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Department of Chemistry & Biomolecular Sciences

Profile for Dr Fei Liu

Research Interests

  • Development of catalytic and stereo-selective reactions for efficient generation of useful small molecules as synthetic building blocks or biological probes. 
  • Small molecule-based chemical description and understanding of phenotypic variation for studying cancer or antibiotic resistance. 
  • Chemistry and biology of post-translational modifications of enzymes or proteomes.

Selected Publications

  1. Garnier, J. M.; Liu, F.* Org. & Biomol. Chem., 2009, 1272-1275. Trifunctional Organocatalyst Promoted Counterion Catalysis for Fast and Enantioselective aza-Morita-Baylis-Hillman Reactions at Ambient Temperature.
  2. Garnier, J-M.; Anstiss, C.; Liu, F.* Adv. Synth. & Catal., 2009, 351, 331-8. Enantioselective Trifunctional Organocatalysts for Rate-Enhanced Aza-Morita-Baylis-Hillman Reactions at Room Temperature. (Highlighted in Synfacts, 2009, 447)
  3. Stephens, B. E.; Liu, F.* J. Org. Chem. 2009, 254-263. A Regio- and Diastereoselective Intramolecular Nitrone Cycloaddition for Practical 3- and 2,3-Substituted Piperidine Synthesis from gamma-Butyrolactone. 
  4. Patil, S. N.; Liu, F.*  J. Org. Chem. 2008, 4476-4484. Regioselective Synthesis and Structural Studies of Substituted gamma-Hydroxybutenolides using a Tandem Baylis-Hillman/Singlet Oxygenation Reaction.
  5. Yang, M.; Liu, F.* J. Org. Chem. 2007, 8969-8971. An Ullmann Coupling of Aryl Iodides and Amines Using an Air-Stable Diazaphospholane Ligand.
  6. Patil, S.N; Liu, F.* Org. Lett. 2007, 193-6. Base-assisted Regio- and Diastereoselective Conversion of Functionalized Furans to Butenolides using Singlet Oxygen.
  7. Yin, J., Liu, F.; Schinke, M., Daly, C, Walsh, C.T.* J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2004,13570-1. Phagemid encoded small molecules for high throughput screening of chemical libraries.
  8. Yin, J., Liu, F.; Li, X., Walsh, C.T.* J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2004, 7754-5. Labeling proteins with small molecules by site-specific posttranslational modification.
  9. Liu, F. Gauneau, S.; Walsh, C. T.* ,Chem & Biol. 2004, 1533-42. Hybrid nonribosomal peptide-polyketide interfaces in epothilone biosynthesis: minimal requirements at N and C termini of EpoB for elongation.
  10. O'Connor, S. E.#; Walsh, C.T.*; Liu, F.# Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2003, 3917-21. Cross-System Enzyme Module Recognition for Combinatorial Biosynthesis: Linker-Dependent Interface between the Biosynthetic Pathways of Yersiniabactin and the Epothilones

Contact Details

Further information

Fei did her undergraduate studies in Chemistry at John Carroll University (University Heights, Ohio), and then moved to New Haven, Connecticut for her PhD studies in Organic Chemistry at Yale. After her PhD, she moved to Boston, Massachusetts as a NIH postdoctoral fellow to work on new biosynthetic approaches in molecular medicine at the Harvard Medical School. In 2004, Fei moved from Boston to Sydney and is currently a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences (CBMS) at Macquarie. The current phase of her research focuses on developing efficient synthetic methods for accessing small molecules with useful properties in chemistry and biology. Her long-term interest in chemical proteomics along with its applications in basic biological discovery and medicine is being pursued in close collaboration with the Australian Proteomics Analysis Facility (APAF).

Links to Other pages

  Portrait
Senior Lecturer

Qualifications

BSc in Chemistry
John Carroll University
PhD in Organic Chemistry
Yale University