MARC MAYNOR

My name is Marc S. Maynor and I am originally from the small town of Olar, SC.

My journey in chemistry started at Claflin University where I graduate in 2000 summa cum laude with a B.S. in chemistry. From there I enrolled in graduate school at the University of Kentucky where I obtained a M.S. in orgranometallics in 2003 working in the lab of Folami Ladipo working on low-valent titanium complexes.

From there I moved to the University of South Carolina with the intentions of pursuing a Ph.D. in organometallics. However, the field of supramolecular chemistry caught my fancy and I joined the lab of the then unknown John J. Lavigne where I worked on using conjugated polymers as optical sensors for metal ion detection, discrimination of structurally similar analytes, and food freshness. I obtained my doctoral degree in August 2007 with a dissertation entitled Cross-Responsive Poly(thiophene)s: A Unique Approach Towards Molecular Recognition and Molecular Sensing.

I needed to stay in the area for another year and fortunately Sheryl L. Wiskur offered me a postdoctoral position in her lab. There I worked on two separate and exciting projects. The first project was on the synthesis of novel chiral ligands and metal complexes for potential use in asymmetric catalysis. The second project was the use of organocatalysts for the enantioselective silyation of secondary alcohols.

By this time I received an offer from Dr. Anslyn to come to the University of Texas and join his group as a postdoctoral fellow. I joined his group in October 2008 and I am currently applying my love of physical organic chemistry and supramolecular chemistry to develop colorimetric protocols to determine enantiomeric excess of carboxylates and epoxides.

Contact Marc: maynor@mail.utexas.edu  

PUBLICATIONS