Dept. of Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry

Member of:

• The Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences of Uppsala (Kungliga Vetenskapssamhället i Upppsala)
• Royal Society of Sciences at Uppsala (Kungliga Vetenskaps-Societeten i Uppsala)
• Collegium Curiosorum Novum

Commissions of trust:

• member of Tekn Naturvet Fakultetens Docenturnämnd
• member of Biblioteksrådet vid BMC-biblioteket
• member of Svenska Kemistsamfundets kemihistoriska nämnd

Visiting Professor at Institut for Organisk Kemi, Danmarks Tekniske Universitet, Lyngby, 1997
Visiting Professor at Université de Versailles, France, 1998

Reaction mechanisms and kinetic isotope effects (KIEs) for organic and enzymatic reactions.

1. Short-Lived Radionuclide Isotope Effects

We have introduced the use of a "new isotope", the accelerator-produced short-lived radionuclide ¹¹C, for determination of carbon KIEs.
Key reference: J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1987, 109, 7233.

Using ¹⁸F, we have introduced a "new element", fluorine, for determination of KIEs.
See Science Concentrates in Chemical & Engineering News, June 21, 1993, 32.
Key reference: J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1993, 115, 5288.

See also the review Isotope Effects for Exotic Nuclei, Ch. 14 in Isotope Effects in Chemistry and Biology (Hans Limbach & Amnon Kohen, Eds.) CRC-Press 2006.

We also study asymmetric induction in enantioselective reactions by Enantiomer-dependent KIEs. The concept was originally invented by Bergson and experimentally demonstrated by us. This provides a new kind of information regarding differences in diastereomeric transition state structure and therefore to the understanding of the molecular basis for enantioselectivity in asymmetric synthesis or kinetic resolution.
Key reference: J. Chem. Soc. Chem. Comm. 1984, 43

• the chemical mechanism for MAO-enzymes. Collaboration with prof Dale Edmondson, Emory university, Atlanta.
• transition structures for SN2 – reactions. Collaboration with prof Piotr Paneth, Technical univ, Lodz, Poland and prof Ken Westaway, Laurentian univ, Sudbury, Canada.