Dirk Trauner
@dirktrauner.bsky.social
Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor, Natural Product Aficionado, Photopharmacologist, Fox Terrierist, Book Lover, and Unfulfilled Architect. #firstgen
It has been quite an emotional week for me — first, reconnecting with my Berkeley past, and then looking to the future by celebrating with my former graduate student Nina Hartrampf. Congrats, Nina, and, yes, "Peptide können alles!"
@ninahartrampf.bsky.social gives the award talk (@dechema.bsky.social prize 2024) ‚Flow-Based Synthesis of Post-Translationally Modified Peptides and Proteins‘ at the #UniZH. Congratulations to our ECAB member!!
November 9, 2025 at 9:06 PM
It has been quite an emotional week for me — first, reconnecting with my Berkeley past, and then looking to the future by celebrating with my former graduate student Nina Hartrampf. Congrats, Nina, and, yes, "Peptide können alles!"
It was wonderful to return to UC Berkeley and deliver a lecture with Clayton Heathcock in the audience.
November 5, 2025 at 1:30 PM
It was wonderful to return to UC Berkeley and deliver a lecture with Clayton Heathcock in the audience.
Thrilled to return to UC Berkeley for the Clayton Heathcock Lecture on November 4!
October 21, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Thrilled to return to UC Berkeley for the Clayton Heathcock Lecture on November 4!
Excited to speak at Pitt Chemistry this Thursday!
October 13, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Excited to speak at Pitt Chemistry this Thursday!
Getting ready for the 2025 Trauner Group Retreat!
September 12, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Getting ready for the 2025 Trauner Group Retreat!
Reposted by Dirk Trauner
Excited to share our new @pubs.acs.org paper! We engineered cells with ~10% photolipids in the ER membrane. This enabled optical control of membrane viscosity to study its impact on ER→Golgi protein transport. @dirktrauner.bsky.social @noemijimenezrojo.bsky.social
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
Optical Control of Membrane Viscosity Modulates ER-to-Golgi Trafficking
The lipid composition of cellular membranes is highly dynamic and undergoes continuous remodeling, affecting the biophysical properties critical to biological function. Here, we introduce an optical a...
pubs.acs.org
August 14, 2025 at 10:43 AM
Excited to share our new @pubs.acs.org paper! We engineered cells with ~10% photolipids in the ER membrane. This enabled optical control of membrane viscosity to study its impact on ER→Golgi protein transport. @dirktrauner.bsky.social @noemijimenezrojo.bsky.social
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
Just out: Our collaboration with Eric Schelter & Randall Wilharm on parsing the fascinating photochemistry of lanthanides with azobenzene photoswitches. A deep dive into light and rare earths en route to more efficient separations.
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
Breaking a Lewis Acidity Trend for Rare Earths by Excited State Quenching
Facilitating different chemistries between the rare earth (RE = La–Lu, Sc, Y) ions is of significant interest for their separations. While the bulk of attention has been on maximizing the small differ...
pubs.acs.org
July 25, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Just out: Our collaboration with Eric Schelter & Randall Wilharm on parsing the fascinating photochemistry of lanthanides with azobenzene photoswitches. A deep dive into light and rare earths en route to more efficient separations.
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
Greetings from the GRC on Artificial Molecular Switches and Motors! It’s exciting to see how the field has grown and is moving toward everyday applications—think photoswitchable tattoos!
June 26, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Greetings from the GRC on Artificial Molecular Switches and Motors! It’s exciting to see how the field has grown and is moving toward everyday applications—think photoswitchable tattoos!
I love the Hoya carnosa in my office climbing on polytwistane.
April 29, 2025 at 8:13 PM
I love the Hoya carnosa in my office climbing on polytwistane.
I had a great time at the University of Rochester as the Victor Chambers Lecturer! And I really enjoyed the amazing George Eastman House and Museum, built by a millionaire (nowadays billionaire) who was civic minded and kept a low profile.
April 17, 2025 at 5:32 PM
I had a great time at the University of Rochester as the Victor Chambers Lecturer! And I really enjoyed the amazing George Eastman House and Museum, built by a millionaire (nowadays billionaire) who was civic minded and kept a low profile.
We have updated our "Chemical Neuroscience" course to include pentameric ligand-gated channels and the first GPCRs. www.traunergroup.org/teaching
February 15, 2025 at 8:19 PM
We have updated our "Chemical Neuroscience" course to include pentameric ligand-gated channels and the first GPCRs. www.traunergroup.org/teaching
Check out our approach toward disciformycin and gulmirecin, spearheaded by Peter Ruehmann @nyuchemistry.
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
February 15, 2025 at 12:47 PM
Check out our approach toward disciformycin and gulmirecin, spearheaded by Peter Ruehmann @nyuchemistry.
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
Ready to take off as a synthetic chemist? Check out this tutorial review we wrote with Frank Glorius and Jasper Tyler!
Scholarly review written by @DirkTrauner and @GloriusGroup:
Reaction development: a student's checklist📜☑️😀
Published in Chem. Soc. Rev.
doi.org/10.1039/d4cs...
Reaction development: a student's checklist📜☑️😀
Published in Chem. Soc. Rev.
doi.org/10.1039/d4cs...
Reaction development: a student's checklist
So you’ve discovered a reaction. But how do you turn this new discovery into a fully-fledged program that maximises the potential of your novel transformation? Herein, we provide a student's checklist...
doi.org
February 7, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Ready to take off as a synthetic chemist? Check out this tutorial review we wrote with Frank Glorius and Jasper Tyler!
I am teaching my favorite course again this semester:
"Chemical Neuroscience - a Synthetic Approach".
We are posting some materials online, check them out.
www.traunergroup.org/teaching
"Chemical Neuroscience - a Synthetic Approach".
We are posting some materials online, check them out.
www.traunergroup.org/teaching
February 6, 2025 at 5:04 PM
I am teaching my favorite course again this semester:
"Chemical Neuroscience - a Synthetic Approach".
We are posting some materials online, check them out.
www.traunergroup.org/teaching
"Chemical Neuroscience - a Synthetic Approach".
We are posting some materials online, check them out.
www.traunergroup.org/teaching
Dearomative Diels-Alder reactions are currently hot in total synthesis. They go back to Peter Yates (who trained my mentor Sam Danishefsky). And the Wessely reaction was also discovered in Vienna :)
January 23, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Dearomative Diels-Alder reactions are currently hot in total synthesis. They go back to Peter Yates (who trained my mentor Sam Danishefsky). And the Wessely reaction was also discovered in Vienna :)
My first chemistry professor in Vienna, Erich Zbiral, shall not be forgotten. Everybody loves the Tanabe-Eschenmoser Fragmentation but the analogous Zbiral-Fragmentation of epoxy vinyl azides is equally cool.
January 18, 2025 at 6:39 PM
My first chemistry professor in Vienna, Erich Zbiral, shall not be forgotten. Everybody loves the Tanabe-Eschenmoser Fragmentation but the analogous Zbiral-Fragmentation of epoxy vinyl azides is equally cool.
Check out our latest application of proximity-based photopharmacology (PBPP), published in Neuron.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Dopamine D1 receptor activation in the striatum is sufficient to drive reinforcement of anteceding cortical patterns
Timed dopamine signals underlie reinforcement learning, favoring neural activity patterns that drive behaviors with positive outcomes. In the striatum…
www.sciencedirect.com
January 16, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Check out our latest application of proximity-based photopharmacology (PBPP), published in Neuron.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Check out our paper on veratramine and isosteroidal alkaloids, now published in JACS.
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
Concise Synthesis of (−)-Veratramine and (−)-20-iso-Veratramine via Aromative Diels–Alder Reaction
A concise and convergent synthesis of the isosteroidal alkaloids veratramine and 20-iso-veratramine has been accomplished. A Horner–Wadsworth–Emmons olefination joins two chiral building blocks of app...
pubs.acs.org
January 15, 2025 at 11:56 AM
Check out our paper on veratramine and isosteroidal alkaloids, now published in JACS.
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
Introducing a new class of potent opioid analgesics that remain in the periphery (hence no respiratory depression) and can be locally activated with light (hence no constipation). Great collab with Seva Katritch, Cornelius Gati, and Josh Levitz.
biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Image
biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Image
December 21, 2024 at 12:35 AM
Introducing a new class of potent opioid analgesics that remain in the periphery (hence no respiratory depression) and can be locally activated with light (hence no constipation). Great collab with Seva Katritch, Cornelius Gati, and Josh Levitz.
biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Image
biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Image
Azorellolide! How can you not work on a natural product that starts with "Azo"?
I have to say my respect for carbocations has enormously gown through this project. They are just too high in energy and have too many options. But you can tame them!
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
I have to say my respect for carbocations has enormously gown through this project. They are just too high in energy and have too many options. But you can tame them!
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
Biomimetic Synthesis of Azorellolide via Cyclopropylcarbinyl Cation Chemistry
A concise synthesis of the complex diterpene azorellolide, inspired by speculations on biosynthetic cationic cascades, is presented. The approach, guided by computation, relies on the intramolecular interception of a cyclopropylcarbinyl cation by an appended carboxylate. The successful execution of this strategy was achieved through acid-catalyzed isomerization of a β-lactone in competition with a type I dyotropic rearrangement.
pubs.acs.org
December 18, 2024 at 6:39 PM
Azorellolide! How can you not work on a natural product that starts with "Azo"?
I have to say my respect for carbocations has enormously gown through this project. They are just too high in energy and have too many options. But you can tame them!
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
I have to say my respect for carbocations has enormously gown through this project. They are just too high in energy and have too many options. But you can tame them!
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
The next development in photopharmacology (and "photogastronomy"). Controlling the Menthol Receptor TRPM8 with light!
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
December 18, 2024 at 6:04 PM
The next development in photopharmacology (and "photogastronomy"). Controlling the Menthol Receptor TRPM8 with light!
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Reposted by Dirk Trauner
Why should you join the Penn Chemistry REU?
Research experience!
A trial run of what it's like to be a graduate student at Penn, working alongside a senior mentor who shows you the ropes and helps you gain skills and knowledge with cutting edge equipment.
More info: web.sas.upenn.edu/reu-pennchem...
Research experience!
A trial run of what it's like to be a graduate student at Penn, working alongside a senior mentor who shows you the ropes and helps you gain skills and knowledge with cutting edge equipment.
More info: web.sas.upenn.edu/reu-pennchem...
December 3, 2024 at 5:11 PM
Why should you join the Penn Chemistry REU?
Research experience!
A trial run of what it's like to be a graduate student at Penn, working alongside a senior mentor who shows you the ropes and helps you gain skills and knowledge with cutting edge equipment.
More info: web.sas.upenn.edu/reu-pennchem...
Research experience!
A trial run of what it's like to be a graduate student at Penn, working alongside a senior mentor who shows you the ropes and helps you gain skills and knowledge with cutting edge equipment.
More info: web.sas.upenn.edu/reu-pennchem...
Reposted by Dirk Trauner
Why should you apply for our REU program? Professional development and networking opportunities! Pictured are our students engaging with an industry professional on campus and attending TechCon 2024 in September, generously supported by Semiconductor Research Corporation.
December 9, 2024 at 5:22 PM
Why should you apply for our REU program? Professional development and networking opportunities! Pictured are our students engaging with an industry professional on campus and attending TechCon 2024 in September, generously supported by Semiconductor Research Corporation.
Reposted by Dirk Trauner
Why should you join the Penn Chem REU? Fun! Our cohort spends time in fun activities like attending a Phillies game, having a BBQ, game nights and team building opportunities. Deadline for applications is Jan 15, 2025. See our web site for more details: web.sas.upenn.edu/reu-pennchem...
December 17, 2024 at 5:12 PM
Why should you join the Penn Chem REU? Fun! Our cohort spends time in fun activities like attending a Phillies game, having a BBQ, game nights and team building opportunities. Deadline for applications is Jan 15, 2025. See our web site for more details: web.sas.upenn.edu/reu-pennchem...
Extending the Organic Syntheses collection with Doug Taber‘s awesome series. I love browsing in these books when I have a free minute.
orghighlights2015-2017.com
orghighlights2015-2017.com
December 17, 2024 at 2:54 PM
Extending the Organic Syntheses collection with Doug Taber‘s awesome series. I love browsing in these books when I have a free minute.
orghighlights2015-2017.com
orghighlights2015-2017.com