Sébastien Laulhé, Ph.D.

Research

Research in the Laulhé group centers on strategies to induce selectivity in radical-based bond-forming reactions. Our efforts focus on the controlled generation of radicals via photoredox catalysis, organic electrochemistry, and metal-catalyzed technologies. We aim to design catalysts that enable new molecular activation strategies to address unsolved problems in organic synthesis and open the door to novel and non-classical retrosynthetic disconnections.

We aim to apply our novel synthetic technologies to harness the untapped reactivity of readily available starting materials (bench stable organometallic reagents, haloalkanes) and chemical feedstocks (sugars, CO2) to generate highly functionalized value-added products such as pharmaceuticals, biofuels, and materials.

Education

• Postdoctoral Associate, Duke University, North Carolina (2013–2016)
• Ph.D., M.S., University of Louisville, Kentucky (2013)
• Diplôme d'ingénieur (M.S., Chemical Engineering), Ecole National Supérieure de Chimie de Montpellier, France (2009)

Publications & Professional Activity

9. Laulhé, S.; Blackburn, J. Miles; Roizen, J. L.
Selective and Serial Suzuki–Miyaura Reactions of Polychlorinated Aromatics with Alkyl Pinacol Boronic Esters.
Organic Letters, 2016, 18, 4440–4443.

8. Biladeau, S. K.; Richmond, W. N.; Laulhé, S.; Nantz, M. H.
Isotopically Coded N-Methoxy Amide Reagents for GC-MS Profiling of Carbonyl Compounds via Mass Spectral Tag Generation.
Analytical Methods, 2016, 8, 3704–3710.

7. Lane, A. N.; Arumugam, S.; Lorkiewicz, P.; Higashi, R.; Laulhé, S.; Nantz, M. H.; Moseley, H. N. B.; Fan, T. W. M.
Chemoselective Detection and Discrimination of Carbonyl-Containing Compounds in Metabolite Mixtures by 1H-detected 15N Nuclear Magnetic Resonance.
Magnetic Resonance in Chemistry 2015, 53, 337–343.

6. Laulhé, S.; Geers, T. E.; Shi, X.; Zhang, X.; Nantz, M. H.
Electron Ionization–Induced Release of Coded Isotopic Reporter Ions in an m/z Zone of Minimal Interference for Quantifiable, Multiplexed GC-MS Analyses.
Analytical Methods 2013, 5, 4701–4706.

5. Laulhé, S.; Gori S. S.; Nantz, M. H.
A Chemoselective, One-Pot Transformation of Aldehydes to Nitriles.
Journal of Organic Chemistry 2012, 77, 9334–9337.

4. Laulhé, S.; Bogdanov, B.; Johannes, L. M.; Gutierrez, O.; Harrison, G. J.; Tantillo, D. J.; Zhang, X.; Nantz, M. H.
Fragmentation of Oxime and Silyl-Oxime Ether Odd-Electron Positive Ions by the McLafferty Rearrangement: New Insights on Structural Factors that Promote α,β−Fragmentation.
Journal of Mass Spectrometry 2012, 47, 676–686.

3. Kang, K. A.; Wang, J.; O'Toole, M. G.; Nantz, M. H.; Moore, J. D.; Laulhé, S.; Achilefu, S.
Sensitivity Enhancement of NIR Fluorescence Contrast Agent Utilizing Gold Nanoparticles.
Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology 2012, 737, 285–291.

2. Wang, J.; Moore, J. D.; Laulhé, S.; Nantz, M. H.; Achilefu, S.; Kang, K. A.
Fluorophore-Gold Nanoparticle Complex for Sensitive Optical Biosensing and Imaging.
Nanotechnology 2012, 23, 095501 (13pp).

1. Laulhé, S.; Nantz, M. H.
An Improved Preparation of O-Diphenylphosphinylhydroxylamine.
Organic Preparations & Procedures, Int. 2011, 43, 475–476.