Request Expert

Expert has expertise in many aspects of organic chemistry. He is skilled in applied synthetic procedures. He is also knowledgeable about rare and fine chemical intermediates.

Expert has experience with: aldehydes, ketones, and esters; many types of alcohols; and amides and amines. He is familiar with many kinds of hydrocarbons, including aromatic, aliphatic, and halogenated hydrocarbons, including chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). He has worked with nitrogen organic compounds; organic solvents; and organic acids, including aliphatic, dibasic, and aromatic. He has mastered numerous mechanisms of organic reactions. He is also experienced with naturally occurring organic compounds, particularly alkaloids, and has studied the biogenetic relationships of the alkaloids of the amanita muscaria mushroom.

Expert is adept with several analytical procedures, especially extraction, titration, gas chromatography, NMR, infrared and mass spectroscopy, distillation, and crystallization. He is also experienced with column, thin-layer, liquid and gas chromatography, radiochemistry, and radioactive labeling.


Expert has been a professional glassblower since 1976. He has extensive experience making custom scientific glassware and ran a scientific glassblowing company from 1976-78.

Highly successful, extremely versatile Ph.D. scientist well practiced in the natural sciences. Proven leadership capabilities with extensive and diverse experience working with both individuals and the public. Creative presentations, planning, supervision, negotiation, troubleshooting, organization, and education.


Director of Research & Development. Extensive experience in applied chemical research. Developing and writing organic chemical procedures. Have modified, improved, and scaled-up published synthetic methods. Supervised the laboratory.

Professor of Chemistry. Taught General & Organic Chemistry, General Science, Elementary Astronomy, Geology, Paleontology, and Physics. Teacher of the Year. President of Faculty Senate. Curriculum, Administrative, Safety, and Library committees.

Consulting: Currently analyze & evaluate NMR, Mass Spec & other spectral data. Helped NASA determine that a chemical reaction between residual fuel and cleaning fluid resulted in products that clogged critical fuel nozzles in Mars Mission. A different post-test cleaning fluid was adopted.

Fundamental research on the automated separation and identification of the alkaloids of amanita muscaria, the European Magic Mushroom. A novel metabolic pathway was proposed. Radioisotopes were used to investigate the biogenesis of the organic bases.

The use of a readily available group of organic substances known as quinolizones were used as precursors in the synthesis of lupine alkaloids. The total synthesis of lupinine, epilupinine, lamprolobine, and anagyrine in my laboratory was a direct result of this method.

Under my direction, undergraduates worked on industrial research projects. The use of students guaranteed methods that were easy to follow and difficult to fail. The students were compensated and the experience was both of a theoretical and practical nature.

As an undergraduate, stable free radicals was used to investigate the kinetics of the decomposition of labile organic peroxides. This required multi-step synthesis and spectroscopic analysis while handling volatile and very reactive chemical substances.

State Amateur Chess champion & Speed Chess Champion. President & Vice President of Chess Association. Representative to the US Chess Federation. Founder, organizer, promoter, and director of the annual LPO, the largest, most prestigious chess tournament in the South. Wrote the first computer program used to run a major USCF sanctioned Chess Tournament.

Published articles in scientific journals and popular press. Diverse subjects of general scientific interest include the synthesis of natural occurring substances, mushrooms, chess, sailboat cruising and fossils.

Prize winning glassblower. Founder & proprietor of retail and scientific glassblowing establishment. Design, consultation, and fabrication of glass sculpture, novelty items, and scientific apparatus.

Founded “The Chemical Players” Science Magic Shows. Worked with students to present entertaining and informative science shows at schools, clubs and organizations. This became a widely accepted and extremely popular educational recruiting tool.

Experienced collector of late Paleozoic plant fossils of Eastern KY, TN and WV. Donated museum quality specimens to colleges and universities throughout the Southern Appalachian Mountains.


He was an expert witness for a proposed High Rock Nuclear facility in North Carolina.He was involved in analysis and recommendations involving alkaline discharge at Cumberland Gap tunnel project.He has proposed and written many procedures for preparation of organic chemical intermediates.