Tehshik Yoon

[3] Yoon was born in Montreal, Quebec and grew up in Blacksburg, VA. As an undergraduate at Harvard University, he became fascinated by organic chemistry working in the laboratories of leading experts in contemporary asymmetric synthesis.

Yoon was then accepted as Dave MacMillan's first graduate student, initially at UC Berkeley and later at Caltech, where he earned his Ph.D. investigating methods to control the stereochemistry of pericyclic reactions.

[5] Yoon's research lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison focuses on developing new reaction methods for organic synthesis, especially those involving transition metal photochemistry, stereocontrolling, and dual catalysis.

[7] Significant Developments One notable process explored by Yoon's research is the generation of photoreductants by irradiation of [Ru(bpy)3]2+ that can initiate desired cycloaddition.

The group proved [Ru(bpy)3]Cl2 to be an efficient photocatalyst for the formal [2+2] cycloaddition of enones and yields potential for development of new reaction protocols with reduced environmental impact.

The interaction between an excited photocatalyst and organic molecule can show a diverse sample of reactive intermediates that can be manipulated to form a synthetic bond construction.

Additionally, Yoon takes a dual approach to the asymmetric of enantioselective [2+2] photocycloadditions by using visible light that can absorb transition metal and a Lewis acid cocatalyst.