Madison Sowden, PhD

Madison Sowden, PhD

  • Chemistry and Biochemistry
    • mzs0357@auburn.edu
    DCB 373
    Google Scholar
    The Sowden Group

    Maddie was born and raised in Australia and completed her BSc (Adv)(Hons) at the Australian National University in Canberra. She remained at the Australian National University for her Ph.D. studies, which she completed in 2019 under the supervision of Professor Michael Sherburn.

    Since then, Maddie has held postdoctoral positions with Professor Corey Stephenson at the University of Michigan, Professor Michael Sherburn and Professor Michelle Coote at the Australian National University, and Professor Peter Schreiner at Justus Liebig University Giessen in Germany.

    • Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2022
    • Australian Government Endeavour Fellowship, 2019

    Education

    • BSc (ADV)(HON) Australian National University 2015

    • PhD Australian National University 2019

    Innovation

    The cutting edge of modern synthetic organic chemistry involves the invention of short syntheses that produce useful quantities of difficult-to-access natural products and designed target molecules.

    Both natural product total synthesis and designed molecule synthesis are strongly supported by:

    • the development of improved ways to make molecules;
    • the preparation of fundamentally novel structures; and
    • the development of a better understanding of how structure is related to reactivity.

    With this in mind, the Sowden Group aims to develop new synthetic methods that allow for the generation of highly strained multicyclic molecules from commodity chemicals. Furthermore, the Sowden Group aims to employ these methods in short, scalable and efficient syntheses of a variety of target molecules, both natural and designed.

    Publications

    1. M. J. Sowden and M. S. Sherburn, “Four-Step Total Synthesis of Selaginpulvilin D,” Org. Lett. 2017, 19, 636-637.
    2. K. L. Horvath*, N. L. Magann*, M. J. Sowden*, M. S. Gardiner and M. S. Sherburn, “Unlocking Acyclic Pi-Bond Rich Structure Space with Tetraethynylethylene-Tetravinylethylene Hybrids,” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2019, 141, 19746-19753.
      *All authors contributed equally.
    3. M. J. Sowden, J. S. Ward and M. S. Sherburn, “Synthesis and Properties of 2,3-Dialkynyl-1,3-butadienes,” Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2020, 59, 4145-4153.
    4. A. S. Harmata, T. E. Spiller, M. J. Sowden and C. R. J. Stephenson, “Photochemical Formal (4+2)-Cycloaddition of Imine-Substituted Bicyclo[1.1.1]pentanes and Alkenes,” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2021, 143, 21223-21228.
    5. E. Westley, M. J. Sowden*, N. L. Magann*, K. L. Horvath, K. P. E. Connor and M. S. Sherburn, “Substituted Tetraethynylethylene-Tetravinylethylene Hybrids,” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2022, 144, 977-986.
      *All authors contributed equally.
    6. J. L. Collins III*, D. Staveness*, M. J. Sowden* and C. R. J. Stephenson, “A One-Pot Photochemical Method for the Generation of Functionalized Aminocyclopentanes,” Org. Lett. 2022, 24, 4344-4348.
      *All authors contributed equally.
    7. Y.-M. Fan, M. J. Sowden, N. L. Magann, M. G. Gardiner and M. S. Sherburn, “A General Synthesis of [4]Dendralenes,” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2022, 144, 20090-20098.
    8. N. L. Magann, E. Westley, M. J. Sowden, M. G. Gardiner and M. S. Sherburn, “Total Synthesis of Matrine Alkaloids,” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2022, 144, 19695-19699.
    9. Z. Pei, N. L. Magann, M. J. Sowden, R. B. Murphy, M. G. Gardiner, M. L. Coote and M. S. Sherburn, “Computational and Experimental Confirmation of the Diradical Character of para-Quinonedimethide,” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2023, 145, 16037-16044.
    10. A. Fung, M. J. Sowden, M. L. Coote and M. S. Sherburn, “Air-Tolerant Cadiot-Chodkiewicz and Sonogashira Cross-Couplings,” Org. Lett. 2023, just accepted.
    11. J. C. Mullins, K. Yuvarak, M. J. Sowden, M. S. Sherburn and C. Jones, “Reductive Metallation of Dendralenes and Myrcene using Dimagnesium(I) Compounds: A Facile Route to Unsaturated Organomagnesium Compounds,” Chem. Eur. J. 2023.