Steven Bloom

Steven Bloom
  • Assistant Professor
  • Department of Medicinal Chemistry

Contact Info

785-864-6580
Gray Little Hall, Room 2191
1567 Irving Hill Rd.
Lawrence, KS 66045-7572

Personal Links

Biography —

Professional Experience

  • Assistant Professor of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. 2018 - present

Education —

Postdoctoral, Department of Chemistry, Princeton University, 2018, Princeton, NJ
Advisor: David W. C. MacMillan
Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University, 2015, Baltimore, MD
Advisor: Thomas Lectka
B.S. in Chemistry and Biochemistry, McDaniel College, 2010, Westminster, MD

Research —

Photoredox catalysis has emerged as an attractive tool for medicinal chemistry, streamlining both targeted drug synthesis and late-stage molecular editing. Research in the Bloom group seeks to harness this multifarious platform to address key challenges at the interface of synthetic chemistry and biotechnology.

Specifically, our group is interested in the use of photoredox catalysis for the synthesis of peptide and protein-based therapeutics, marrying the molecular machinery of cells with the chemical prowess of small molecules, to build new therapeutic modalities. Among our current interest are the development of chemical methods for the synthesis of peptibodies, fusion proteins, bispecific antibody constructs, and peptide/protein-based drug conjugates for targeted therapy.

Additionally, our group seeks to develop new cyclization protocols using photoredox catalysis in combination with endogenous peptides to prepare novel pharmaceutical templates and probe molecules.

Graphic: Synthesis of new bio therapeutic modalities by Photoredox catalysis

Selected Publications —

  1. Bloom, S.; Liu, C.; Kölmel, D. K.; Qiao, J. X.; Zhang, Y.; Poss, M. A.; Ewing, W. R.; MacMillan, D. W. C. Decarboxylative Alkylation for Site-Selective Bioconjugation of Native Proteins via Oxidation Potentials. Accepted to Nat. Chem.
  2. Bloom, S.; Blume, D.; Pitts, C. R.; Lectka, T. Site-Selective Approach to b-Fluorination: Photocatalyzed Ring Opening of Cyclopropanols. Chem. Eur. J. 2015, 21, 8060-8063.
  3. Bloom, S.; McCann, M.; Lectka, T. Photocatalyzed Benzylic Fluorination: Shedding “Light” on the Involvement of Electron Transfer. Org. Lett. 2014, 16, 6338-6341.
  4. Griswold, A.; Bloom, S.; Lectka, T. A Chelating Nucleophile Plays a Starring Role: 1,8-Naphthyridine-Catalyzed Polycomponent a,a-Difluorination of Acid Chlorides. J. Org. Chem. 2014, 79, 9830-9834.
  5. Bloom, S.; Knippel, J. L.; Holl, M. G.; Barber, R.; Lectka, T. A Cooperative Allylic Fluorination: Combination of Nucleophilic and Electrophilic Fluorine Sources. Tetrahedron Lett. 2014, 55, 4576-4580.
  6. Pitts, C. R.; Bloom, S.; Woltornist, R.; Auvenshine, D.; Ryzhkov, L. R.; Siegler, M. A.; Lectka, T. Direct, Catalytic, Monofluorination of sp3 C-H Bonds: A Radical-Based Mechanism with Ionic Selectivity. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2014, 136, 9780-9791.
  7. Bloom, S.; Knippel, J. L.; Lectka, T. A Photocatalyzed Aliphatic Fluorination. Chem. Sci. 2014, 5, 1175-1178.
  8. Bloom, S.; Sharber, S. A.; Holl, M. G.; Knippel, J. L.; Lectka, T. Metal-Catalyzed Benzylic Fluorination as a Synthetic Equivalent to 1,4-Conjugate Addition of Fluoride. J. Org. Chem. 2013, 78, 11082-11086.
  9. DeBlase, A. F.; Bloom, S.; Dudding, T.; Lectka, T.; Johnson, M. A. Origin of the Diffuse Vibrational Signature of a Cyclic Intramolecular Proton Bond: Anharmonic Analysis of Protonated 1,8-Disubstituted Naphthalene Ions. J. Phys. Chem. 2013, 139, 024301.
  10. Bloom, S.; Pitts, C. R.; Woltornist, R.; Griswold, A.; Holl, M. G.; Lectka, T. Iron(II)-Catalyzed Benzylic Fluorination. Org. Lett. 2013, 15, 1722-1724.
  11. Bloom, S.; Pitts, C. R.; Miller, D.; Haselton. N.; Holl, M. G.; Urheim, E.; Lectka, T. A Polycomponent Metal-Catalyzed Aliphatic, Allylic, and Benzylic Fluorination. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 2012, 51, 10580-10583.
  12. Scerba, M. T.; Bloom, S.; Haselton, N.; Siegler, M.; Jaffe, J.; Lectka, T. Interaction of a C-F Bond with the p-System of a C=C Bond or ‘Head On’ with a Proximate C-H Bond. J. Org. Chem. 2012, 77, 1605-1609.
  13. Scerba, M. T.; DeBlase, A. F.; Bloom, S.; Dudding, T.; Johnson, M. A.; Lectka, T. Characterization of Highly Unusual NH+-O Hydrogen Bonding to Ester Ether Oxygen Atoms through Spectroscopic and Computational Studies. J. Phys. Chem. A, 2012, 116, 3556-3560.
  14. Bloom, S.; Scerba, M. T.; Erb, J.; Lectka, T. Tricomponent Catalytic a,a-Difluorination of Acid Chlorides. Org. Lett. 2011, 13, 5068-5071.

Awards & Honors —

  • National Institute of Health Ruth L. Kirschstein Fellowship, 2016-present
  • Bristol Myers Squibb Postdoctoral Fellowship (BMS-CMS), 2015-2016
  • Owens Fellowship, 2013
  • Gary H. Posner Fellowship, 2012
  • Graduated with honors in chemistry and biochemistry from McDaniel College, 2010