December 2016: Synthia Gratia

Synthia Gratia, 5th-year PhD student in Prof. Diver's group

• First-author publication: Synthia Gratia, Kathryn Mosesohn, and Steven T. Diver, "Highly Selective Ring Expansion of Bicyclo[3.1.0]hexenes," Org. Lett., 2016, 18(20), pp 5320–5323.

"My research focuses on the synthesis and mechanistic investigation of methylene-free enyne metathesis, specifically the synthesis of functionalized cycloheptadienes using highly active ruthenium-based catalysts to couple terminal alkynes and bicyclic alkenes.

I enjoy being a graduate student at UB because of the vast amount of resources available to increase my knowledge in synthetic organic chemistry. In addition, I appreciate the guidance and the plethora of knowledge obtained through my advisor’s assistance.

During my free time you will find me singing for choir, drawing and hanging out with friends."