The overall goal of our lab is understand the chemical and physical basis of enzyme function. Understanding the basis of how enzymes achieve their enormous rate enhancement and exquisite specificity is crucial to understanding biological function. Further, an understanding of enzymatic catalysis may aid the design and application of enzymes and enzyme inhibitors that act as drugs and may contribute to the expanding role for biocatalysts in manufacturing. Our lab takes an interdisciplinary approach, bridging organic chemistry and biochemistry, and employs a battery of techniques including organic synthesis, UV and fluorescence spectroscopy, NMR spectroscopy, and x-ray crystallography.