Bio

Felix grew up in the Black Forest region in Germany and moved to Switzerland for his undergraduate degree at the University of Basel in 2012. After completing a research stay at the process chemistry department of the pharmaceutical company Idorsia, he began his PhD studies with Prof. Dr. Christof Sparr at the University of Basel. He focused on the development of highly reactive, biomimetic synthesis of polyketide chains and explored catalyst control over regiodivergent cascade reactions. Funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation, he moved to Cornell University in 2021 and Princeton University in 2023, to work with Prof. Dr. Todd Hyster on photoenzymatic transformations. During his postdoctoral work, Felix discovered a reductive photoredox reactivity that was emerging in flavin dependent Baeyer-Villiger Monooxygenases. This enabled the preparation of congested alpha tertiary amines via C–N bond formation, and was extended to C–C, C–S, and C–O bond formation. Felix started his independent career as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at The Ohio State University exploring new biocatalytic methodologies in 2025.

Research Overview 

The Raps Lab combines expertise in organic chemistry, enzymology, and reaction engineering to develop practical biocatalytic solutions. We are particularly interested in understanding how enzymes can be leveraged to perform transformations that are challenging or impossible using traditional synthetic methods. Our work spans from fundamental mechanistic studies to the development of scalable processes for industrial applications.

Publications