Brian Goess
Professor, Chemistry
- Email: brian.goess@furman.edu
- Phone: 864.294.2318
- Office: Plyler 244C, Townes Science Center
How do we synthesize sufficient quantities of medicinally valuable complex natural products from the relatively simple molecules that nature provides us in great abundance? Can we chemically alter the structures of these natural products to make medicines that are even more potent than those provided by nature? If a new chemical reaction would make the synthesis of these valuable molecules much simpler, do we have the expertise and ingenuity to discover and then develop such a reaction? These are the questions that the Goess Lab tackles in the area of synthetic organic chemistry research.
After receiving his Bachelor of Science in chemistry from University of Notre Dame in 1998, Brian Goess earned a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Harvard University in 2004. After a post-doctoral appointment at Princeton University, he joined the faculty at Furman in 2006 and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2012 and to Professor in 2019. At Furman, Dr. Goess has mentored over seventy undergraduate chemistry researchers and published fifteen peer-reviewed papers with twenty-eight undergraduate co-authors.
Honors & Awards
Dr. Goess has been awarded research grants from the NSF, ACS-PRF, Research Corporation, and the Dreyfus Foundation. He has received the Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award in 2012 and received multiple South Carolina Innovision awards for use of technology in chemistry education.
Education
- Ph.D., Harvard University
- B.S., University of Notre Dame
Research
Research in the Goess lab involves the total synthesis of medicinally valuable natural products, discovery of new organic reactions to simplify these synthesis, and development of related technologies to enhance undergraduate education in organic chemistry. His group develops new synthesis routes to members of the furanosteroid family of natural products, which have been shown to possess significant chemotherapeutic properties. To aid these syntheses, his students invent new chemical reactions that convert common carbon-hydrogen bonds into much more reactive carbon-oxygen bonds. And, when possible, he adapts these new chemical transformations for use in undergraduate teaching labs.
Currently, we are developing new synthesis routes to members of the furanosteroid family of natural products, which have been shown to possess significant chemotherapeutic properties. To aid these syntheses, we are inventing new chemical reactions that convert common carbon-hydrogen bonds into much more reactive carbon-oxygen bonds. And, when possible, we are adapting these new chemical transformations for use in undergraduate teaching labs.
Dr. Goess is always looking for undergraduate collaborators who want to learn how to synthesize new pharmaceuticals and discover new chemical reactions. To learn more, take a class from Dr. Goess, stop by the lab, or send an email.
Additional Professional Activity
Dr. Goess serves on an executive board of the Beckman Foundation and is an ACS career kick-starter workshop facilitator. He is also Program Director for the Beckman Scholars Program in the Furman chemistry department.
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Weinhofer, A.M.; Cole, H.D.; Mitchell, B.A.; Ritz, A.J; Vogt, D.B; Rabinovitch, J.E; Goess, B.C.; Goforth, S.K. “Ruthenium-Catalyzed Oxidation of Silyl Ethers to Silyl Esters”, Tetrahedron Lett., 2019, 60, 1769–1722.
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Roth, P. W.; Armaly, A. M.; McCraw, I.; Tryon, J. H.; Rudd, H. M.; Goess, B. C. Total synthesis of (±)-hibiscone B and (±)-acyl hibiscone B. Tetrahedron Letters 2018, 59, 3586-3588.
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Goess, B. C.; Tartaro, A. Flipped Textbooks: Student-Created Online Wiki Textbooks for Intermediate and Advanced Chemistry Classes. In Online Approaches to Chemical Education; Sörensen, Pia M. Canelas, Dorian A., Ed.; ACS Symposium Series 1261; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2017; pp 131-142.
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Wang, M. H.; Barsoum, D.; Schwamb, B.; Cohen, D. T.; Goess, B. C.; Riedrich, M.; Chen, A.; Maki, B. E.; Mishra, R. K.; Scheidt, K. A. Catalytic, Enantioselective Beta-Protonation through a Cooperative Activation Strategy. J. Org. Chem., 2017, 82, 4689-4702.
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Besley, C.; Rhinehart, D. P.; Ammons, T.; Goess, B. C.; Rawlings, J. S. Inhibition of Phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase by the Furanosteroid Hibiscone C. Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett., 2017, 27, 3087-3091.
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Tartaro, A.; Goess, B. C.; Miller, J.; Bui, J. Learning Outcomes From a Student-generated ‘Flipped’ Wiki Textbook . Proc. ACM SIGCHI Conf. Supp. Group Work , 2016, 449-452.
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Tartaro, A.; Goess, B. C.; Winiski, M. Creative Language in a Student-generated Bioorganic Chemistry Wiki Textbook. Creativity and Cognition, 2015, 221-224.
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Goess, B. C. Development and Implementation of a Two-Semester Introductory Organic-Bioorganic Chemistry Sequence: Conclusions from the First Six Years. J. Chem. Educ., 2014, 91, 1169-1173.
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Lu, L.; Hannoush, R. N.; Goess, B. C.; Varadarajan, S.; Shair, M.D.; Kirchhausen, T. The Small Molecule
Dispergo Tubulates the Endoplasmic Reticulum and Inhibits Export. Mole. Biol. Cell. 2013, 24,
1020-1029. -
Duff, D. B.; Abbe, T. G.; Goess, B. C. A Multistep Synthesis Featuring Classic Carbonyl Chemistry for the Advanced Organic Chemistry Laboratory. J. Chem. Educ. 2012, 89, 406-408.
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Graham, T. J. A.; Poole, T. H.; Reese, C. N.; Goess, B. C. Regioselective semihydrogenation of dienes. J. Org. Chem. 2011, 76, 4132-8.
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Gray, E. E.; Rabenold, L. E.; Goess, B. C. E-selective isomerization of stilbenes and stilbenoids through reversible hydroboration. Tetrahedron Lett. 2011, 52, 6177-6179.
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Ungureanu, S.; Meadows, M.; Smith, J.; Duff, D. B.; Burgess, J. M.; Goess, B. C. Total Synthesis of (±)-Hibiscone C. Tetrahedron Lett. 2011, 52, 1509-1511.
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Graham, T. J. A.; Gray, E. E.; Burgess, J. M.; Goess, B. C. An efficient synthesis of (±)-grandisol featuring 1,5-enyne metathesis. J. Org. Chem. 2010, 75, 226-8.