KARL A. SCHEIDT

 

Irving M. Klotz Professor

Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University

2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208

scheidt@northwestern.edu, 847-491-6659

 

 

Education

Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry.  Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana. 1999

B.S. in Chemistry.  University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, 1994

 

Professional Experience

Northwestern University:  Assistant Professor of Chemistry, 2002-2008

Northwestern University: Associate Professor of Chemistry, 2008-present

 

Research Experience

Harvard University: NIH Postdoctoral Fellow with David A. Evans, 1999-2002

Indiana University/Univ. of Michigan: Graduate Research with William R. Roush, 1994-1999

University of Notre Dame: Undergraduate Research with Marvin J. Miller, 1992-1994

 

Honors and Awards

Irving Klotz Professor of Chemistry (2008)

GlaxoSmithKline Scholar (2008-2009)

Alfred P. Sloan Fellow (2007-2009)

AstraZenaca Award for Excellence in Chemistry (2007)

Novartis Chemistry Lecture Award (2007)

Amgen Young Investigator Award (2006)

Boehringer-Ingelheim New Investigator Award in Organic Chemistry (2005)

Northwestern University Distinguished Teaching Award (2005)

3M Nontenured Faculty Award (2005)

Abbott Laboratories New Faculty Award (2005)

Amgen New Faculty Award (2004)

National Science Foundation CAREER Award (2004-2008)

Northwestern University Searle Fellow (2003)

National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellowship, Harvard University  (1999-2001)

Merck Award, University of Notre Dame (1994)

 

Research Accomplishments to Date

Discovered new nucleophile-catalyzed carbonyl anion reactions using acylsilanes or a-keto acids. These innovative strategies are highly versatile and are now being applied to access unconventional bond-forming reactions with applicability in pharmaceutical and materials research.

 

Discovered new carbene-catalyzed processes, including catalytic generated homoenolates from enals and the hydroacylation of activated carbonyl compounds.  The use of N-heterocyclic carbenes as catalysts allows efficient access to unconventional reactivity patterns with broad application in synthesis.

 

Discovered copper-catalyzed disilylation of conjugate acceptors using commercially available disilylanes activated by Lewis bases.  This bimodal catalytic process incorporates silicon effectively into various molecular architectures.

 

Investigating new anti-tumor natural products as potential treatments for cancer and as tools for chemical biology.  Using highly potent natural substances as the driving force to invent new methodology, we have synthesized simplified analogs of complex bioactive natural products to determine the key substructures necessary for biological activity.