ability to design a system which performs better than Nature is subjected to a critical test! These tests integrate learning and discovery in order to provide students with training for their future careers in organic, physical, analytical and biochemistry both in industry and in academia.