Group Members
Professor Alison Frontier, Principal Investigator
Dr. Alison J. Frontier was born and raised in suburban Detroit, Michigan. She attended Harvard University, where she worked in the laboratory of Professor Yoshito Kishi. In June 1992 she graduated with an AB in chemistry and became a research scientist at Merck Research Laboratories in Rahway, New Jersey, in the Basic Medicinal Chemistry division. She enrolled in the doctoral program at Columbia University in September 1994, conducted graduate work under the direction of Professor Samuel Danishefsky, and received her Ph.D. in June 1999. She was an NIH postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Professor Barry Trost at Stanford University from 1999-2001, and began her independent career at the University of Rochester in January 2002. Dr. Frontier was promoted to associate professor in 2008 and professor in 2013. In 2004, she launched "not voodoo" a website dedicated to students who are beginning independent experimentation for organic chemistry research projects. This site attracts hundreds of visitors daily from research laboratories around the world.
Office: 414 Hutchison Hall
Phone: (585)-275-2568
Email: frontier@chem.rochester.edu
Patrycia Zybura, MSc - Fifth-Year Graduate Student
Pat is from New Jersey and received her BS in chemistry from the College of New Jersey (TCNJ) in 2021. She was recognized as the best organic chemistry student of her generation [ at TCNJ :) ]. For her dedication to teaching, she has been awarded the W. D. Walters Teaching Award. In our lab, Pat is working on probing novel cationic cyclization strategies. As a first-year graduate student at the University of Rochester, Pat was awarded the Sherman-Clarke Fellowship. In her spare time, she enjoys watching movies, listening to music, and going on long walks.
Yusuf Ibrahim, MSc - Fourth-Year Graduate Student
Yusuf Ibrahim hails from Nigeria. He completed his undergraduate studies in Chemistry at Kwara State University, after which he pursued his MSc degree in Organic Chemistry at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences in China, under the guidance of Prof. Li Baolin. His research focused on synthesizing furan and pyrrole derivatives, utilizing phosphoric acid as a catalyst, and investigating their photophysical properties.
In 2022, he joined the Frontier Lab, where he is currently involved in studying Achmatowicz intermediates in halo-Prins/halo-Nazarov cascades. Outside of his academic pursuits, he is an avid soccer fan, and he enjoys both playing and watching soccer games, as well as watching movies during his free time.
Michael A. Piacquadio - Third-Year Graduate Student
Michael is from Long Island, NY. He earned his BS in Biochemistry at Binghamton University and was awarded President’s Honors—the highest distinction for students in the university’s Scholars program. At Binghamton, Michael worked in the lab of Dr. Tony Davis, during which he was recognized for distinguished independent work for his research on design and synthesis of siderophore analogs as antibiotics against Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
In the Frontier group, Michael is developing extended cyclization cascades by coupling nucleophiles to transient carbocations, aiming to apply this methodology to synthesis of valuable natural products. Aside from the chemistry, Michael is a classically-trained trombonist and enjoys performing with the Eastman School of Music.
Nicolas Kaltenhauser - Second-Year Graduate Student
Nic is from New Jersey, where he earned his BS in Chemistry at Rider University (Rider > TCNJ). During his time at Rider, Nic worked under Dr. Joshua Stratton on air quality analysis and Dr. Danielle Jacobs on convergent sulfonamide synthesis. Nic also spent a summer at the University of Rochester on an NSF-granted REU, working under the guidance of Dr. Shauna Paradine and graduate student Owen Monteferrante, where they conducted palladium-catalyzed three-component synthesis of branched allylic amines. In the Frontier group, Nic is developing a photocatalytic radical approach to the halo-Nazarov to make complex heterocycles. Outside the lab, Nic can be found in the climbing gym or at the ice rink.
Benjamin S. Kozloff - Senior Undergraduate Student
Ben is a senior undergraduate student in the Frontier group.
Robert Ghetiu - Senior Undergraduate Student
Robert is a senior undergraduate student in the Frontier group.