Eric John Toone

Professor Emeritus of Chemistry

Dr. Toone is a physical organic chemist who studies relationships between structure and activity in the context of biology. Currently active programs exist in biocatalysis/applied enzymology, ligand binding and the activity of water, and the synthesis of novel donors of nitric oxide. The study of these problems makes use of synthetic organic chemistry, traditional enzymology, isothermal titration microcalorimetry, and the techniques of directed evolution.

Appointments and Affiliations

  • Professor Emeritus of Chemistry
  • Faculty Network Member of The Energy Initiative
  • Bass Fellow

Contact Information

Education

  • B.S. University of Guelph (Canada), 1983
  • M.S. University of Toronto (Canada), 1985
  • Ph.D. University of Toronto (Canada), 1988

Awards, Honors, and Distinctions

  • Sloan Research Fellowship-Chemistry. Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. 1995

In the News

Representative Publications

  • Zhao, Jinshi, C Skyler Cochrane, Javaria Najeeb, David Gooden, Carly Sciandra, Ping Fan, Nadine Lemaitre, et al. “Preclinical safety and efficacy characterization of an LpxC inhibitor against Gram-negative pathogens.” Sci Transl Med 15, no. 708 (August 9, 2023): eadf5668. https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.adf5668.
  • Martorana, Alessandra M., Elisabete C. C. M. Moura, Paola Sperandeo, Flavia Di Vincenzo, Xiaofei Liang, Eric Toone, Pei Zhou, and Alessandra Polissi. “Degradation of Components of the Lpt Transenvelope Machinery Reveals LPS-Dependent Lpt Complex Stability in Escherichia coli.” Front Mol Biosci 8 (2021): 758228. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmolb.2021.758228.
  • Lemaître, Nadine, Xiaofei Liang, Javaria Najeeb, Chul-Jin Lee, Marie Titecat, Emmanuelle Leteurtre, Michel Simonet, Eric J. Toone, Pei Zhou, and Florent Sebbane. “Curative Treatment of Severe Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections by a New Class of Antibiotics Targeting LpxC.” MBio 8, no. 4 (July 25, 2017). https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.00674-17.
  • Titecat, Marie, Xiaofei Liang, Chul-Jin Lee, Audrey Charlet, Didier Hocquet, Thierry Lambert, Jean-Marie Pagès, et al. “High susceptibility of MDR and XDR Gram-negative pathogens to biphenyl-diacetylene-based difluoromethyl-allo-threonyl-hydroxamate LpxC inhibitors.” J Antimicrob Chemother 71, no. 10 (October 2016): 2874–82. https://doi.org/10.1093/jac/dkw210.
  • Liang, Xiaofei, Ramesh Gopalaswamy, Frank Navas, Eric J. Toone, and Pei Zhou. “A Scalable Synthesis of the Difluoromethyl-allo-threonyl Hydroxamate-Based LpxC Inhibitor LPC-058.” J Org Chem 81, no. 10 (May 20, 2016): 4393–98. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.joc.6b00589.