Rate My Professor Mark Rizzacasa

Professor Mark Rizzacasa is a Professor in the School of Chemistry and serves as Deputy Head of the School in the Faculty of Science at the University of Melbourne. He earned his PhD in Chemistry in 1990 from the University of Western Australia under the supervision of Professor Melvyn V. Sargent. After completing his doctorate, he moved to the United States for postdoctoral research before returning to Australia in early 1993 to commence his academic career as a lecturer in the School of Chemistry at the University of Melbourne, advancing through the ranks to his current professorial position.

Mark Rizzacasa's research specializes in synthetic organic chemistry, with a primary focus on the total synthesis of complex natural products that exhibit diverse biological activities and unique structural features. His group develops novel synthetic strategies and methodologies, explores biomimetic approaches to validate biosynthetic proposals, and produces substantial quantities of target compounds to facilitate detailed biological investigations. Ongoing projects encompass the total synthesis of myxobacterial secondary metabolites, alkyl citrate natural products, thioketopiperazine natural products, biomimetic syntheses of polycyclic systems, and innovative asymmetric catalysis developments. Over more than two decades, the Rizzacasa group has published extensively in leading journals, including key works such as 'Total synthesis of a biotinylated rocaglate: Selective targeting of the translation factors eIF4AI/II' (Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett., 2016), 'Synthesis of the C1–C18 Fragment of Rhizopodin: Late-State Introduction of the Oxazole' (Org. Lett., 2014), 'Towards the Synthesis of Dihydrooxepino[4,3-b]pyrrole-Containing Natural Products via Cope Rearrangement of Vinyl Pyrrole Epoxides' (Org. Lett., 2015), and the review 'Total synthesis of alkyl citrate natural products' (Org. Biomol. Chem., 2014). Professor Rizzacasa has garnered notable recognition, including the A. J. Birch Medal from the Royal Australian Chemical Institute in 2010, the RACI Rennie Memorial Medal in 1997, the RACI Cornforth Medal, and multiple Australian Research Council Discovery Project grants. His contributions have advanced methodologies in natural products synthesis and supported interdisciplinary biological research.