Faculty and Staff - Klaus Himmeldirk: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry: Ohio University

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry: Faculty & Staff

Klaus Himmeldirk

Contact Information

Office Location:	Clippinger Laboratories
Phone Number:	740-517-1137
Fax Number:	740-593-0148
E-Mail Address:	himmeldi@ohio.edu

Group Page

Assistant Professor
Ph.D.
Chemical Education

Information

In my educational work the focus is on the development of more efficient, thought provoking laboratory classes in Organic Chemistry. Besides creating a demanding laboratory curriculum, I try to achieve my goal by involving my students in undergraduate research projects. As part of my efforts to give students as early as possible a “real world experience” of Organic Chemistry, we participate in the Ohio-wide REEL program (Research Experiences to Enhance Learning;
www.ohio-reel.osu.edu).

Our major undergraduate research focus is the chemistry of thiazolium ions (Vitamin B1).

In my other research work I am collaborating with Dr. Xiaozhuo Chen (Molecular and Cellular Biology) from the Edison Biotechnology Institute at Ohio University in the discovery of new anti-diabetic drugs that are derivatives from polyphenols (hydrolysable tannins). My efforts center on the creation of efficient syntheses for our target compounds.

In addition, we are creating molecular probes (radioactive, fluorescent, biotin labeled) derivatives that can be used as analytical tools for research into the mechanism by which the drugs work.

Recent Publications

Guy Klein, Jaekyung Kim, Klaus Himmeldirk, Yanyan Cao, Xiaozhuo Chen, Anti-diabetes and anti-obesity activity of Lagerstroemia speciosa, eCAM 2007, in print.

Ren Y.; Himmeldirk K.; Chen X., Synthesis and Structure-Acitivity Relationship Study of Antidiabetic Penta-O-galloyl-D-glucopyranose and Its Analoges, J. Med. Chem. 2006, 49, 2829-2837.

Li Y.; Kim J.; Li J.; Liu F.; Liu X.; Himmeldirk K.; Ren Y.; Wagner T.E.; Chen X., Natural antidiabetic compound 1,2,3,4,6-penta-O-galloyl-D-glucopyranose (PGG) binds to insulin receptor and activtes insulin-mediated glucose transport signaling pathway, Biochem. Biophys. Res. Com., 2005, 336, 430-437.

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Clippinger Laboratories
Athens, OH 45701-2979
Tel: 740-593-1737 | Fax: 740-593-0148
chemistry@ohio.edu