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Profile
Dr. Ryan Felix

Dr. Ryan Felix

Title: Associate Professor of Chemistry
Departments: Biochemistry, Chemistry
Degrees: Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 2013
B.A., Oberlin College 2008
Email
Recent Courses
  • Chemistry 111 – General Chemistry I
  • Chemistry 111L – General Chemistry Lab
  • Chemistry 112 – General Chemistry II
  • Chemistry 112L – General Chemistry Lab
  • Chemistry 221 – Organic Chemistry I
  • Chemistry 221L – Organic Chemistry Lab
  • Chemistry 222 – Organic Chemistry II
  • Chemistry 222L – Organic Chemistry Lab
  • Chemistry 250 – Environmental Chemistry
  • Chemistry 421 – Advanced Organic Chemistry
  • FYS – Climate Change- Fact & Fiction
  • Jan Term – The Ideas of Science Fiction
Research Interests

Research in the Felix lab is focused on the total synthesis (complete construction from simple, commercially available precursors) of the biologically active molecule anisucoumaramide.  The approach to the project is to work on the two halves of the molecule separately, and then to bring them together in a late stage of the synthesis.  Students working on the project will learn common organic synthesis techniques, gain experience using a nitrogen glovebox and our 400 MHz Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrometer, and improve their written and spoken communication skills.  

 

Selected Publications
  • "Transforming second semester Organic Chemistry laboratory into a semester long undergraduate research experience." A. J. Carr; R. J. Felix; S. L. Gould, In Best Practices for Supporting and Expanding Undergraduate Research; ACS Symposium Series 1275, American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2018, 47-64.
  • “Gold-catalyzed Diastereoselective Cycloisomerization of Alkylidene-Cyclopropane-Bearing 1,6-Diynes” Zheng, H.; Adduci, L. L.; Felix, R. J.; Gagné, M. R.,  Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2014, 53(30), 7904-7907.
  • “Electrophilic Pt(II) Complexes: Precision Instruments for the Initiation of Transformations Mediated by the Cation-Olefin Reaction” Felix, R. J.; Munro-Leighton, C.; Gagné, M. R., Acc. Chem. Res. 2014, 47(8), 2319-2331
  • “Gold-Catalyzed Enantioselective Ring-Expanding Cycloisomerization of Cyclopropylidene Bearing 1,5-Enynes” Zheng, H.; Felix, R. J.; Gagné, M. R., Org. Lett. 2014, 16(8), 2272-2275.
  • “Gold(I)-Catalyzed Formation of Bicyclo[4.2.0]oct-1-enes” Felix, R. J.; Gutierrez, O.; Tantillo, D. J.; Gagné, M. R., J. Org. Chem. 2013, 78(11), 5685-5690.
  • “A Gold-Catalyzed Enantioselective Cope Rearrangement of Achiral 1,5-dienes” Felix, R. J.; Weber, D.; Gutierrez, O.; Tantillo, D. J.; Gagné, M. R., Nature Chem. 2012, 4(5), 405-409.

Recent Student Presentations:

  • “Advances in the Synthesis of Anisucoumaramide.” E. Goldsmith, P. Porter, R. J. Felix, Poster presentation at the 79th Southwest Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Oklahoma City, OK, November 15-18, 2023.
  • “Efforts Towards the Total Synthesis of Anisucoumaramide.” B. Beashires, J. Hittson-Smith, A. Kim, R. J. Felix, Poster presentation at the 77th Southwest Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Austin, TX, October 31 – November 3, 2021.
  •  “Efforts Towards the Synthesis of Anisucoumaramide.” M. Bolin, R. J. Felix, Poster presentation at the 74th Southwest Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Little Rock, AR, November 7-10, 2018.
  • “Exploring the Synthesis of Anisucoumaramide.” K. McLeod-Van Amstel, R. J. Felix, Poster presentation at the 74th Southwest Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Little Rock, AR, November 7-10, 2018.