Dr. Robert Carlson

Professor

Organic Chemistry

Office: Chem 325
Phone: (218) 726–7231
Fax: (218) 726–7394
E-mail: rcarlson@d.umn.edu

• Ph.D. 1965 – Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
• Postdoctoral Fellow – Harvard University, Cambridge, MA (1965 - 1966)

Research Interests

• Examination of the role of various substituents (e.g. carboxylates, sulfonium salts, alkoxides, etc.) in providing useful polyanion intermedieates for the synthesis of natural products.
• Environmental Chemistry and Predictive Toxicology.
• The Isolation of Marketable Chemicals from Minnesota's Forests.
• Development of devices for the analysis of chemical and biological parameters in remote environments.

Representative Publications

1. Heterolytic Decarboxylation Involving Acyltrifluoroacetylperoxide Intermediates, P.A. Krasutsky, I.V. Kolomitsyn, E.M. Botov, R.M. Carlson, I.G. Semenova and A.A. Fokin, Tetrahedron Lett. (in press) 2002.
2. A Novel Catalytic Pathway for Perfluoroacyl Peroxide Synthesis, P. A. Krasutsky, I. V. Kolomitsyn and R. M. Carlson, Org. Lett., 3(19), 2997-2999 (2001).
3. Observation of A Stable Carbocation in a Consecutive Criegee Rearrangement with Trifluoroperacetic Acid. P.A. Krasutsky, I.V. Kolomitsyn, P. Kiprof, R.M. Carlson and A. Fokin., J. Org. Chem. Vol. 65 (13), 3926-3933 (2000).
4. Flow Cytometric Evaluation of Antiviral Agents Against Human Herpesvirus 6. M. Amjad, M.A. Gillespie, R. M, Carlson, and M. R. Karim. Microbiol. Inmuno., 45(3), 233-240 (2001).
5. The Synergistic Antiviral Effects of Betulin Derivatives and Nucleoside Analogs Against Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 and Type 2. P. Keyel, R. M. Carlson and M. Reza-ul (Raj) Karim. The National Conference On Undergraduate Research (NCUR) (2000).
6. Antibacterial Activity of Structural Analogs of Betulin Against Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, and Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus. B. Koch, R.M. Carlson and M. Reza-ul (Raj) Karim, The National Conference On Undergraduate Research (NCUR) (2000).
7. Synthesis of Potassium Polystyrylthiosulfonate Resin Its Reaction with Halogenated Hydrocarbons, E. Wu, X. Liu, H. Cao and R.M. Carlson, Huanjing Huaxue, 17, pp. 237-242 (1998).

Education

• University of Minnesota–Twin Cities B.S. Chem., 1962, "with distinction"
• Princeton University, Princeton, NJ Ph.D., Organic Chemistry, 1965
• Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA (1965 – 1966)

Jobs and Academic Positions

Academic:

• Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota, Duluth 1966–1970
• Visiting Associate Professor, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 1972–1973
• Associate Professor, University of Minnesota, Duluth 1970–1974
• Professor, University of Minnesota, Duluth 1974–present

Administrative:

• University of Minnesota Duluth
  • Acting Vice Chancellor for Academic Administration, 1986-1988
  • Vice Chancellor for Academic Administration: 1988-1990

Professional and Honor Societies/Awards

• American Chemical Society
• Sigma Xi
• UMD Outstanding Faculty Award, 1978, 1994
• Blehart Teaching Award 2000