Stacey E. Brenner

Education:

Post-doc, University of Cambridge - 2006

Ph.D., Stanford University - 2005 (Chemistry)

B.S., Brown University - 1999 (Chemistry)

Areas of Expertise:

Stacey Brenner is a synthetic organic chemist, and her subfield is organocatalysis, the use of organic compounds as reaction catalysts. Whereas metal catalysts are superior in terms of their efficiency and versatility, organocatalysts are safer to people and to the environment, less expensive and easier for scientists to handle. The goal of her research is to enhance the utility of organocatalysis in organic synthesis.

Doctoral Rotation Projects:

Brenner's group conducts synthetic organic research. Their research interests lie primarily in the field of organocatalysis. Instead of transition metal-based catalysts, in organocatalysis organic molecules are used as catalysts for organic reactions. Organocatalysts can be less expensive, easier to use, "greener" alternatives to oft-used transition metal-based catalysts. Their current research goals are to develop new organocatalysts and new organocatalytic reactions, and to employ both in the synthesis of small, bioactive molecules. During a rotation in their labs, students learn the ins and outs of organic synthesis by practicing: 1) setting up organic reactions under inert conditions, 2) monitoring reaction progress using thin layer chromatography, 3) purifying reaction mixtures using silica gel column chromatography, and 4) analyzing products using 1H NMR spectroscopy, optical rotation, chiral normal phase HPLC, and chiral GC.

Books and Publications

Appayee, C., A.J. Fraboni and S.E. Brenner-Moyer. "Gamma-Amino Alcohols via Organocascade Reactions Involving Dienamine Catalysis." Journal of Organic Chemistry 77: 8828-34. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2012

McGarraugh, P.G., R.C. Johnston, A. Martinez-Munoz, P.H.-Y. Cheong and S.E. Brenner-Moyer. "Organocatalytic Kinetic Resolution Cascade Reactions: New Mechanistic and Stereochemical Manifold in Diphenyl Prolinol Silyl Ether Catalysis." Chemistry A European Journal 18: 10742-52. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2012

McGarraugh, P.G. and S.E. Brenner-Moyer. "An Organocascade Kinetic Resolution." Organic Letters 13: 6460-63. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2011

McGarraugh, P.G.; J.H. Jones and S.E. Brenner-Moyer. "A General Organocatalyzed Michael-Michael Cascade Reaction Generates Functionalized Cyclohexenes." Journal of Organic Chemistry 76: 6309-19. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2011

Wender, P.A., J.L. Baryza, S.E. Brenner, B.A. DeChristopher, B.A. Loy, A.J. Schrier and V.A. Verma. "Design, Synthesis, and Evaluation of Potent Bryostatin Analogs That Modulate PKC Translocation Selectivity." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 108: 6721-26. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2011

Appayee, C. and S.E. Brenner-Moyer. "Organocatalytic Enantioselective Olefin Aminofluorination." Organic Letters 12: 3356-59. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2010

McGarraugh, P.G. and S.E. Brenner. "A New Organocatalyzed Michael-Michael Cascade Reaction Generates Highly Substituted Fused Carbocycles." Organic Letters 11: 5654-57. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2009

McGarraugh, P.G. and S.E. Brenner. "Novel Sulfonamides Catalyze an Enantioselective Conjugate Addition." Tetrahedron 65: 449-55. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2009

Mitchell, C.E.T., S.E. Brenner, J. Garcia-Fortanet and S.V. Ley. "An Efficient, Asymmetric Organocatalyst-mediated Conjugate Addition of Nitroalkanes to Unsaturated Cyclic and Acyclic Ketones." Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry 4: 2039-49. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2006

Mitchell, C.E.T., S.E. Brenner and S.V. Ley. "A Versatile Organocatalyst for the Asymmetric Conjugate Addition of Nitroalkanes to Enones." Chemical Communications: 5346-48. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2005

Baryza, J.L., S.E. Brenner, M.L. Craske, T. Meyer and P.A. Wender. "Simplified Analogs of Bryostatin with Anti-Cancer Activity Display Greater Potency for Translocation of PKC-delta GFP." Chemical Biology 11: 1261-67. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2004

Stone, J.C., S.L. Stang, Y. Zheng, N.A. Dower, S.E. Brenner, J.L. Baryza and P.A. Wender. "Synthetic Bryostatin Analogues Activate the RasGRP1 Signaling Pathway." Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 47: 6638-44. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2004

Wender, P.A., J.L. Baryza, S.E. Brenner, M.O. Clarke, M.L. Craske, J.C. Horan and T. Meyer. "Function Oriented Synthesis: The Design, Synthesis, PKC Binding, and Translocation Activity of a New Bryostatin Analogue." Current Drug Discovery Technologies 1: 1-11. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2004

Wender, P.A., J.L. Baryza, S.E. Brenner, M.O. Clarke, G.G. Gamber, J.C. Horan, T.C. Jessop, C. Kan, K. Pattabiraman and T.J. Williams. "Inspirations from Nature: New Reactions, New Therapeutic Leads, and New Drug Delivery Systems." Pure and Applied Chemistry 75: 143-55. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2003

Wender, P.A., J.L. Baryza, C.E. Bennett, F.C. Bi, S.E. Brenner, M.O. Clarke, J.C. Horan, C. Kan, E. Lacôte, B. Lippa, P.G. Nell and T.M. Turner. "The Practical Synthesis of a Novel and Highly Potent Analogue of Bryostatin." Journal of the American Chemical Society 124: 13648-49. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2002

Brown, H., S. Vallabhaneni, S. Solomon, S. Mothi, S. McGarvey, T. Jackson, M. Putcha, S. Brenner, K. Mate and S. Cu-Uvin. "Attitudes towards Prenatal HIV Testing and Treatment among Pregnant Women in Southern India." International Journal of STD & AIDS 2001 12: 390-94. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2001

Awards, Honors and Fellowships

CUNY Junior Faculty Research Award in Science and Engineering. (Grants and Fellowships) 2013

NSF CAREER Award, for "I. Organocatalyzed Cascade Reactions as Sustainable Synthetic Methods and II. Sustaining Students' Interest in Science With the Help of WISE Students," 2012-17. (Grants and Fellowships) 2012

NIH/NIGMS SCORE Research Continuance Grant, for "Sustainable Methods for the Synthesis of Medicinal Compounds." 2011-15. (Grants and Fellowships) 2011

Women Chemists Committee Lectureship Award, American Chemical Society, for travel enabling presentation of research seminar at domestic colleges and universities. (Grants and Fellowships) 2011

NIH/NIGMS SCORE Pilot Research Project Grant, for "Advancing the Utility of Organocatalysis in the Synthesis of Therapeutic Agents." 2008-11. (Grants and Fellowships) 2008

Professional Leadership

Chairwoman, CUNY chemistry Ph.D. admissions committee. (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2010

Member, Academic Integrity Committee of the Faculty Council. (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2009

Member, NIH SCORE-funded Brooklyn College Research Retreat organizing committee. (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2009

Member, Ph.D. Recruitment Committee, Chemisty Department. (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2009

Brooklyn College co-representative on CUNY chemistry Ph.D. admissions committee. (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2008

Chemistry Department Safety Committee. (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2008

Chemistry/Geology CLT search committee, 2008. (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2008

Member, New Graduate Reception Committee, Chemistry Department. (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2008

Chemistry Department co-representative on committee devoted to planning aspects of the proposed new science building at Brooklyn College, 2007-08. (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2007

Member, Chemistry Department Curriculum Committee, 2006-present. (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2006

Pedagogical Achievements

Devised and wrote an instructor's manual for CHEM 52. This manual is the first of its kind for CHEM 52 and introduces new and/or non-U.S.-educated instructors to the grading system in the United States, effective classroom management strategies, etc. It is also the first step toward establishing new and uniform grading standards in CHEM 52. 2009

Modified CHEM 52 laboratory curriculum by creating a new experiment in which students utilize NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) instrumentation. This is the first, and presently only, exposure to modern instrumentation for students in the CHEM 52 curriculum. 2008

Community Activities

Founder and acting faculty adviser, Brooklyn College Women In Science and Engineering (WISE) student group. 2010

Invited speaker, joint CUNY Board of Trustees and Brooklyn Boroughwide Public Hearing. 2007

Other Professional Activities

Invited peer reviewer of various grant proposals (PSC-CUNY, National Science Foundation, American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund) and journal articles (Organic Letters, Tetrahedron Letters). 2007