Contact Research Publications Research Group Courses Useful Links   Edward Lathioor Department of Chemistry Brock University St. Catharines, Ontario L2S 3A1 Phone: (905) 688-5550 ext. 4389 Fax: (905) 682-9020 Office: MC E200 Email: elathioo@chemiris.labs.brocku.ca Research Interests Nature has been constructing the Universe for as long as we wish to consider it.  By comparison, Humanity has only been at it for a mere twinkling of that time.  Nature's chemistry is staggeringly complex ... yet sometimes features reactions that proceed with in high yield to form single products with 100% stereoselectivity.  And it's all pollution-free! A current area of interest that involves this theme is a collaboration with Prof. Jim McNulty in the field of chiral synthons.  One way to take advantage of Nature's expertise is to take readily-available optically active materials, derived from Natural sources, and turn them into useful synthetic intermediates.  In theory, a large chiral pool of such molecules exists, such as the common carbohydrates and the natural amino acids.  The challenge lies in finding the methodologies to make them useful. Other interests include the photochemistry of ketones and the elucidation of reaction mechanisms.