Organic Reaction Mechanisms

I began my career at the University of Toronto as a physical organic chemist interested in reaction mechanisms. My first Ph.D. student studied the Bayer-Villiger reaction, which we examined from the point of view of product distribution, kinetics and secondary isotope effects. [see J. Amer. Chem. Soc., 96, 1977-1979 (1974)] At the same time, other students measured the rates of intramolecular hydrogen abstraction and intramolecular luminescence quenching to elucidate the mechanisms of reactions involving conformationally flexible molecules. [see J. Amer. Chem. Soc., 96, 6182-6184 (1974).] These were the experiments that eventually led me to the study of polymer conformation and dynamics in solution.