Jef De Brabander, Ph.D.

Jef K. De Brabander is a native of Belgium, where he pursued his undergraduate and graduate studies at the University of Gent. Following postdoctoral studies with the late Wolfgang Oppolzer at the University of Geneva and Paul Wender at Stanford University, he began his independent career as a junior faculty member at the University of Geneva.

After one year, he was recruited to UT Southwestern , where he was promoted to full Professor in 2007. Jef De Brabander was an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellow from 2001-2003, and serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of Reata Pharmaceuticals, a company he co-founded.

Graduate School

Universiteit Gent (1993), Chemistry

• Integration of molecular pharmacology and biochemistry
• Synthesis of complex, naturally occurring, molecular architectures

Featured Publications

Total Synthesis and Structure Revision of the Marine Metabolite Palmerolide A

X. Jiang, B. Liu, S. Lebreton, J. K. De Brabander Journal of the American Chemical Society 2007 129 6386-6387

A Small Molecule Smac Mimic Potentiates TRAIL- and TNFa-Mediated Cell Death.

Lin Li, Ranny Mathew Thomas, Hidetaka Suzuki, Jef K. De Brabander, Xiaodong Wang, Patrick G. Harran Science September 2004 305 1471-1474

Salicylihalamide A inhibits the V0 sector of the V-ATPase through a mechanism distinct from bafilomycin A1.

? Xie X-S, Padron-Perez D, Liao X, Wang J, Roth MG, De Brabander JK J. Biol. Chem. 2004 279 19755-19763

Total Synthesis and Absolute Configuration of the Novel Microtubule Stabilizing Agent Peloruside A

Liao X, Wu Y, De Brabander JK Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2003 42 1648-1652

Total Synthesis and Initial StructureFunction Analysis of the potent V-ATPase Inhibitors Salicylihalamide A and Related Compounds

Wu Y, Liao X, Wang R, Xie X-S, De Brabander JK J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2002 124 3245-3253

Au(I)- and Pt(II)-Catalyzed Cycloetherification of Omega-Hydroxy Propargylic Esters

J. K. De Brabander, B. Liu, M. Qian Organic Letters 2008 10 2533-2536

Synthesis of Psymberin Analogs: Probing a Functional Correlation with the Pederin/Mycalamide Family of Natural Products.

Jiang, X; Williams, N.; De Brabander, J. K. Org. Lett. 2007 9 227-230

Metal-Catalyzed Regioselective Oxy-Functionalization of Internal Alkynes: An Entry into Ketones, Acetals, and Spiroketals.

Liu, B. and De Brabander, J.K. Org. Lett. 2006 8 4907-4010

Synthesis of Spirastrellolide A Fragments for Structure Elucidation

Pan, Y.; De Brabander, J. K. Synlett 2006 853-856

Synthesis and Complete Stereochemical Assignment of Psymberin / Irciniastatin A. Journal of the American Chemical Society 127, 11254-11255

Jiang, X.; Garcia-Fortanet, J.; De Brabander, J. K. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2005 127 11254-11255

• Alfred P. Sloan
  Research Fellowship (2001)
• Fulbright-Hays
  Award (1995)
• NATO
  Fellowship (1995)
• Swiss National Science Foundation
  Fellowship (1994)
• Institute for Scientific Research in Agriculture and Industry
  Scholarship (1989)

• American Association for the Advancement of Science
• American Chemical Society