# Corey Stephenson
**Corey R. J. Stephenson** is a Canadian organic chemist known for visible-light photoredox catalysis, the use of light-driven electron-transfer catalysts to generate radical intermediates for complex molecule synthesis.[1](https://uwaterloo.ca/science/alumni-profile-corey-stephenson) Born in Collingwood, Ontario, he trained at the [University of Waterloo](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-waterloo), the [University of Pittsburgh](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-pittsburgh), and ETH Zürich, and held faculty positions at [Boston University](https://www.edgepedia.org/boston-university), the University of Michigan, and, since June 2024, the University of British Columbia (UBC), where he is the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Innovative Synthetic Methods for Translational Chemistry.[2](https://www.thestephensongroup.org/people)
| Key facts | |
|---|---|
| Field | Organic synthesis; single-electron-transfer (photoredox and electrochemical) catalysis[1](https://uwaterloo.ca/science/alumni-profile-corey-stephenson) |
| Born | Collingwood, Ontario, Canada[2](https://www.thestephensongroup.org/people) |
| Training | BSc, University of Waterloo (1998); PhD, University of Pittsburgh (2005, Peter Wipf); postdoc, ETH Zürich (Erick M. Carreira)[2](https://www.thestephensongroup.org/people) • [3](https://www.beilstein-archives.org/bjoc/boardMembers/1872859) |
| Signature work | Stereoconvergent synthesis of the resveratrol tetramers nepalensinol B and vateriaphenol C, Science, 2016[5](https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aaj1597) |
| UBC program | Canada Excellence Research Chair in Innovative Synthetic Methods for Translational Chemistry, supported by up to $24 million over eight years[6](https://science.ubc.ca/news/two-canada-excellence-research-chairs-join-ubc-science) |
| Selected awards | Sloan Research Fellowship (2011–2013); Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award (2013); ACS Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award (2020)[7](https://www.chem.pitt.edu/sites/default/files/assets/2024%20Awardee%20-%20Corey%20Stephenson.pdf) |
## Education and training
Stephenson received his undergraduate degree from the University of Waterloo in 1998.[2](https://www.thestephensongroup.org/people) His graduate and doctoral studies, from 1998 to 2005 at the University of Pittsburgh under Professor Peter Wipf, concerned new carbon–carbon bond forming reactions of alkenylzirconocenes and their [cascade reaction](https://www.edgepedia.org/cascade-reaction) sequences; he received his PhD in 2005.[3](https://www.beilstein-archives.org/bjoc/boardMembers/1872859) • [7](https://www.chem.pitt.edu/sites/default/files/assets/2024%20Awardee%20-%20Corey%20Stephenson.pdf) From 2005 to 2007 he was a postdoctoral fellow with Professor Erick M. Carreira at ETH Zürich, working on catalytic asymmetric synthesis.[3](https://www.beilstein-archives.org/bjoc/boardMembers/1872859)
## Career
In September 2007 Stephenson joined the Department of Chemistry at Boston University as an assistant professor, serving until June 2013; there he was also co-principal investigator in the Center for Chemical Methodologies and Library Development.[2](https://www.thestephensongroup.org/people) • [3](https://www.beilstein-archives.org/bjoc/boardMembers/1872859) He was granted tenure and promoted to associate professor in February 2013.[7](https://www.chem.pitt.edu/sites/default/files/assets/2024%20Awardee%20-%20Corey%20Stephenson.pdf) In July 2013 he moved to the University of Michigan as associate professor and was promoted to full professor in September 2015, a rank he held until May 2024.[2](https://www.thestephensongroup.org/people) • [4](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2443-5514) In June 2024 he joined UBC as professor in the department of chemistry and the department of biochemistry and molecular biology, and as a research scientist at the BC Cancer Research Institute.[6](https://science.ubc.ca/news/two-canada-excellence-research-chairs-join-ubc-science) UBC had announced his appointment in November 2023.[8](https://news.ubc.ca/2023/11/world-leading-scientists-named-canada-excellence-research-chairs-at-ubc/)
## Research
The Stephenson group develops single-electron-transfer methods, using photosensitive electron-transfer catalysts or electrochemistry to access radical intermediates for small-molecule synthesis.[1](https://uwaterloo.ca/science/alumni-profile-corey-stephenson) • [9](https://www.thestephensongroup.org/research) These reactions run at ambient temperature, tolerate sensitive functional groups, and scale, which makes them useful for complex, bioactive molecules where traditional radical chemistry relied on hazardous reagents.[9](https://www.thestephensongroup.org/research) • [10](https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.accounts.6b00270) An early example was a tin-free reductive dehalogenation that replaced a range of hazardous reagents with visible-light-mediated, ambient-temperature conditions.[10](https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.accounts.6b00270)
A central focus is applying radical intermediates to natural products and clinically relevant scaffolds, alongside [C–H functionalization](https://www.edgepedia.org/c-h-functionalization) and biomass valorization, particularly lignin, for commodity chemicals and potential fuels.[9](https://www.thestephensongroup.org/research) • [1](https://uwaterloo.ca/science/alumni-profile-corey-stephenson) The group conducts photo- and electrochemical reactions in batch and continuous flow, using flow chemistry to scale industrially relevant reactions and to develop microfluidic tools for automated optimization.[3](https://www.beilstein-archives.org/bjoc/boardMembers/1872859) • [9](https://www.thestephensongroup.org/research)
## Representative work
His 2016 Science paper reported the synthesis of the resveratrol tetramers nepalensinol B and vateriaphenol C using persistent radical and quinone methide intermediates.[5](https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aaj1597) Spontaneous cleavage and reconstitution of exceptionally weak carbon–carbon bonds enabled a stereoconvergent oxidative dimerization of racemic starting materials, a transformation that likely coincides with the biogenesis of these natural products.[5](https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aaj1597) Chemical & Engineering News reported the synthesis took 13 steps and used a persistent radical derived from the resveratrol dimer ε-viniferin.[11](https://doi.org/10.1021/cen-09449-scicon002) Related work reported the first total synthesis of the resveratrol tetramers vitisin A and vitisin D, by electrochemical generation and selective dimerization of persistent radicals followed by thermal isomerization, with computations suggesting the approach mimics Nature's strategy.[12](https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.0c01714)
## Awards and honors
According to a University of Pittsburgh Department of Chemistry profile, Stephenson's awards include the Thieme Synlett/Synthesis Journal Award (2009), the Boehringer–Ingelheim New Investigator Award (2010), an NSF CAREER award (2011–2016), the Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship (2011–2013), the Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award (2013), and the ACS Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award (2020).[7](https://www.chem.pitt.edu/sites/default/files/assets/2024%20Awardee%20-%20Corey%20Stephenson.pdf) He received the Imes and Moore Mentorship Award from the University of Michigan in 2020 and became associate editor of the Beilstein Journal of Organic Chemistry.[7](https://www.chem.pitt.edu/sites/default/files/assets/2024%20Awardee%20-%20Corey%20Stephenson.pdf)
## UBC chair and translational program
As Canada Excellence Research Chair, Stephenson leads new photo- and electrocatalytic methods that use light and electricity to accelerate and improve chemical reactions.[6](https://science.ubc.ca/news/two-canada-excellence-research-chairs-join-ubc-science) His team designs new photo- and electrocatalysts for pharmaceutical and agrochemical synthesis and biomass upgrading, employing modern data science tools for optimization, and develops high-throughput tools for discovery and process chemistry.[13](https://research.ubc.ca/federal-research-chair-programs/canada-excellence-research-chairs) UBC receives up to $24 million over eight years to support the chair and its research team.[6](https://science.ubc.ca/news/two-canada-excellence-research-chairs-join-ubc-science) He also co-leads a new synthesis laboratory at the BC Cancer Research Center.[2](https://www.thestephensongroup.org/people)
## Since 2024
The move to UBC shifted the program's emphasis toward data-science-driven catalyst design and high-throughput discovery tools within the CERC framework.[13](https://research.ubc.ca/federal-research-chair-programs/canada-excellence-research-chairs) Work on resveratrol chemistry has continued: a 2026 [Organic Letters](https://www.edgepedia.org/organic-letters) paper, "Biomimetic Radical Oligomerization Enables the Total Synthesis of Five Resveratrol Dimers", was published on 5 June 2026.[4](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2443-5514) A 2026 Journal of Chemical Education paper described a 3-D printed millifluidic reactor for continuous flow photocatalysis in the teaching laboratory.[14](https://www.grad.ubc.ca/node/114019)
## References
1. Alumni Profile: Corey Stephenson, University of Waterloo. https://uwaterloo.ca/science/alumni-profile-corey-stephenson
2. People, Stephenson Group. https://www.thestephensongroup.org/people
3. Editorial Board: Corey Stephenson, Beilstein Journal of Organic Chemistry. https://www.beilstein-archives.org/bjoc/boardMembers/1872859
4. Corey Stephenson, ORCID 0000-0002-2443-5514. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2443-5514
5. Synthesis of resveratrol tetramers via a stereoconvergent radical equilibrium, Science (2016). https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aaj1597
6. Two Canada Excellence Research Chairs to join UBC Science. https://science.ubc.ca/news/two-canada-excellence-research-chairs-join-ubc-science
7. 2024 Awardee, Corey Stephenson (PhD 2005), University of Pittsburgh Department of Chemistry. https://www.chem.pitt.edu/sites/default/files/assets/2024%20Awardee%20-%20Corey%20Stephenson.pdf
8. World-leading scientists named Canada Excellence Research Chairs at UBC (November 2023). https://news.ubc.ca/2023/11/world-leading-scientists-named-canada-excellence-research-chairs-at-ubc/
9. Research, Stephenson Group. https://www.thestephensongroup.org/research
10. Free Radical Chemistry Enabled by Visible Light-Induced Electron Transfer, Accounts of Chemical Research. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.accounts.6b00270
11. Radical route to resveratrol oligomers, Chemical & Engineering News. https://doi.org/10.1021/cen-09449-scicon002
12. Synthesis of Vitisins A and D Enabled by a Persistent Radical Equilibrium, JACS. https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.0c01714
13. Canada Excellence Research Chairs, UBC Research + Innovation. https://research.ubc.ca/federal-research-chair-programs/canada-excellence-research-chairs
14. A 3-D Printed Millifluidic Reactor for Continuous Flow Photocatalysis, Journal of Chemical Education, UBC Graduate School record. https://www.grad.ubc.ca/node/114019
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Physical world and mathematics › Physical and mathematical scientists › Chemists › Researchers in organic synthesis, organometallic, and medicinal chemistry › Organometallic chemistry and ligand design*
*Initially written Sep 21, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 25, 2026 · Last review: Sep 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license