Dr. Christine Gottardo

A) Controlling Chiral Outcomes:
Ionic Liquids (ILs) are ionic species that are liquids at room temperature. These ILs can be used as green solvents in organic reactions as they have a low volatility and are recyclable. We are investigating Chiral Ionic Liquids (CILs) to see if a mixture of achiral reactants which proceed to form chiral products can have enhanced enantiomeric or diastereomeric excesses as a result of the chiral environment provided by the CILs. Some example reactions which we are currently investigating are:
i) Functionalizing the α-carbon.

ii) Truce-Smiles Rearrangements:

B) Natural Product Isolation:
We are investigating a number of plants, algae and lichen species prevalent in Northwestern Ontario to determine the natural products present and determine there bioactivity.

Recent Publications:
Mohammadi, M., Zambare, V., Malek, L. Gottardo, C., Suntres, Z., Christopher, L. Expert Opinion on Drug Discovery, 2020, 15, 575-601. Lichenochemicals: extraction, purification, characterization, and application as potential anticancer agents. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/17460441.2020.1730325

Amiri, M.; Boissy, C.; Gottardo, C.; Chen, A. J. Appl. Elect. 2018. Effect of room temperature ionic liquids on the electrochemical dissolution and deposition of nickel in the Watts solution. doi: 10.1007/s10800-018-1215-1

Coccimiglio, J.; Alipour, M.; Jiang, Z.-H.; Gottardo, C.; Suntres, Z. Oxid Med. Cell. Long. 2016, 2016, Article ID 1404505, 8 pages. Antioxidant, Antibacterial, and Cytotoxic Activities of the Ethanolic Origanum vulgare Extract and Its Major Constituents. doi:10.1155/2016/1404505