About

B.A., Chemistry; B.A., Biology, Williams College (2016)
Ph.D., Organic Chemistry, Caltech (2021)
Postdoctoral Scholar, Polymer Chemistry, Stanford University (2022–2024)

Courses Taught

Chem 217: Organic Chemistry I
Chem 218: Organic Chemistry II

Research Interests

Organic chemistry permeates our daily lives– from the aroma of a cup of coffee to the fuel in our cars and the fibers in our clothing, organic compounds play a important role. Within biomedical science, synthetic organic compounds have revolutionized healthcare as targeted drugs and advanced biomaterials. As we strive to develop more precise and effective medications, which sometimes have increasingly sophisticated chemical structures, it’s important for us to discover new fundamental methods to break and form chemical bonds. My research focuses on developing new chemical reactions of organic compounds and applying them to the synthesis of biologically useful small molecules and degradable polymers. Students in my lab will gain experience in many aspects of organic synthesis, including designing multistep syntheses, optimizing chemical reactions, and using chromatography and spectroscopy to characterize small molecules and polymers. We will also (eventually!) test the biocompatibility and biological activity of the products we make!

Publications

1. Wang, Z.-Y.; Freas, D. J.; Fu, G. C. Phosphine Catalysis of the Fluorination of Unactivated Tertiary Alkyl Chlorides Under Mild and Convenient Conditions. J. Am Chem. Soc. 2023, 145, 25093–25097. doi: 10.1021/jacs.3c11042

2. Freas, D. J.; Xia, Y. Catalytic Arene–Norbornene Annulation (CANAL) Polymerization for the Synthesis of Rigid Ladder Polymers. In Ladder Polymers: Synthesis, Properties, Applications, and Perspectives; Wiley-VCH GmbH, 2023; pp. 219–230. doi: 10.1002/9783527833306.ch7

3. Yang, Z.-P.† and Freas, D. J.† (equal contribution); Fu, G. C. Asymmetric Synthesis of Protected Unnatural α-Amino Acids via Enantioconvergent Nickel-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2021, 143, 8614–8618. doi: 10.1021/jacs.1c03903

4. Yang, Z.-P.† and Freas, D. J.† (equal contribution); Fu, G. C. The Asymmetric Synthesis of Amines via Nickel-Catalyzed Enantioconvergent Substitution Reactions. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2021, 143, 2930–2937. doi: 10.1021/jacs.0c13034

5. Takai, A.; Freas, D. J.; Suzuki, T.; Sugimoto, M.; Labuta, J.; Kumai, R.; Adachi, S.; Sakai, H.; Hasobe, T.; Matsushita, Y.; Takeuchi, M. The Effect of a Highly Twisted C=C Double Bond on the Electronic Structures of 9,9’-Bifluorenylidene Derivatives in the Ground and Excited States. Org. Chem. Front. 2017, 4, 650–657. doi: 10.1039/C7QO00125H

6. Nadelman, E. I.; Freas, D. J.; Kurtis, K. E. Nano- and Microstructural Characterization of Portland Limestone Cement Pastes. Nanotechnology in Construction 2015, 87–92. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-17088-6_10