The Wang Group

Research in the Wang group is focused on the development of new synthetic methods for natural product synthesis. 

Welcome

  • View from primary entrance looking outward across wide lawn area with fountains
    The Campus

    A view from a primary entrance to the University at Albany.

     

  • Members of The Wang Group stand alongside UAlbany's distinctive white pillars that extend into the distance
    The Team

    Members of The Wang Group stand alongside UAlbany's distinctive white pillars.

     

  • Team member Jiyeon stands before a poster describing her research at the undergraduate research symposium at the University at Albany
    The Research

    Jiyeon presents her summer research at the undergraduate research symposium.

     

  • Team member Evan is shown before a poster presenting his research.
    The Research

    Evan presents his research at the undergraduate research symposium at the University at Albany.

     

  • Team member Evan stands before a chalkboard featuring a sketch of a structural formula.
    The Research

    Evan presents his research in a meeting of The Wang Group.

     

  • Two students enjoy some lunch as they listen to a peer's presentation.
    The Research

    Group members Dominic and Sarbjeet review a presentation by another group member.

     

  • Two students enjoy lunch while listening to a peer's presentation.
    The Research

    Jessica and Grace also participate in the review of their peer's presentation.

     

  • Two images are displayed side-by-side; the first shows a projection screen with information regarding an award, while the second shows a student and instructor displaying an award certificate.
    The Research

    Team member Grace gives a presentation on stablized oxytocin and receives the UASRP award.

     

  • A student is flanked by a poster describing her research.
    The Research

    Sarbjeet presents her research at 256th ACS national meeting, Boston.

     

Research in the Wang group is focused on the development of new synthetic methods for natural product synthesis. Of particular interest are the discovery of new synthetic strategies via visible light photocatalysis and cooperative catalysis, and their applications in the synthesis of small molecules, peptides, and proteins.

Diagram illustrating The Wang Group's research process of the development of new synthetic methods for natural product synthesis
  1. Chemical catalysis

    Photoacid catalysis: The goal of this program is to innovate in both the design and application of photoactive molecules, applying them to solve problems of biological and medicinal importance. By designing and synthesizing a new class of photo Brønsted acid and photo Lewis acid catalysts, we aim to discover new property and catalytic reactivity, and apply them to address synthetic challenges toward biological active molecules.

    Organosulfur resistant catalysis (Collaboration with Prof. Michael Yeung): Application of newly developed Pt catalyst from Yeung's group to the catalytic hydrogenation of sulfur containing organic compounds.
     

  2. Synthesis of natural products, peptides, carbohydrates

    We have synthesized natural products flustramide B and flustraminol B by using our newly developed synthetic methods. Our group has been working on synthesis of stablized Oxytocin for enhance its plasma stability and BBB penetration.
     

  3. Photoswitchable control of different glutamate transporter sub-types
    (Collaboration with Prof. Annalisa Scimemi and Prof. Alex Shekhtman)

    In this project, we design and synthesize photoswitchable tethered ligands (PTLs) to study the functional properties of biological important proteins and precisely control the function of the proteins, particularly glutamate transporter sub-types in this project.
     

  4. Photoswitchable RNA chemistry
    (Collaboration with Prof. Jia Sheng and Prof. Alex Shekhtman)

    In this project, we design and synthesize photoswitchable tethered ligands (PTLs) to study the functional properties of biological important proteins and precisely control the regulation of base pairing, DNA replication, RNA reverse transcription, as well as CRISPR-Cas gene editing systems

    Small molecule synthesis for PET imaging (Collaboration with Prof. Jason Cai at Yale)

    We design and synthesize a library of protein ligands derived from the lead compounds disclosed from literature patents for PET imaging students.
     

Join our Group

Postdoctoral: Qualified and highly motivated candidates are encouraged to apply. Please send application materials as a single PDF file to [email protected]

Graduate Students: We are always looking for enthusiastic and highly motivated graduate students to join our group. Please check the UAlbany website for admissions details.

Undergraduate Students: Students interested in organic chemistry are encouraged to contact Ting directly.
 

Classes

Classes taught by Dr. Wang include Organic Chemistry I (ACHM 220) and Pre-organic Chemistry (ACHM 143). The mission of the pre-organic chemistry class is to help undergraduate students make a smooth transition from General Chemistry to Organic Chemistry.

There are probably two major reasons sophomore undergraduates who perform well in General Chemistry may struggle with Organic Chemistry. One is that the knowledge gap between General Chemistry and Organic Chemistry is fairly large. Most of freshman college students have been introduced to general chemistry in high school. Therefore, the transition between high school level chemistry to college level general chemistry is manageable.

However, when students enter to their second year, organic chemistry is a totally new subject for most of them. Together with abstract orbital theory, the 3-D molecular structures and much deeper mechanistic studies, students can be easily lost in the first half of Organic Chemistry.

The other issue is that the way to learn General Chemistry and Organic Chemistry is very different. To learn “How To Learn” is another serious project for undergraduate students. Pre-Organic Chemistry introduces organic chemistry to freshman and teaches them the way to learn Organic Chemistry in their following semester.
 

Related Links


 

The Wang Group
Ting Wang PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Chemistry Room 309A

1400 Washington Avenue
Albany, NY 12222
United States

Phone
Fax
518-442-3462

Members

Principal Investigator

Dr. Ting Wang

Ting Wang
Assistant Professor
PhD, The Ohio State University (Craig J. Forsyth, advisor)
Postdoc.  Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (Sameul J. Danishefsky, advisor)
[email protected]


 

Graduate Students
 

Juncheng Li

Juncheng Li
B.S. Southern University of Science and Technology, China
[email protected]


 

 

 

Ibrahim Adelakun

Ibrahim Adelakun
BS Obefemi Awolowo University, Nigeria
[email protected]

 

 

 

 

Pramita Chakma

Pramita Chakma
MS University of Chittagong, Bangladesh
BS University of Chittagong, Bangladesh
[email protected]

 

 

 

Undergraduate Students

Karly Suhr, UG4
Savia Boyer, UG3
Khadija Abdallah, UG3
Sean Beck, UG3
Callum Newton, UG3
 

Group Alumni

Dr. Munsaf Ali, Postdoc (Oct. 2021 - Sep. 2022)
Dr. Jie Tong, Postdoc (Aug. 2019- July. 2020)
Dr. Jiaheng Li, Postdoc (July. 2018- Feb. 2020)
Dr. Lushun Wang, Postdoc (Mar. 2018- Feb. 2019)
Dr. Gaoyuan Zhao, Postdoc (Sep. 2016- Jan. 2019)
Dr. Kui Wu, Postdoc (Feb. 2016- Jan. 2018)
Dr. Yuliu Du, Postdoc (Aug. 2016- Jul. 2017)
Dr. Sarbjeet Kaur, Ph.D. (Aug. 2016 - Dec. 2021)
Timothy Stock, Undergraduate
Daniel Conley, Undergraduate
Jiyeon Lim, Undergraduate
Evan Busch, Undegraduate
Roma Tarar, Undergraduate
Jessica Hayes, Undergraduate
Reginald Hyppolite, Undergraduate
Grace Essilfie-Bondzie, Undergraduate
Dominic Luciano, Undergraduate
Jessica Andras, Undergraduate
AJ Silvestro, Undergraduate
Charles Huang, Undergraduate
Ezinma Dennis, Undergraduate
Aisha Raza, Undergraduate
Olivia Thomas, Undergraduate
Sheridan Messier, Undergraduate
Madison Walker, Undergraduate
Shi Sewell, Undergraduate
Areej Chishti, Undergraduate

News and Events

  • Eight members of The Wang Group stand together on a campus sidewalk at the University at Albany.
    The Wang Groups is in the News

    Our team has earned many accolades over the years for presentations and research. More achievements are on the horizon!

2023

October

  • Pramita presented her work in RNA institute research symposium!

September

  • Munsaf's paper was published on Organics! Congratulations!

July

  • Savia presented her research on Photoswitchable RNA chemistry at UASRP undergraduate research symposium!
  • Austin Zhang, a high school student, joined our lab for summer research! Welcome!

June

  • Savia received UASRP award to support her research in summer!
  • Karly and Savia received Undergraduate Summer Scholarship-Chemistry awards! Congratulations!
  • The department 2022-2023 Honors and Awards just released! Congratulations to our undergraduate students for their excellent study and research! Our students won the prestigious Shelton Bank Prize in back-to-back years! Congrats to Sheridan Messier (2022) and Karly Suhr (2023)! Savia Boyer won CRC Press Freshman Achievement Award (2022) and Morris and Rita Deutsch Scholarship Award (2023). Kadija Abdallah won Larry Snyder Award for Organic Chemistry (2023)!

April

  • Welcome new undergraduate student Khadija Abdallah!

2022

December

  • Our collaborative work with Prof. Sheng and Prof. Hussain was published on Bio-protocol!

October

  • Amilcar's abstract for presentation at the annual biomedical research conference for minoritized scientists (ABRCMS) has been accepted! Well done!
  • Another undergraduate student, Savia Boyer, join our research group! Welcome on board!

September

  • We welcome three new undergraduate students, Karly Suhr, Sean Beck, and Callum Newton!

August

  • Juncheng presented his research at ACS meeting in Chicago!

June

  • Welcome our summer undergraduate research student Amilcar Campbell! Thanks for the funding from UASRP!

May

  • Juncheng reveived the Travel Award from the department! Congratulations!

April

  • Our collaborative work with Prof. Sheng and Prof. Hussain was published on Journal of Biological Chemistry! It is our first JBC paper!

2021

November

  • Gaoyuan and Juncheng's paper was published on Chemical Communications as a part of the themed collection "2021 Emerging Investigators".

October

  • Our paper on radical functionalization of thioglycosides in aqueous medium was published on Tetrahedron Letters! Congratulations on all the students. This is our first paper written by undergraduate student. Well done, Sheridan!

September

  • We welcome two new graduate students! Ibriham and Pramita!

May

  • Gaoyuan and Juncheng's paper was published on EJOC as a part of "YourJOC Talents" special collection.
  • We welcome three undergraduate students! Madison Walker, Areej Chishti, and Shi Sewell!

2020

January

  • We welcome four new undergraduate students! Sheridan Messier, Olivia Thomas, Ezinma Dennis, and Berfu Cicek!

2019

December

  • Juncheng's paper was published on Synlett! Congratulations!

November

  • Reginald Hyppolite presents his research at ABRCMS conference at California.
  • Dominic presents his research at UAlbany undergraduate research symposium.
  • Jessica presents her research at UAlbany undergraduate research symposium as student Keynote speaker!

August

  • Dr. Jie Tong joins to group! Welcome on board!
  • Jiaheng's paper was published on Acta Chim. Sinica. Congratulations!

July

  • Reginald Hyppolite presents his research at UASRP undergraduate research symposium.

June

  • Reginald Hyppolite joins the group to do summer research! Welcome! We appreicate UASRP for funding this research.
  • Dominic got an internship from Biogen! Congratulations!
  • Jessica recieved the inaugural Paul Gold Award! Congratulations!
  • Congratulations on Evan's graduation! Evan will start his career at AMRI as a chemist!

March

  • Aisha Raza joins the group to do undergraduate research! Welcome!

February

  • Jessica Andras joins the group to do undergraduate research on photocatalysis! Welcome!

2018

December

  • Kui and Lushun's paper was published on Angew. Chem. Int. Ed! Congratulations!

November

  • Ting was selected as one of the 2019's Thieme Chemistry Journals Awardees.
  • Gaoyuan's photoacid catalysis paper (ACIE, 2018, 57, 6120) has been highlighted in Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201811102 !
  • Charles Huang joined the group to do undergraduate research! Welcome!

October

  • Sarbjeet, Gaoyuan, and Evan's paper was published on Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry as part of "New Talent Themed Collection"! Congratulations!

September

  • AJ Silvestro and Roma Tarar joined the group to do undergraduate research! Welcome!

August

  • Juncheng joined the group. Welcome!
  • Sarbjeet presented her work in 256th ACS national meeting at Boston!

July

  • Grace presented her research at UASRP Research Symposium. Great job!
  • Grace presented her research at Undergraduate Research Conference (University at Buffalo). Great job!

June

  • Kui and Yuliu's paper was published on Chemical Communications! Congratulations!

May

  • Jessica Hayes joins the group to do undergraduate research on photocatalysis! Welcome!
  • Kui and Sarbjeet's paper was published on Synthesis as part of the Special Topic "Modern Radical Methods and their Strategic Applications in Synthesis"! Congratulations!

April

  • Dominic received the Larry Snyder Organic Chemistry Award! Congratulations!
  • Evan presented his research at Undergraduate Research Symposium (SUNY-Albany). Great job!
  • Yuliu's paper was published on Synthesis as part of the Special Topic "Photoredox Methods and their Strategic Applications in Synthesis"! Congratulations!
  • Grace received UASRP award to do research in summer! Congratulations!

March

  • Gaoyuan's paper was published on Angew. Chem. Int. Ed! Congratulations!
  • Dr. Lushun Wang joins the group. Glad to have you on board!

January

  • Grace Essilfie-Bondzie and Dominic Luciano join the group to do undergraduate research on photocatalysis! Welcome!

2017

October

  • Jiyeon presented her research at Undergraduate Research Symposium (SUNY-Albany). Great job!
  • Kui and Yuliu's paper was published on Organic Letters! Congratulations!

June

  • Gaoyuan and Sarbjeet's paper was published on Organic Letters! Congratulations!

February

  • Jiyeon Lim joins group to do undergraduate research!

2016

October

  • Timothy Stock and Evan Busch join group to do undergraduate research on organic synthesis!

September

  • Dr. Yuliu Du and Dr. Gaoyuan Zhao join the lab. Glad to have you on board!

August

  • Sarbjeet Kaur is now an official member of the Wang lab. Welcome!

May

  • Congratulations to Daniel Conley, UAlbany class of 2016!

March

  • Daniel Conley joins group to do undergraduate research on peptide synthesis!

Feburary

  • Dr. Kui Wu joins the group. Glad to have you on board!

January

  • Our group website is live!

Publications

22. Tong, J.#; Adelakun, I. O.#; Li, J.; Beck, S. R. (UG); Newton, C. S. (UG); Wang, T.* "Visible-light-mediated decarbonylation of cyclopropenones" 2023in revision.

# These authors contributed equally to this work.

21. Munsaf, A.; Li, J.; Sewell, S. (UG).; Wang, T.* "Recent advances in application of alkoxy radical in organic synthesis" Organics20234, 459.

20. Zheng, Y.; Haruehanroengra, P.; Yadav, P. K.; Irani, S.; Mao, S.; Wang, T.; Hussain, M. M.; Sheng, J.* "Synthesis of novel microRNA-30c analogs to reduce apolipoprotein B secretion in human hepatoma cells" Bio-protocol202212, e4574.

19. Yadav, P. K.; Haruehanroengra, P.; Irani, S.; Wang, T.; Ansari, A.; Sheng, J.; Hussain, M. M.* "Novel efficacious microRNA-30c analogs reduce apolipoprotein B secretion in human hepatoma and primary hepatocyte cells" J. Bio. Chem. 2022298, 101813.

18. Zhao, G.; Li, J.; Wang, T.* "Visible-light-induced photoacid catalysis: application in glycosylation with O-glycosyl trichloroacetimidates" Chem. Commun. 202157, 12659-12662. (Invited submission for the themed collection "2021 Emerging Investigators".)

 A depiction of visible-light-induced photoacid catalysis in glycosylation with O-glycosyl trichloroacetimidates.

 

17. Kaur, S.; Luciano, D. P. (UG); Fan, X.; Zhao, G.; Messier, S. (UG); Walker, M. M. (UG); Zhang, Q.; Wang, T.* "Radical Functionalization of Thioglycosides in Aqueous Medium" Tetrahedron Lett. 2021, 86, 153449.

A depiction of radical functionalization of thioglycosides in an aqueous medium.

16. Zhao, G.#; Li, J.#; Wang, T.* "Metal-free Photocatalytic Intermolecular anti-Markovnikov Hydroamination of Unactivated Alkenes" Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2021, 2650-2654. (Invited submission for "YourJOC Talents" special collection.)

# These authors contributed equally to this work.

A depiction of metal-free photocatalytic intermolecular anti-Markovnikov hydroamination of unactivated alkenes.

 

15. Li, J.; Zhao, G.; Wang, T.* "Organic-Photoacid-Catalyzed Glycosylation" Synlett 202031, 823-828

A depiction of organic-photoacid-catalyzed glycosylation.

 

14. Xiao, L.; Li, J.; Wang, T.* "Visible-Light-Induced N-Radical Directed Remote Functionalization of sp3 C-H Bonds" Acta Chim. Sinica 201988, 841-849

13. Wu, K.#; Wang, L.#; Colon-Rodriguez, S.; Flechsig, G.*; Wang, T.* "Amidyl Radical Directed Remote Allylation of Unactivated sp3 C-H Bonds via Organic Photoredox Catalysis" Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 201958, 1774-1778.

A depiction of the process of amidyl radical directed remote allylation of unactivated sp3 C-H bonds via organic photoredox catalysis.  # These authors contributed equally to this work.

 

# These authors contributed equally to this work.

12. Kaur, S.; Zhao, G.; Busch, E. (UG); Wang, T.* "Metal-free Photocatalytic Thiol-Ene/Thiol-Yne Reactions" Org. Biomol. Chem. 201917, 1955-1961.(Invited submission for "New Talent Themed Collection")

A depiction of  metal-free photocatalytic Thiol-Ene/Thiol-Yne reactions.

 

11. Wu, K.; Du, Y.; Wei, Z.; Wang, T.* "Synthesis of Functionalized Pyrroloindolines via a Visible-Light-Induced Radical Cascade Reaction: Rapid Synthesis of (±) Flustraminol B" Chem. Commun201854, 7443-7446.

A depiction of the synthesis of functionalized pyrroloindolines via a visible-light-induced radical cascade reaction resulting in rapid synthesis of (±) Flustraminol B.

 

10. Wu, K.; Fang, C.; Kaur, S.; Liu, P.*; Wang, T.* "Methylene Blue Catalyzed Oxidative Cleavage of N-Carbonylated Indoles" Synthesis2018, 50, 2897-2907. (Invited submission for special issue "Modern Radical Methods and their Strategic Application in Synthesis")

A depiction of Methylene Blue Catalyzed Oxidative Cleavage of N-Carbonylated Indoles

 

9. Zhao, G.; Wang, T.* "Stereoselective Synthesis of 2-Deoxyglycosides from Glycals by Visible-Light-Induced Photoacid Catalysis" Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 201857, 6120-6124.

A depiction of stereoselective synthesis of 2-Deoxyglycosides from Glycals by visible-light-induced photoacid catalysis.

 

Highlighted by Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201811102

Highlighted by X-Mol

8. Du, Y.; Wei, Z.; Wang, T.* "Visible-Light-Mediated Synthesis of Oxidized Amides via Organic Photoredox Catalysis" Synthesis2018, 50, 3379-3386. (Invited submission for special issue "Photoredox Methods and their Strategic Applications in Synthesis")

A depiction of visible-light-mediated synthesis of oxidized amides via organic photoredox catalysis.

 

7. Wu, K.; Du, Y.; Wang, T.* “Visible-Light-Mediated Construction of Pyrroloindolines via an Amidyl Radical Cyclization/Carbon Radical Addition Cascade: Rapid Synthesis of (±) Flustramide B” Org. Lett. 201719, 5669-5672.

A depiction of visible-light-mediated construction of pyrroloindolines via an amidyl radical cyclization/carbon radical addition cascade for the rapid synthesis of (±) Flustramide B.

A depiction of visible-light-mediated construction of pyrroloindolines via an amidyl radical cyclization/carbon radical addition cascade for the rapid synthesis of (±) Flustramide B.

6. Zhao, G.; Kaur, S.; Wang, T.* "Visible-Light-Mediated Thiol-Ene Reactions through Organic Photoredox Catalysis" Org. Lett. 201719, 3291-3294.

A depiction of visible-light-mediated Thiol-Ene reactions through organic photoredox catalysis.

 

5. Levinson, A. M.; McGee, J. H.; Roberts, A. G.; Creech, G. S.; Wang, T.; Peterson, M. T.; Hendrickson, R. C.; Verdine, G. L.; Danishefsky, S. J. "Total Chemical Synthesis and Folding of All-L and All-D Variants of Oncogenic Kras(G12V)" J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2017139, 7632-7639.

Before Albany

4. Wang, T.; Danishefsky, S. J. “Solid-phase Peptide Synthesis and Solid-phase Fragment Coupling Mediated by Isonitriles” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2013, 110, 11708-11713.

3. Wang, T.; Danishefsky, S. J. “Revisiting Oxytocin through the Medium of Isonitriles” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2012134, 13244-13247.

2. Wang, B.; Hansen, T.; Weyer, L.; Wu, D.; Wang, T.; Christmann, M.; Lu, Y.; Ying, L.; Engler, M.; Cink, R.; Lee, C. S.; Ahmed, F.; Forsyth, C. J. “Total Synthesis of Phorboxazole A via de Novo Oxazole Formation: Convergent Total Synthesis” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2011133, 1506-1516.

1. Wang, B.; Hansen, T.; Wang, T.; Wu, D.; Weyer, L.; Ying, L.; Engler, M.; Sanville, M.; Leitheiser, C.; Christmann, M.; Lu, Y.; Chen, J.; Zunker, N.; Cink, R.; Ahmend, F.; Lee, C. S.; Forsyth, C. J. “Total Synthesis of Phorboxazole A via de Novo Oxazole Formation: Strategy and Component Assembly” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2011133, 1484-1505.