Kjirsten A. Wayman
My research focuses on plant secondary compounds to study chemotaxonomy and hybridization among related plant species. A current project uses gas chromatography – mass spectrometry to characterize the floral scent composition of western North American Trillium species. The composition of floral volatiles in Trillium is used to gain insight into their taxonomic relationships, hybridization, and pollination biology. Long-term studies of floral volatiles from select populations of Trilllium may also allow us to see how the plants respond to a changing climate and its effects. I am generally interested in using organic chemistry to answer botanical questions, with a focus on the volatile organic compounds in plants.
Specialty Area
Organic Chemistry, Plant Secondary Compounds, Chemotaxonomy of Plants
Education
PhD (2000) University of Colorado, Boulder
BS (1994) University of California, Santa Barbara
Courses Taught
Organic Chemistry (CHEM 324/324L & 325/325L)
Brief Organic Chemistry (CHEM 228)
Advanced Organic Chemistry (CHEM 480)
NMR Spectroscopy (CHEM 323)
General Chemistry (CHEM 109)
Publications
7. Wayman, K. A., Wright, A. J., Renner, M., Floden, A., Lampley, J. A., Farmer, S. B., & Schilling, E. E. (2024). New insights into systematics of the Trillium ovatum complex. Madroño, 70(3), 158-171. https://doi.org/10.3120/0024-9637-70.3.158
6. Wayman, K.A., M.J. Reilly, A.R. Petlewski. 2023. Taxonomic insights from floral scents of western North American sessile-flowered Trillium. American Journal of Botany 110: e16255. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajb2.16255
5. Clayton Meredith, Anne Frances, Amy Highland, Leah Oliver, Aaron Floden, L. L. Gaddy, Wesley Knapp, Danna Leaman, Susan Leopold, Tara Littlefield, Robert Raguso, Edward Schilling, Alfred Schotz, Anna Walker, Kjirsten Wayman. (2022). The Conservation Status of Trillium in North America. Mt. Cuba Center and New Mexico BioPark Society, Hockessin, DE and Albuquerque, NM.
4. Kjirsten A. Wayman, Peter J. de Lange, Lesley Larsen, Catherine E. Sansom, Nigel B. Perry, "Chemotaxonomy of Pseudowintera: Sesquiterpene dialdehyde variants are species markers", Phytochemistry 2010, 71, 766-772.
3. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Organic Chemistry, by Ian Guch, Kjirsten Wayman, Alpha Books, Copyright 2007.
2. William F. Wood, Joshua Smith, Kjirsten A. Wayman, David Largent, "Indole and 3- Chloroindole: The Source of the Disagreeable Odor of Hygrophorus paupertinus", Mycologia 2003, 95, 807-808.
1. Kjirsten A. Wayman, Tarek Sammakia, "O-Nucleophilic Amino-Alcohol Acyl Transfer Catalysts: the Effect of Acidity of the Hydroxyl Group on the Activity of the Catalyst", Organic Letters 2003, 5(22), 4105-4108.
