Undergraduate wins two awards at research symposium

Matthew “Matt” Henley, a senior undergraduate working with Professor George Barany, won two awards at the 27th Annual Meeting & Winchell Undergraduate Research Symposium sponsored by the Minnesota Academy of Sciences. His poster, Mechanistic Insights into the Zumach-Weiss-Kühle Synthesis of Dithiasuccinoyl (Dts)-Protected Amines, was awarded the Lee Irvin Smith Award for Excellence in Chemistry from the Minnesota Academy of Sciences, and an award from the Minnesota Local Section of the American Chemical Society.

Matt also gave a talk titled, Reactions of Bis(trimethylsilyl)amides and Carbamates with Bifunctional Electrophiles: Creation of Novel Heterocycles and Accompanying Mechanistic Insights.

Matt has doing research for two years in Professor Barany's lab, focusing on organosulfur chemistry. In the fall, he will be going to graduate school at the University of Michigan for a doctorate in chemical biology. His long-term goal is to lead a research team, whether in industry or academia, focusing on using the principles and innovations established in organic chemistry to help solve problems in biology and medicine.

Lee I. Smith, president of the Minnesota Academy of Sciences in 1945, was a pioneering researcher in the field of organic chemistry. Professor Smith helped to develop the division of organic chemistry at the University of Minnesota during his 40 years at the institution.