For the past thirty-five years, I have been teaching and performing research in the area of chemical education at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus. Our research interest focused on two areas chemical education and synthetic organic chemistry.
Chemical Education
Our research work is based upon the theoretical perspective building on constructivist and meaningful learning theory. In this respect, the construction of knowledge will therefore depend on the interaction of personal experiences with private understandings. As educators, we must be aware of student understandings and provide an adequate environment and opportunities for students to more easily create and retrieve appropriate conceptions. Our research includes three intertwined branches: the instruction (transmission of attitudes, skills, and habits of inquiry to students), the practice (development of the tools and methods used to teach chemistry), and the assessment.
Organometallic Chemistry
Chalcones have been reported to have a broad range of biological activities such as antimalarial, antibacterial, antitumor, antioxidant, antihyperglycemic, and anti-HIV. An enhancement of the antitumor activity has been observed when one of the aromatic rings is replaced with ferrocene, however, the mechanism of action is still uncertain. Therefore, our research explores and chemically modifies the structure of ferrocenyl chalcone-based scaffolds to study their anticancer and antioxidant activities. This study will also yield information regarding possible mechanisms of action. Among the proposed modifications to the ferrocenyl chalcone-based scaffolds is the incorporation of heterocyclic moieties. This can be afforded either by introducing a heterocyclic aromatic substituent or functionalizing the α,βunsaturated system. Another modification is to form ammonium or pyridinium salts to increase water solubility. All compounds are extensively characterized by Infrared, 1H, and 13C-NMR spectroscopy, UV-Vis spectrophotometry, single-crystal x-ray diffraction, and cyclic voltammetry. Antioxidant activity is studied applying DPPH radical scavenging assay and antitumor by MTS colorimetric cell proliferation assay.
Academic Publications
