Evelyn Ramirez is a fourth year undergraduate currently majoring in Chemistry at the University of Richmond. Evelyn has worked in the Goldman-Dominey Group since May 2022 finalizing the continuous flow synthesis of polysubstituted pyrroles, organic cores essential for the manufacture of antitumor and antibacterial agents. Additionally, Evelyn had the opportunity to participate in the prestigious Amgen Scholars Program at UC Berkeley as part of the Hartwig Group during the Summer of 2023 where she worked on developing a predictive model to identify catalyst performance for asymmetric hydrogenations using high-throughput experimentation.

Outside of research, Evelyn has been a teaching assistant for organic chemistry laboratories for two years. She values mentorship and enjoys tutoring in organic chemistry and outreach opportunities lead by the department and Alpha Sigma Kappa: Women in Technical Studies. Evelyn is an incoming first-year PhD student at Emory and will begin a summer rotation in the Wuest Group where she is very excited about diving into a total synthesis project!

“Evelyn has been a rock star undergraduate working in the area of organic chemistry at the University of Richmond and we know she will shine bright here at Emory!”

Dr. Khalid Salaita

Evelyn’s NSF-GRFP proposal focused on developing a continuous flow process for the synthesis of iridium-catalyzed anti-1,3-diols via selective functionalization of secondary C-H bonds. Performing these reactions in a closed and controlled flow reactor system can decrease overall reaction times for these typically multi-step reactions and significantly reduce waste generation, unit operations, and overall costs of a scaled-up process. The proposed work highlights a new application of flow chemistry to homogenous organometallic catalyst-enabled synthesis.

“I am so excited for Evelyn join us at Emory this fall,” says Director of Graduate Studies Dr. Khalid Salaita. “She has been a rock star undergraduate working in the area of organic chemistry at the University of Richmond and we know she will shine bright here at Emory!”

Congratulations, Evelyn!