Christian Rojas
Department
Chemistry , First Year Foundation
Office
On Sabbatical Spring 2022
Contact
Christian M. Rojas, Professor of Chemistry, joined the Barnard faculty in 1997 after completing an NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Scripps Research Institute.
Professor Rojas's research interests focus on new methods for incorporating nitrogen into organic molecules and application of these methods to the synthesis of amino sugars.
His work is currently supported (2014-2017) by a National Institutes of Health (NIGMS) grant entitled: "Construction and Union of 2-Amino Sugar Building Blocks." Previous Barnard undergraduate student researchers from the Rojas group have gone on to careers in science, teaching, and medicine, including positions in the pharmaceutical industry, academia, public-school teaching, public health, and government.
- B.A. (With Distinction), University of Virginia
- Ph.D., Indiana University
- Synthesis of amino sugars
- Nitrogen atom transfer reactions
Molecular Rearrangements in Organic Synthesis, Rojas, C. M., Ed.; John Wiley & Sons: Hoboken, NJ, 2016, 749 pp.
Buttar, S.; Caine, J.; Goné, E.; Harris, R.; Gillman, J.; Atienza, R.; Gupta, R.; Sogi, K. M.; Jain, L.; Abascal, N. C.; Levine, Y.; Repka, L. M.; Rojas, C. M.; Glycal Metallanitrenes for 2-Amino Sugar Synthesis: Amidoglycosylation of Gulal-, Allal-, Glucal-, and Galactal 3-Carbamates, J. Org. Chem. 2018, 83, 8054–8080.
Rojas, C. M.; The Mislow–Evans Rearrangement, in Molecular Rearrangements in Organic Synthesis, Rojas, C. M., Ed.; John Wiley & Sons: Hoboken, NJ, 2016, pp 569-625.
Hurlocker, B.; Abascal, N. C.; Repka, L. M.; Santizo-Deleon, E.; Smenton, A. L.; Baranov, V.; Gupta, R.; Bernard, S. E.; Chowdhury, S.; Rojas, C. M.; Dihydropyranone Formation by Ipso C–H Activation in a Glucal 3-Carbamate-Derived Rhodium Acyl Nitrenoid, J. Org. Chem. 2011, 76, 2240-2244.
Gupta, R.; Sogi, K. M.; Bernard, S. E.; Decatur, J. D.; Rojas, C. M.; Protecting Group and Solvent Control of Stereo- and Chemoselectivity in Glucal 3-Carbamate Amidoglycosylation, Org. Lett. 2009, 11, 1527-1530.
Rojas, C. M.; Brook Rearrangement, in Name Reactions for Homologations Part II, Li, J. J., Ed.; John Wiley & Sons: Hoboken, NJ, 2009, pp 406-437.
Rojas, C. M.; Curtius Rearrangement, in Name Reactions for Homologations Part II, Li, J. J., Ed.; John Wiley & Sons: Hoboken, NJ, 2009, pp 136-163.
Rojas, C. M.; Ethyl Azidoformate (Update), In Electronic Encyclopedia of Reagents for Organic Synthesis (eEROS), Fuchs, P. L., Ed.; John Wiley & Sons: Chichester, UK, 2006, www.interscience.wiley.com.
Bodner, R.; Marcellino, B. K.; Severino, A.; Smenton, A. L.; Rojas, C. M.; alpha‑N‑Acetylmannosamine (ManNAc) Synthesis via Rhodium(II)-Catalyzed Oxidative Cyclization of Glucal 3-Carbamates, J. Org. Chem. 2005, 70, 3988–3996.
Rojas, C. M.; Zincke Reaction, In Name Reactions in Heterocyclic Chemistry, Li, J. J., Ed.; John Wiley & Sons: New York, NY, 2004, pp 355–375.
Churchill, D. G.; Rojas, C. M.; Iron(II)-Promoted Amidoglycosylation and Amidochlorination of an Allal C3-Azidoformate, Tetrahedron Lett. 2002, 43, 7225–7228.
Levites-Agababa, E.; Menhaji, E.; Perlson, L. N.; Rojas, C. M.; Amidoglycosylation via Metal-Catalyzed Internal Nitrogen Atom Delivery, Org. Lett. 2002, 4, 863–865.
Kan, C.; Long, C. M.; Paul, M.; Ring, C. M.; Tully, S. E.; Rojas, C. M.; Photo Amidoglycosylation of an Allal Azidoformate. Synthesis of beta-2-Amido Allopyranosides, Org. Lett. 2001, 3, 381–384.
In The News
For National Poetry Month, three students explore their academic interests — from biochemistry to political science — as a form of creativity.
The College welcomed nearly 400 high school students through the gates this summer.
After being mentored by stellar science faculty across the City at Barnard’s Summer Research Institute, 285 students celebrated at one of NYC’s largest gatherings dedicated to young women scientists.
This summer, faculty in Barnard’s Chemistry Department were awarded major federal grants that will support them, individually and collaboratively, as they research a variety of topics.