JoAnn Peters, Ph.D.

Professor, Organic Chemistry

Phone: (509) 963-2022
Fax: (509) 963-1050
Email: petersj@cwu.edu

Education:

• 1986 - Ph.D., Organic Chemistry, Harvard University
• 1980 - B.S., Chemistry, Antioch College-Yellow Springs, Ohio

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Professional Experience:

• Sept. 1996-present: Associate Professor (1996-2001) and Professor (2001-present), Department of Chemistry, Central Washington University
• Aug. 1987-May 1996: Assistant Professor (1987-1994) and Associate Professor (1994-1996), Department of Chemistry, Illinois State University
• Dec. 1985-June 1987: Post-doctoral researcher, University of Nevada-Reno

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Research Interests:

My research interests lie in the area of mechanistic organic chemistry, with the primary focus being reactions of carbenes. My research group has investigated ylides or loosely bound ylide-like complexes formed as intermediates in reactions of singlet carbenes with a variety of nucleophiles including alcohols and ethers, carbonyl compounds, fluoroalkanes and chloroalkanes. I have been especially interested in the possible dissociation of these weakly bound species to carbene and nucleophilic reaction partner and/or the formation of ylides or complexes with carbenoid reactivity. This has been pursued through studies of the stereodirecting effects of nucleophilic substrate substituents on the addition of carbenes to double bonds, as well as solvent effect studies. Since arriving at CWU, most of my research efforts have been directed towards the identification and characterization of novel precursors for carbenes, particularly iodonium and sulfonium ylides.

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Selected Publications:

• Judith M. Swanson, Curt A. Dvorak, JoAnn P. DeLuca, and Jean M. Standard "Complexation of a Singlet Carbene by a Fluoroalkane. Modification of ¹:CHCO₂Et Selectivity in Perfluorohexane Solution and Ab Initio Calculations," The Journal of Organic Chemistry 1994,59, 3026.
• Warunee Sobery and JoAnn P. DeLuca "Intramolecular Trapping of an Ylide Intermediate in the Reaction of ¹:CH₂ with an Allylic Alcohol," Tetrahedron Letters 1995,36, 3315.
• Jerry W. Cubbage, Brian L. Edelbach, Kan Shuh Kuen, and JoAnn P. DeLuca "Stereodirecting Effects in the Characterization of Ylide Intermediates in Reactions of Singlet Methylene with an Allylic Ether and an Allylic Chloride," Tetrahedron 1997, 53, 9823.
• Margaret B. Camacho, Aurora E. Clark, Tabitha A. Liebrecht, and JoAnn P. DeLuca "A Phenyliodonium Ylide as a Precursor for Dicarboethoxycarbene: Demonstration of a Strategy for Carbene Generation," Journal of the American Chemical Society 2000, 122, 5210.
• William v. E. Doering and JoAnn P. DeLuca "Conformational Restraint in Thermal Rearrangments of a Cyclobutane: 3,4-Dicyanotricyclo[4.2.2.0^2,5decane," Journal of the American Chemical Society 2003, 125,10608.
• Matthew J. Lenington and JoAnn P. DeLuca "Generation of Triplet Carbenes through Photolysis of Iodonium Ylides," The Spectrum, winter 2005.

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