Research
My research program is dedicated to the rigorous mechanistic auditing of transient phenomena within complex chemical systems, bridging the gap between innovative instrumentation and physical organic chemistry. By integrating self-developed spectroscopic platforms with high-level computational analysis, I aim to resolve fundamental ambiguities in radical-mediated and photochemical processes. This work begins with the development of advanced tools, specifically the U-PSD TREPR spectrometer and its associated automated data-processing frameworks, which provide the necessary temporal resolution to capture elusive intermediates.
Building upon this instrumental foundation, my work focuses on the quantitative reassessment of catalytic cycles and reactivity scales. This includes the direct observation of complete photocatalytic cycles and the systematic revision of fundamental kinetics, such as the halogen atom transfer processes of α-aminoalkyl radicals. These mechanistic insights ultimately inform the rational design of new catalytic platforms. By evolving established organocatalytic motifs, such as N-boryl pyridyl anions, into multifunctional photocatalysts through precise frontier orbital engineering, I strive to transform qualitative chemical intuition into a quantitative discipline, establishing the predictive power required for next-generation sustainable catalysis.
