Research in the Allen laboratory explores the chemistry of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and asymmetric catalysis. We are at the frontier of inorganic chemistry intersecting with organic synthesis, analytical chemistry, and biology. Because of the multidisciplinary approach to science in the laboratory, group members are exposed to a wide variety of synthetic and analytical techniques from chemical and biological disciplines. Specifically, projects in the group require the synthesis of inorganic and organic molecules; characterization of these compounds using a variety of techniques including multinuclear NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, fluorescence spectroscopy, and cyclic voltammetry; and compound testing through catalytic transformations or in vitro and in vivo imaging experiments.