Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

The development of highly innovative and efficient synthetic methods and their functional applications are highly demanding. The aim of our research program will be to develop innovative new reactions that can permit direct access to enantioenriched and highly valuable compounds through the design of efficient tandem reactions and practical catalytic processes. The lessons from the method development and synthetic studies on natural products (and natural product-like molecules) will impact a variety of areas including catalysis, medicinal, and biological chemistry.

“Allylmalonate as an Activator Subunit for Initiation of Relay Ring-Closing Metathesis (RRCM) Reactions,” Hoye, T. R.; Jeon, J.; Tennakoon, M. A.  Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2011, 50, 2141–2143.

“Total Synthesis of Peloruside A through Kinetic Lactonization and Relay Ring-Closing Metathesis Cyclization Reactions,” Hoye, T. R.; Jeon, J.; Kopel, L. C.; Ryba, T. D.; Tennakoon, M. A.; Wang, Y. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2010, 49, 6151–6155.

“Sequencing of Three-Component Olefin Metatheses: Total Synthesis of Either (+)-Gigantecin or (+)-14-Deoxy-9-oxygigantecin,”Hoye, T. R.; Eklov, B. M.; Jeon, J.; Khoroosi, M. Org. Lett. 2006, 8, 3383–3386.

“Catalytic Asymmetric Allylic Transfer Reaction for the Enantioselective Synthesis of Dienyl and Enynyl Alcohol.” Yu, C.-M.; Jeon, M.; Lee, J.-Y.; Jeon, J. Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2001, 1143–1148.

Book Chapters

Hoye, T. R.; Jeon, J. “Metathesis Involving a Relay and Applications in Natural Product Synthesis. In Metathesis in Natural Product Synthesis. Strategies, Substrates and Catalysts,” Cossy, J.; Arseniyadis, S.; Meyer, C. Eds.; Wiley: Weinheim, 2010, Chapter 9.

B.S., Chemistry, Sungkyunkwan University, Korea (2000)

M.S., Organic Chemistry, Sungkyunkwan University, Korea (2002)

Ph.D., Organic Chemistry, 
University of Minnesota (2009) [Hoye Research Laboratory]

Postdoctoral Fellow: University
 of Pennsylvania (2011) [Smith Research Laboratory]

Junha Jeon joined the University of Texas at Arlington in fall of 2011. He completed a Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in chemistry at the Sungkyunkwan University in Korea in the laboratory of Professor Chan-Mo Yu, where he studied catalytic asymmetric allylic transfer reactions for the enantioselective synthesis of dienyl and enynyl alcohols. His doctoral research was then conducted under the guidance of Professor Thomas R. Hoye at the University of Minnesota. Within the Hoye group, he focused on natural product synthesis and method development (Sequential Ring-Closing/Cross Metathesis strategy and Relay Ring-Closing Metathesis, RRCM). The doctoral thesis title was “New Applications and Strategies in Olefin Metathesis: A Total Synthesis of (+)-Gigantecin and a Total Synthesis of (+)-Peloruside A”. After completing his doctoral work, he joined the laboratory of Professor Amos B. Smith, III at the University of Pennsylvania as a Postdoctoral Fellow, where he continued to work on the natural product synthesis (nodulisporic acid A) utilizing metal mediated cyclization strategy. Additionally, he involved Asymmetric Anion Relay Chemistry (AARC) and rapid library synthesis of natural product-like compounds utilizing anion relay chemistry.

The Jeon laboratory at UT Arlington is working on the development of highly innovative and efficient synthetic methods and their functional applications.

University of Minnesota, Department of Chemistry, Robert L. Ferm Outstanding Graduate TA Award 2004-2005 and honorable mention 2003–2004.

Korea Science and Engineering Foundation (KOSEF) Graduate Fellowship (2003-2005).