Research
Total synthesis of bioactive natural products and the development of reaction methodology.
The asymmetric synthesis of bioactive natural products and analogues. The development of new synthetic methods in organic chemistry. The synthesis of oxygen-containing heterocyclic compounds including tetrahydrofurans, tetrahydropyrans, spiroketals and cyclic acetals. The use of pericyclic reactions in the synthesis of natural products. The total synthesis of enamide-containing natural products and marine metabolites. The asymmetric synthesis of acyclic systems. Total synthesis inspired by biosynthesis or 'biomimetic' synthesis.
Follow the link for the Rizzacasa Group page in the School of Chemistry.
Techniques
- NMR spectroscopy
- Mass spectrometry
- X-ray crystallography
- IR spectroscopy and
- HPLC
Group Members
Group Leader
Mark Rizzacasa
PhD Students
Brendan Fisher
Zongjia Chen
Liselle Atkin
Mina Salimimarand
Masters Students
Michael Ricca
Young Ye
Angus Robertson
Natalia Caren Radjah
Alex Rafaniello
Biography
Contact:
Email: masr@unimelb.edu.au(link sends e-mail)
Tel: (03) 8344 2397
Professor Mark Rizzacasa obtained his PhD in 1990 under the guidance of Professor Melvyn V. Sargent at the University of Western Australia. He then moved to the USA and spent 2 years as a postdoctoral fellow in the research group of Professor Robert E. Ireland at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. In early 1993, he returned to Australia to begin his appointment as a lecturer in the School of Chemistry at the University of Melbourne. He was promoted to senior lecturer in 1997, Associate Professor and Reader in 2003 and full Professor in 2008. Over the last 2 decades Mark has made significant contributions to the field of complex natural product total synthesis, which has been recognised through his publications in high-impact journals and being the recipient of a number of awards, including the RACI Rennie Memorial Medal in 1997, the 2005 Organic Reactions Lectureship and the prestigious RACI A. J. Birch medal in 2010.