Kendall N. Houk

TL;DR: The π–π stacking interactions between thefluostatin 6-5-6 aromatic ring system play a critical role in the stereoselectivity of the nonenzymatic fluostatin conjugation.

TL;DR: A structural, biochemical, and computational investigation of TamI is presented to understand the molecular basis of its substrate binding, diverse reactivity, and specific reaction sequence and suggest that hydrophobic interactions with the polyene chain of its natural substrate are critical for molecular recognition.

TL;DR: In this paper, the rearrangement of 1,5-allenynes to produce cross-conjugated trienes was investigated, and it was shown that the reaction proceeds through a unique nucleophilic addition of an allene double bond to a cationic phosphinegold(I)-complexed phosphine gold(I) acetylide, followed by a 1 5-hydrogen shift.

TL;DR: In this paper, the specific functionals and basis sets that are routinely used in computational studies of stereoselectivities of organic and organometallic reactions in their group are described, followed by recent studies that uncovered the origins of stereocontrol in reactions catalyzed by vicinal diamines, including cinchona alkaloid-derived primary amines, vicinal amidophosphines, and organo-transition metal complexes.