Rate My Professor Bernt Bergdahl

Bernt Bergdahl is an Associate Professor of Synthetic Organic and Bio-organic Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at San Diego State University. He has been with the university since 1999, initially serving as an Assistant Professor until 2005, when he was promoted to Associate Professor. Bergdahl earned his B.S. and M.S. in Chemistry from Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1987, advised by Prof. David Tanner. He obtained his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the same institution in 1992 under the supervision of Prof. Martin Nilsson and Thomas Olsson. Subsequently, he pursued postdoctoral research at the University of Notre Dame with Prof. Paul Helquist and worked as a Visiting Scientist and Lecturer at the University of California, San Diego, and the Scripps Research Institute with Prof. K.C. Nicolaou.

Bergdahl's research focuses on the total synthesis of complex natural products, the invention of new methodologies in synthetic organic chemistry, and the synthesis of biologically active target compounds against cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, infectious diseases, and hepatitis C virus. His projects encompass the synthesis of azaspirene as an angiogenesis inhibitor, pseurotin analogs, macrocyclic polyketide natural products such as lagunamides targeting cancer and malaria, and small molecules active against hepatitis C virus based on crystal structures. The group develops asymmetric synthesis techniques using organometallic reagents including zirconium, copper, zinc, and silicon, featuring novel organocopper reactions for optically active acetate aldol products and asymmetric remote vinylogous Mukaiyama aldol reactions for polyketide fragments. Key publications include "Wittig Reactions in Water Media Employing Stabilized Ylides with Aldehydes" (Journal of Organic Chemistry, 2007), "Structure of a hepatitis C virus RNA domain in complex with a translation inhibitor" (PNAS, 2012), "Water is an efficient medium for Wittig reactions employing stabilized ylides and aldehydes" (Tetrahedron Letters, 2005), "Syntheses and Binding Testing of N1-Alkylamino-Substituted 2-Amino-benzimidazole Analogues Targeting the Hepatitis C Virus Internal Ribosome Entry Site" (Australian Journal of Chemistry, 2020), and "Further insight into the asymmetric vinylogous Mukaiyama aldol reaction; application to the synthesis of the C27-C45 segment of lagunamide A" (Tetrahedron, 2016). Bergdahl collaborates internationally with institutions such as the University of Melbourne and Scripps Research Institute, and his alumni have advanced to pharmaceutical roles at Eli Lilly and Pfizer or graduate studies at USC, Scripps Research Institute, and UC San Diego.