Student
Gisselle Pombar, '19
Files
Cohort
2019
Biography
Gisselle Pombar was born and raised in Coral Springs, Florida. She is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry. Her desire for learning and always questioning how the world works has propelled her into obtaining a PhD in her field. She hopes by becoming a professor she has a chance to inspire students to become passionate in their studies and also become masters in their fields. Gisselle is currently researching naturally occurring THF derivatives that are used by microbiologists and botanists by synthesizing them in the laboratory with the guidance of Dr. Yu Yuan. She plans to obtain her Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry where she will become a college professor by getting to do what she loves most: teaching and learning.
Faculty Mentor
Yu Yuan, Ph.D.
Undergraduate Major
Chemistry
Future Plans
Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry
Summer Research Institution
Princeton University (SURPDC)
Disciplines
Chemistry | Organic Chemistry
Recommended Citation
Pombar, Gisselle, "Gisselle Pombar, '19" (2017). McNair Scholars. 19.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/mcnair_gallery/19
Research
Novel synthesis methods for naturally occurring THF derivatives.
Conducted at the University of Central Florida
Mentor: Yu Yuan Ph.D. in Chemistry
Naturally occurring tetrahydrofuran (THF) derivatives have shown to have antimicrobial, antifungal, and allelopathic properties that are extremely useful and are used by many microbiologists and botanists. These compounds have specific characteristics that inhibit growth of certain species and can affect development of biological entities that are found in the environment. It is due to these properties and relevance that these molecules have become an important focus in the laboratory. In many instances in which these derivatives are used, require to be extracted beforehand, which at many times involves a great amount of time and effort. This research project focuses on using novel synthesis to be able to form various THF derivatives that are found in nature. The issue with THF derivatives is that they are difficult to further modify the compound or produce high yields of the targeted product once it is in the cyclic form. This research will test out different substrates along with a variety of different methods and ring-closing reactions to optimize results at high yield. If these naturally occurring THF derivatives can be made synthetically at high yields, then they can be used for a variety of applications.
Optimization of Cleaning Screen-Printed Electrodes using Electrochemical Methods.
Conducted at the University of Central Florida
Mentor: Karin Chumbimuni-Torres, Ph.D., in Chemistry
New portable electrochemical sensors are being made to immediately detect different nanoparticles and nanomaterial. Screen-printed gold electrodes are what are being in used in some of these electrochemical sensors for detection, but are then disposed of and not used to its full capacity. The objective is to optimize conditions to electrochemically clean off these electrodes used for genotyping. This would create a cost effective way to be able to reuse these electrodes out in the field.