John E. Moses
Professor
Cancer Center Member
Ph.D. (DPhil), University of Oxford, 2004
moses@cshl.edu | 516-367-5560
My group uses click chemistry to study biological systems at the molecular level. We develop and exploit powerful bond-forming click reactions that enable the rapid synthesis of small functional molecules, including cancer drugs and chemical probes. We apply these novel molecular tools in multidisciplinary discovery projects spanning the fields of biology and chemistry.
John Moses’ lab specializes in click chemistry, a powerful discovery method that relies upon the most robust chemical reactions to synthesize functional molecules. Small molecules are important because Nature’s machinery, including proteins, enzymes, and receptors, evolved to interact selectively with molecular ligands, similar to how a key fits a lock.
Using click chemistry, we create molecular probes for studying biological systems that may lead to new treatments for deadly diseases, including cancer. For example, we developed a new class of therapeutic DNA binding ligand that interacts selectively with telomeric regions of the genome involved in cellular maintenance. Several of these telomere binding ligands show remarkable selectivity and potency against cancer cells and tumours.
Further developing click chemistry, we recently described a discovery method called Diversity Oriented Clicking, which exploits a focussed group of reliable click chemistry reactions to achieve structural diversity. Our Diversity-Clicking approach led to the discovery of a new group of antibiotics with activity against multidrug-resistant bacteria, including MRSA.
Through the application of click chemistry, the Moses group is committed to developing Chemistry For Biology at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Winner: 2021 Organic Division Horizon Prize: Robert Robinson Award in Synthetic Organic Chemistry
Member of the American Chemical Society; 2019
Chartered Member of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (MRACI CChem); 2018
Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC); 2015
Thieme Chemistry Award; 2011
UK & ROI Lilly Award: Excellence in Organic Chemistry; 2011
King Saud University, Award; 2011
William Boland Award; University of Bath; 2001
CSHL Helix Society member honors late wife
May 24, 2022
Helix Society member John Broven recently visited CSHL to view a newly installed plaque placed in memory of his late wife.
CSHL in pursuit of shape-shifting antibiotics
April 25, 2022
CSHL Professor John E. Moses was awarded over $325,000 from the New York State Biodefense Commercialization Fund to study a new type of antibiotic.
Tools of the trade at CSHL: Robotic microwave
February 24, 2022
This robotic assistant gives chemists a hand in the lab.
Teaching an old chemical new tricks
December 6, 2021
Using a chemical from the 1980s, CSHL Professor John E. Moses’ team has found a way to create new molecules in minutes.
Unstoppable chemistry
November 5, 2021
“Click chemistry” is a way to design fast, specific, and clean reactions that make molecules click together like LEGO® bricks.
The “click” in click chemistry
November 4, 2021
Watch as CSHL Professor John E. Moses and Nobel laureate K. Barry Sharpless show click chemistry in action.
Tools of the trade at CSHL: NMR
October 29, 2021
Nuclear magnetic resonance—or NMR—uses magnetically generated radio waves to analyze chemical structures.
Masthead Cove Yacht Club supports CSHL research
October 20, 2021
The Masthead Cove Yacht Club raised $4,500 for CSHL research at their annual boat race.
F.M. Kirby Foundation donates $115K for chemistry research
October 12, 2021
The F.M. Kirby Foundation donated $115,000 to support CSHL Professor John E. Moses’ chemistry research.
Polymers “click” together using green chemistry
August 16, 2021
To build a new polymer using a type of green chemistry called “click chemistry,” chemists first had to tame a dangerous gas.
All Publications
Diversity oriented clicking delivers β-substituted alkenyl sulfonyl fluorides as covalent human neutrophil elastase inhibitors
13 Sep 2022 | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of USA | 119(37):e2208540119
Cheng, Yunfei, Li, Gencheng, Smedley, Christopher, Giel, Marie-Claire, Kitamura, Seiya, Woehl, Jordan, Bianco, Giulia, Forli, Stefano, Homer, Joshua, Cappiello, John, Wolan, Dennis, Moses, John, Sharpless, K
Shapeshifting Antibiotics: Bullvalene Linked Vancomycin Dimers are Effective Against Multidrug-Resistant Gram-Positive Bacteria
21 Apr 2022 | American Chemical Society (ACS)
Ottonello, Alessandra, Wyllie, Jessica, Yahiaoui, Oussama, Murray, Ewan, Williams, Paul, Bolla, Jani, Robinson, Carol, Fallon, Thomas, Soares da Costa, Tatiana, Moses, John
Accelerated SuFEx Click Chemistry For Modular Synthesis
9 Nov 2021 | Angewandte Chemie International Edition
Smedley, Christopher, Homer, Joshua, Gialelis, Timothy, Barrow, Andrew, Koelln, Rebecca, Moses, John
SuFExable polymers with helical structures derived from thionyl tetrafluoride.
16 Aug 2021 | Nature Chemistry
Li, Suhua, Li, Gencheng, Gao, Bing, Pujari, Sidharam, Chen, Xiaoyan, Kim, Hyunseok, Zhou, Feng, Klivansky, Liana, Liu, Yi, Driss, Hafedh, Liang, Dong-Dong, Lu, Jianmei, Wu, Peng, Zuilhof, Han, Moses, John, Sharpless, K
Aminium cation-radical catalysed selective hydration of (E)-aryl enynes.
22 Jun 2021 | Chemical Communications
Giel, Marie-Claire, Barrow, Andrew, Smedley, Christopher, Lewis, William, Moses, John
Accelerated SuFEx Click Chemistry for Modular Synthesis
25 Jan 2021 | ChemRxiv
Smedley, Christopher, Gialelis, Timothy, Moses, John
Frontispiz: Diversity Oriented Clicking (DOC): Divergent Synthesis of SuFExable Pharmacophores from 2-Substituted-Alkynyl-1-Sulfonyl Fluoride (SASF) Hubs
20 Jul 2020 | Angewandte Chemie International Edition | 132(30)
Smedley, C, Li, G, Barrow, A, Gialelis, T, Giel, M, Ottonello, A, Cheng, Y, Kitamura, S, Wolan, D, Sharpless, K, Moses, J
Diversity Oriented Clicking (DOC): Divergent Synthesis of SuFExable Pharmacophores from 2-Substituted-Alkynyl-1-Sulfonyl Fluoride (SASF) Hubs
20 Jul 2020 | Angewandte Chemie International Edition | 132(30):12560-12569
Smedley, C, Li, G, Barrow, A, Gialelis, T, Giel, M, Ottonello, A, Cheng, Y, Kitamura, S, Wolan, D, Sharpless, K, Moses, J
Diversity Oriented Clicking (DOC): Divergent Synthesis of SuFExable Pharmacophores from 2-Substituted-Alkynyl-1-Sulfonyl Fluoride (SASF) Hubs
16 Apr 2020 | Angewandte Chemie International Edition
Smedley, C, Li, G, Barrow, A, Gialelis, T, Giel, M, Ottonello, A, Cheng, Y, Kitamura, S, Wolan, D, Sharpless, K, Moses, J
Metal-Free Synthesis of Functional 1-Substituted-1,2,3-Triazoles from Ethenesulfonyl Fluoride and Organic Azides
13 Jan 2020 | Angewandte Chemie International Edition | 59(3):1181-1186
Giel, M, Smedley, C, Mackie, E, Guo, T, Dong, J, Soares da Costa, T, Moses, J