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sarponggroup.bsky.social
Sarpong Group
@sarponggroup.bsky.social
900 followers 190 following 22 posts
Student-run account for the Sarpong group at UC Berkeley
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sarponggroup.bsky.social
Excited to welcome first years Richard, David P., Nick, and David B. to the group!
October 6, 2025 at 10:49 PM
sarponggroup.bsky.social
Congratulations to Taku and Pierre on the publication of their dahurelmusin synthesis! Thank you to Dr. Blane Zavesky, our collaborator from Corteva for going above and beyond!

doi.org/10.1021/acs....
Total Synthesis of Dahurelmusin A and epi-Dahurelmusin A: Effect of a Single Stereocenter Change on Biological Activity
Reported herein is a total synthesis of the peptide-polyketide natural product dahurelmusin A along with its C10 epimer (epi-dahurelmusin A). The syntheses benefited from well-established aldol and macrocyclization technologies. Access to the natural product and its C10 epimer provided opportunities to test the importance of the C10 stereocenter in the biological activity of the natural product.
doi.org
August 28, 2025 at 10:22 PM
sarponggroup.bsky.social
Check out this highlight on our carbamorphone work! www.acsh.org/news/2025/08...
Carbamorphine: Could This Fascinating Molecule Become The Holy Grail of Pain Relief?
Since the beginning of time, humanity has searched for drugs that can relieve pain without sparking addiction or the other devastating problems tied to opioids. It’s still very early, but a UC Berkele...
www.acsh.org
August 14, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Reposted by Sarpong Group
nsf-ccas.bsky.social
Congratulations to Dr. Richmond Sarpong (@sarponggroup.bsky.social) on being awarded the 2025 Inhoffen Medal.

This award is considered to be "the most prestigious German award in the field of natural products chemistry."

chemistry.berkeley.edu/news/richmon...
Richmond Sarpong has been awarded the Inhoffen Medal | College of Chemistry
chemistry.berkeley.edu
July 18, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Reposted by Sarpong Group
krhornberger.bsky.social
This beautiful work from the @sarponggroup.bsky.social also got a nice write-up in @cenmag.bsky.social
Atom-swapped morphine may help create safer painkillers
By putting a carbon atom in place of a core oxygen, chemists constructed an opioid that blocks pain with less respiratory depression in mice
cen.acs.org
August 1, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Reposted by Sarpong Group
krhornberger.bsky.social
Behold the double-edged sword of natural product medicinal chemistry! On the one hand, doing the SAR is such a pain that industry has largely given up. On the other, look what we haven’t tapped into: a one-atom change to morphine, never before made in the 73 years since the first total synthesis!
Total synthesis and biological activity of “carbamorphine”: O-to-CH2 replacement in the E-ring of the morphine core structure | PNAS
Morphine is a µ-opioid receptor (MOR) agonist and potent analgesic. However, it displays several side effects including respiratory depression and ...
www.pnas.org
August 1, 2025 at 9:07 PM
sarponggroup.bsky.social
Check out this Article in @cenmag.bsky.social. News on skeletal editing that discusses some of our group's work!
cen.acs.org/synthesis/Sk...
Skeletal editing: How close are we to true cut-and-paste chemistry?
Reactions that alter organic scaffolds by a single atom are already proving useful, but time will tell if they’ll fundamentally change how molecules are made
cen.acs.org
July 11, 2025 at 1:20 AM
sarponggroup.bsky.social
Congratulations to Jack and Safaa on their beautiful study toward the aphidicolin family of diterpenoids that just appeared in JOC!
pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....
Synthetic Studies toward the Aphidicolin Family of Diterpenoid Natural Products
Herein, we report an investigation of several synthetic strategies to access the aphidicolin family of natural products. Some unsuccessful approaches include strategies featuring Diels–Alder cycloaddi...
pubs.acs.org
July 10, 2025 at 4:24 PM
sarponggroup.bsky.social
Check out this article in @dailycal.bsky.social highlighting our recently published carbamorphine work!

www.dailycal.org/news/campus/...
UC Berkeley researchers develop ‘carbamorphine,’ a safer painkiller
The molecule, coined “carbamorphine,”was built through total synthesis.
www.dailycal.org
July 9, 2025 at 5:55 AM
sarponggroup.bsky.social
Congratulations to Team Carbamorphine, led by Sota, along with our collaborators from the Majumdar and McLaughlin groups on the publication of our work in PNAS!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
June 30, 2025 at 9:41 PM
Reposted by Sarpong Group
levinchem.bsky.social
A brief editorial with @sarponggroup.bsky.social and @alisonwendlandt.bsky.social where we try to answer an important question: What is Editing?

pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....
What is Editing?
You have not visited any articles yet, Please visit some articles to see contents here.
pubs.acs.org
June 4, 2025 at 1:12 AM
Reposted by Sarpong Group
nsf-ccas.bsky.social
Meet Sojung, a recent graduate of the
@sarponggroup.bsky.social!

Have a questions for Sojung? Let us know!

#NSF #Chemistry #C-CAS #Meetascientist #Chemsky
Meet Dr. Sojung Kim, Recent PhD Graduate of UC Berkeley. Headshot of Sojung with C-CAS and UC Berkeley logos Image of Sojung in front of scientific poster. Caption: "Organic chemists synthesize molecules by connecting atoms or smaller molecule pieces together through chemical reactions. Sojung’s research focuses on using visible light (e.g., colored LED lights) as an energy source to drive new kinds of chemical reactions that ultimately enable us to build a wider variety of molecules more efficiently." Image of Sojung skiing in Lake Tahoe. Caption: "Sojung grew up in PA and graduated from Penn State as part of the Schreyer Honors College and Millennium Scholars Program. Outside of lab, Sojung loves enjoying the CA sunshine and temperate Bay weather while exploring new restaurants in SF, beach-hopping down the Pacific Coast Highway, wine tasting in Sonoma and Napa, skiing in Lake Tahoe, and tending to her lab balcony garden."
June 6, 2025 at 4:07 PM
sarponggroup.bsky.social
Congratulations to Sojung, Charis, and Logan on the publication of their Accounts of Chemical Research paper on our group's skeletal editing work, which, at its core, is inspired by total synthesis!

pubs.acs.org/doi/epdf/10....
Skeletal Editing Strategies Driven by Total Synthesis
ConspectusSingle-atom skeletal editing strategies that precisely modify the core frameworks of molecules have the potential to streamline and accelerate organic synthesis by enabling conceptually simp...
pubs.acs.org
May 19, 2025 at 1:05 AM
sarponggroup.bsky.social
Check out this @chemistryworld.com highlight of Ryan and Moto's work!

www.chemistryworld.com/news/skeleta...
Skeletal editing provides quick access to pharmaceutical ‘matching pairs’
Late-stage functional group switching in dibenzofurans will aid drug discovery chemistry
www.chemistryworld.com
May 9, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Reposted by Sarpong Group
sarahcpwilliams.bsky.social
Chemists at @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social led by @sarponggroup.bsky.social figured out how to shuffle peripheral pieces of a molecule by twisting its interior structure, like rearranging a Rubik's cube. Their work, in @science.org, helps speed drug design. chemistry.berkeley.edu/news/twist-c...
Twist the core, change the function: chemists discover shortcut for drug design | College of Chemistry
chemistry.berkeley.edu
May 9, 2025 at 6:23 PM
sarponggroup.bsky.social
Congratulations to Ryan and Moto on the publication of their 1,2-acyl transposition in 2,3-dihdyrobenzofurans in @science.org!

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
1,2-Acyl transposition through photochemical skeletal rearrangement of 2,3-dihydrobenzofurans
Saturated heterocycles are commonly adorned with groups that influence their biological properties. Synthetic methods that transpose existing substituents on saturated heterocycles to multiple peripheral positions are therefore highly valuable. In this ...
www.science.org
May 8, 2025 at 11:17 PM
Reposted by Sarpong Group
jakeyeston.bsky.social
In @science.org this week, Ryan Steele and Motohiro Fujiu in @sarponggroup.bsky.social move an acyl group by transposing adjacent carbons rather than moving the oxygen 🔀

chemsky 🧪

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
1,2-Acyl transposition through photochemical skeletal rearrangement of 2,3-dihydrobenzofurans
Saturated heterocycles are commonly adorned with groups that influence their biological properties. Synthetic methods that transpose existing substituents on saturated heterocycles to multiple periphe...
www.science.org
May 8, 2025 at 7:43 PM
sarponggroup.bsky.social
Check out these articles highlighting Richmond's election to the National Academy of Sciences!

news.berkeley.edu/2025/05/02/n...

chemistry.berkeley.edu/news/richmon...
National Academy of Sciences adds eight from UC Berkeley to its ranks - Berkeley News
The new members from Berkeley have spent decades researching gene editing, materials science, very young children, the depths of the universe and more.
news.berkeley.edu
May 5, 2025 at 1:38 AM
sarponggroup.bsky.social
Richmond has been elected into the US National Academy of Sciences!
www.nasonline.org/news/2025-na...
National Academy of Sciences Elects Members and International Members - NAS
WASHINGTON — The National Academy of Sciences announced today the election of 120 members and 30 international members in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original res...
www.nasonline.org
May 1, 2025 at 4:52 PM
sarponggroup.bsky.social
Congratulations to @gwynethpudner.bsky.social, Selena and Eric on the publication of their approach to benzannulated seven-membered rings in @synthesis1969.bsky.social!

www.thieme-connect.com/products/ejo...
April 14, 2025 at 4:46 PM
sarponggroup.bsky.social
Congrats to Nina for being awarded an NSF graduate research fellowship! 🎉 We are so proud of you!
April 10, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Reposted by Sarpong Group
nsf-ccas.bsky.social
Meet Suh, a graduate student in the @sarponggroup.bsky.social

Check out our instagram @nsf_ccas to learn more about Suh.

#NSF #Chemistry #C-CAS #Meetascientist
April 8, 2025 at 2:03 PM
sarponggroup.bsky.social
Congrats to Logan & our collaborators Lucas (Sigman Group) & Reilly & @charlesthechemist.bsky.social (Merck) on the publication of our work on a cheminformatic analysis of core-atom transformations in pharmaceutically relevant heteroaromatics. Check it out in J. Med. Chem. now!

tinyurl.com/42re37pd
Cheminformatic Analysis of Core-Atom Transformations in Pharmaceutically Relevant Heteroaromatics
Heteroaromatics are the basis for many pharmaceuticals. The ability to modify these structures through selective core-atom transformations, or “skeletal edits”, can dramatically expand the landscape f...
doi.org
March 8, 2025 at 1:14 AM
sarponggroup.bsky.social
Congratulations to Team Macrocyclization (Lucas, Charis, Khalid and visiting scholars Philipp, Ismail (@kokculer.bsky.social), and Théo) and our collaborator Dr. Blane Zavesky from Corteva Agriscience on the publication of our work in JACS!

doi.org/10.1021/jacs...
C–C Cleavage/Cross-Coupling Approach for the Modular Synthesis of Medium-to-Large Sized Rings: Total Synthesis of Resorcylic Acid Lactone Natural Products
The chemical synthesis of medium (8–11 membered) and large sized (≥12 membered) cyclic systems is often challenging. The introduction of transannular strain and loss of degrees of freedom in forming m...
doi.org
March 6, 2025 at 4:28 AM
sarponggroup.bsky.social
Congrats to Logan, Sojung, Yusuke and collaborators from the Barner-Kowollik group, Gilead, and Merck on our indazole to benzimidazole conversion onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
coordinated with the Leonori group onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Phototransposition of Indazoles to Benzimidazoles: Tautomer‐Dependent Reactivity, Wavelength Dependence, and Continuous Flow Studies
Herein, we report a detailed investigation of the photomediated transformation of indazoles to benzimidazoles through a nitrogen-carbon transposition. This phototransposition is known to occur in low....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
February 4, 2025 at 5:14 PM