Ryan Alan Altman

NIH Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California, Irvine, 2011
Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2008
B.S. Chem., Creighton University, Summa Cum Laude, 2003

We are synthetic organic chemists with three predominant interests: (1) Developing innovative synthetic organic reactions for accessing therapeutically relevant drug-like compounds; (2) Exploring physicochemical and biophysical perturbations imparted by fluorinated functional groups and applying these groups towards drug design; (3) Providing medicinal chemistry support for pharmacological collaborators. In the final area, we actively collaborate with pharmacological and biochemistry experts to develop agents for treating pain, mood and anxiety disorders, aging, and inflammation.

Altmaniacs Group Website

Twitter @Altmaniacs

Vinayaka (Vini) Ajjampura Chandrashekara (Post-Doctoral Research Associate)
Jessica Dianne (Jess) Bay (Graduate Student)
Pankaj Bhattarai (Graduate Student)
Ryan M. Herrick (Graduate Student)
Andrew John Intelli (Graduate Student)
Mohammed Abd El-gab Khalifa (Post-Doctoral Research Associate)
Abdulrahman Arafat Mohammed Moursy (Graduate Student)
Rockwell J. Pokrant (Graduate Student)
Trevor Allan Trombley (Graduate Student)
Austin Yunxuan Zhao (Graduate Student)

Grant Review Panels

NIH, Full Member: CSB, 2023 – 2026

NIH, Full Member: SBCA, 2021 – 2022

NIH, Ad Hoc: SBCB, MIRA R35 Panel, SBCA, 05 ZRG1 MDCN-R (86) A – Neuroscience AREA Grant Applications

DoD CDMRP ID-2 Peer Review Panel – Infectious Disease

DoD CDMRP PRE-AMR Peer Review Panel – Antimicrobial Resistance

Journal Editorial Work

ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters, Early Career Board, 2019 – Present

Green Synthesis and Catalysis, Editorial Board, 2021 – Present 

In-House Training/Workshops

Chemistry of Fluorine: A Survey for the Synthetic Medicinal Chemist”, 1-Day Workshop, Taught at 3 Sites Worldwide, 2018

MCMP 205 – Organic Chemistry II

PHRM 844 – Renal Function and Diuretics, Lipids and Antihyperlipidemics, Hypertension 

MCMP 570 – Drug Distribution, Metabolism, Pharmacokinetics

CHEM 255 – Organic Chemistry I

Rho Chi Excellence in Teaching Award, 2018

ChemComm Emerging Investigator, 2017

Thieme Chemistry Journal Award, 2015

NSF CAREER Award, 2015

NIDA Early Career Award in Chemistry of Drug Abuse and Addiction, 2015

Herman Frasch Foundation for Chemical Research, 2012

Safety Champion, 2009, from Chancellor of UCI to an individual, who has the power to influence health and safety practices, and who uses that influence to help create a culture of safety

NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein NSRA Postdoctoral Fellow, 2008 – 2011  

NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein NSRA Predoctoral Fellow, 2007 – 2008

Pfizer DOC Predoctoral Fellow, 2006 – 2007

MIT Institute Fellow, 2003 – 2004

Current

National Institute of General Medical Sciences (R35 GM124661)

National Cancer Institute (R21 CA270879)

National Institute on Aging (R21 AG078775)

Former

National Science Foundation (CHE-1455163)

National Institute on Drug Abuse (R33 DA036730)

National Institute on Drug Abuse (R21 DA036730)

NIGMS COBRE Protein Structure and Function (P30 GM110761)

Herman Frasch Foundation for Chemical Research (701-HF12)

American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund (52073-DNI1)

Complete List of Publications on Google Scholar

Synthetic Methodology

Koley, S.; Cayton, K. T; González-Montiel, G. A.; Yadav, M. R.; Orsi, D. L.; Intelli, A. J; Cheong, P. H.-Y.;* Altman, R. A.* “Cu(II)-Catalyzed Oxidation of gem-Difluoroalkenes Generate a,a-Difluorinated-a-Phenoxyketones” J. Org. Chem. 2022, 87, 10710–10725.

Yuan, K.; Feoktistova, T.; Cheong, P. H.-Y.; Altman, R. A.* “Arylation of gem-Difluoroalkenes Using a Pd/Cu Co-Catalytic System that Avoids β-Fluoride Elimination” Chem. Sci. 2021, 12, 1363–1367.

de Azambuja, F.; Yang, M.-H.; Feoktistova, T.; Selvaraju, M.; Brueckner, A. C.; Grove, M. A.; Koley, S.; Cheong, P. H.-Y.;* Altman, R. A.* “Connecting Remote C–H Bond Functionalization and Decarboxylative Coupling Using Simple Amines” Nature Chem. 2020, 12, 489–496.

Sorrentino, J. S.; Ambler, B. R.; Altman, R. A.* “Late-Stage Conversion of a Metabolically Labile Aryl Methyl Ether-Containing Natural Product to Fluoroalkyl Analogues” J. Org. Chem. 2020, 85, 5416–5427.

CNS Drug Discovery

Sorrentino, J.; Altman, R. A.* “Fluoroalkylation of Dextromethorphan Improves CNS Exposure and Metabolic Stability” ACS Med. Chem. Lett. 2022, 13, 707–713.

Sharma K. S.; Cassell, R. J.; Meqbil, Y. J.; Su, H.; Blaine, A. T.; Cummins, B. R.; Mores, K. L.; Johnson, D.; van Rijn, R. M.;* Altman, R. A.* “Modulating β-Arrestin-2 Recruitment at the δ- and µ-Opioid Receptors” RSC Med. Chem. 2021, 12, 1958–1967.

Altman, R. A.;* Sharma, K. K.; Rajewski, L. G.; Toren, P. C.; Baltezor, M. J.; Pal, M.; Karad, S. N. “Tyr¹-Ψ-(Z)CF=CH]-Gly² Fluorinated Peptidomimetic Improves Distribution and Metabolism Properties of Leu-Enkephalin” ACS Chem. Neurosci. 2018, 9, 1735–1742.

Kynurenine Pathway

Yang, Y.; Borel, T.; de Azambuja, F.; Johnson, D.; Sorrentino, J. P.; Udokwu, C.; Davis, I.; Liu, A.;* Altman, R. A.* “Diflunisal Derivatives as Modulators of ACMS Decarboxylase Targeting the Tryptophan-Kynurenine Pathway” J. Med. Chem. 2021, 64, 797–811. 

Shin, I.; Ambler, B. R.; Wherritt, D.; Griffith, W.; Maldonado, A.; Altman, R. A.; Liu, A.* “Stepwise O-Atom Transfer in Heme-based Tryptophan Dioxygenase: The Role of Substrate Ammonium in the Epoxide Ring Opening” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2018, 140, 4372–4379.