The first area of interest is in the exploration of simple organic conversions in an aqueous environment. The need for environmentally safe chemistry is ever increasing and is paramount in the minds of industrial companies and chemists as a whole. One of the major contributors to this type of pollution is evaporation of organic solvents and organic waste into the atmosphere. We are currently exploring a method of producing favorable organic transformations in an aqueous environment, thus removing a major source of environmental pollution. Our lab is striving to not only successfully produce these conversions, but to do with stereospecific control to further aid in the advancement of organic chemistry for industry and academics alike.

The second area of interest is in the formation of endohedral cage complexes utilizing flexible hydrocarbon exo skeletons. Our targets are chosen based upon the extent to which we may manipulate their electron delocalization properties as well as their similarities to fullerenes which are the recently discovered third allotrope of carbon. Research in this area is essential to help ascertain the flow of electrons and how this fundamental property of chemistry controls the evolvement of our science.

If you would like to see a representative sample of some of my research ideas, you may view my grant funded by Trinity College for the year 2000-01.

Meet the Summer 2007 group in Dr. Mitzel's Laboratory (Madness)
Meet the Summer 2006 group in Dr. Mitzel's Laboratory (Muppets)	Meet the Spring 2006 group in Dr. Mitzel's Laboratory
Meet the Summer 2004 group in Dr. Mitzel's Laboratory	Meet the Spring 2005 group in Dr. Mitzel's Laboratory
Meet the Summer 2003 group in Dr. Mitzel's Laboratory	Kristen Allegue is happy that her reaction is going so well.
Annie Troutman and Nick Nesbitt work on enediyne formation.	Carolyn Palomo uses the Chromatotron to separate diastereomeric mixtures in the laboratory
Annie Troutman(back), Kristen Allegue, Joe Wzorek, and Deepti Paturi(front) seem to be having too much fun working on their projects during the fall of 2003	Keith and Andrew have a picture taken while working on diastereoselectivity problems during the summer of 1999

Mitzel, T.; Wzorek, J.; Troutman, A.; Allegue, K. “Conttrol of Skeletal Connectivity in Indium Promoted Reactions: 1,2-Additions and Cope Rearrangements Enroute to Lactol Formation”, J. Org. Chem. 2007, 72, 3042.

Thomas M. Mitzel, Carolyn Palomo, Keith Jendza, "The Versatility of a-Chloropropargyl Phenyl Sulfide Affords High Stereo- and Regioselectivities in Indium Promoted Coupling Reactions Under Mild Conditions," J. Org. Chem. 2002; 67, 136-145.

Yamazaki, T.; Kuboki, A.; Ohta, H.; Mitzel, T.; Paquette, L.A.;Sugai, T. . Yamadazyma. Farinosa IFO 10896-Mediated Reduction of 4,4- Dimethoxy-2-Butanone as the Key-Step for thePreparation of 1,3- Diols wit Unsymmetrical Substituents, Synthetic Communications 2000,30, 3061

Mitzel, T.M.;, Engstrom, G.; Morelli, M.; Morelli, M. Use of alpha-Chlorosulfides in Indium Promoted C-C Couplings: Easy Entry into the Stereoselective Formation of Epoxy Alkynes.Tetrahedron Lett., 1999, 40, 5967.

Paquette, L.A.; Mitzel, T.M.; Isaac, M.B.; Crasto, C.R. Schomer, W.W. Diastereoselection During 1,2-Addition of the Allylindium Reagent to a-Thia and a-Amino-Aldehydes in Aqueous and Organic Solvents, J. Org. Chem., 1997, 62, 4293.

Paquette, L.A.; Mitzel, T.M. Comparative Diastereoselectivity Analysis of Crotylindium and 3-Bromoallylindium Additions to Ü-Oxy Aldehydes in Aqueous and Non-Aqueous Solvent Systems, J. Org. Chem. ,1996, 61, 8799.

Paquette, L.A.; Mitzel, T.M. Addition of Allylindium Reagents to Aldehydes Substituted at CÜ- or Cß- with Heteroatomic Functional Groups. Analysis of the Modulation in Diastereoselectivity Attainable in Aqueous, Organic, and Mixed Solvent Systems, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1996, 118, 1931.

Scott, L.T.; Mitzel, T.; Hofmeister, J.; Papez, A. Polycyclic Diynes: Homoconjugation in the 3rd Dimension, Seminar presented at the 24th Northeast Regional ACS Meeting, , Burlington, Vt. 1994.

Scott, L.T.; Mitzel, T.; Hofmeister, J.; Papez, A. Homoconjugated Hydrocarbon Cages. Toward a Rational Synthesis of C60, Poster Presented at the 7th International Symposium for Novel Aromatic Compounds, Victoria, BC, 1992.