Summary
Research Interests
Research interests include synthesis, stereochemistry, molecular recognition and photochemistry, with an emphasis on (i) dipyrrole and tetrapyrrole synthetic analogs of bilirubin, the yellow pigment of jaundice; (ii) organic conformational analysis from circular dichroism and NMR spectroscopy; (iii) photobiology, molecular mechanisms of phototherapy for neonatal jaundice, bilirubin metabolism, pyrrole chemistry and photochemistry, photooxidation and singlet oxygen; (iv) chiral molecular recognition; (v) chiroptical properties and electronic interaction of non-adjacent chromophores, long-range interactions; (vi) exciton interactions in organic and biological systems as detected by circular dichroism; and (vii) stereochemistry of cyclic ketones and the Octant Rule.
Education
- NSF Postdoctoral Fellow, Theory of Optical Activity (1964-65), University of Minnesota (Albert Moscowitz)
- NSF Postdoctoral Fellow, Mass Spectrometry (1963-64), Stanford University (Carl Djerassi)
- Ph.D. (1963), Organic Stereochemistry, Stanford University (Carl Djerassi)
- A.B. (1960), Organic Synthesis, University of California at Berkeley (William G. Dauben)
Professional certifications
- Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry
- Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
Selected publications
- l-Stercobilin-HCl and d-Urobilin-HCl. Analysis of Their Chiroptical and Conformational Properties by VCD, ECD, and CPL Experiments and MD and DFT Calculations. Ghidinelli, S.; Abbate, S.; Boiadjiev, S.; Lightner, D.A.; Longhi, G. J. Phys. Chem. B, 2018 122(51) 12351-12362.
- On the Aggregation of Bilirubinoids in Solution as Evidenced by VCD and ECD Spectroscopy and DFT Calculations. Ghidinelli, S.; Longhi, G.; Mazzeo, G.; Abbate, S.; Boiadjiev, S.; Lightner, D.A. Chirality, 2018 30(1), 19-28.
- pH Dependent Chiroptical Properties of (1R,2R)- and (1S,2S)-trans-Cyclohexane Diesters and Diamides from VCD, ECD, and CPL Spectroscopy. Mazzeo, G.; Abbate, S.; Longhi, G.; Castiglioni, E.; Boiadjiev, S.E.; Lightner, D.A. J. Phys. Chem. B, 2016, 120 (9), 2380-2387.
- Bicamphor: A Prototypic Molecular System to Investigate Vibrational Excitons. Abbate, S.; Mazzeo, G.; Meneghini, S.; Longhi, G.; Boiadjiev, S.E.; Lightner, D.A. J. Phys. Chem. A, 2015, 119(18), 4261-4267.
- Bilirubin: Jekyll and Hyde Pigment of Life; Pursuit of its Structure Through Two World Wars to the New Millennium D.A. Lightner. In: Kinghorn AD, Falk H, Kobayashi J (eds) Progress in the Chemistry of Organic Natural Products (“Fortschritte der Chemie organischer Naturstoffe”), vol. 98, Springer-Verlag, Wien, 798 p, 2013.