Department of Chemistry

Professor Itay Budin, University of Chicago, San Diego “How lipid chemistry shapes biology: from the organelles of our cells to the bottom of the earth’s oceans” Small changes in the structure of lipids can have dramatic effects on the properties and dynamics of cell membranes. Our group develops new tools for studying lipid biology and applies them to understanding how […]

Professor Eric Gale, Massachusetts General Hospital Harvard University  “Leveraging the Aqueous Iron Chemistry to Develop Imaging Probes and Drugs” In aqueous solution, iron (Fe) can adopt different oxidation states and engage in diverse chemical speciation with discrete complexes exhibiting distinct magnetic properties. We are capitalizing on this rich chemistry to develop magnetic resonance (MR) imaging […]

Professor Michael D. Schulz, Virginia Tech “Exploring the connections between chelating polymer structure and rare-earth element binding thermodynamics” Rare-earth elements (REEs: La–Lu, Y, and Sc) are integral to modern technology, but as technological development continues, world demand for these metals will increasingly outpace supply. Consequently, new and sustainable sources are needed, as well as more […]

Professor Donald Hilvert, Laboratory of Organic Chemistry, ETH Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland. “Design can pave the way to fully programmable enzyme catalysts” Biocatalysis is emerging as a key enabling technology for the development of a greener and more efficient chemical industry. Because natural enzymes are seldom suitable for direct use in chemical processes, however, protein engineering […]

Professor Timothy A. Su, University of California Riverside “Sila-Diamondoids: Atomically Precise Nanoclusters of Crystalline Silicon” This talk will describe the synthesis, derivatization, and quantum transport properties of silicon diamondoids—atomically precise clusters of crystalline silicon. First, we describe strategies for the synthesis and functionalization of the fundamental silicon diamondoid cluster, sila-adamantane. Mechanistic insights support that an […]

Professor Robert Continetti, University of California San Diego “Transition State Dynamics and Hypervelocity Ice Grain Impact Mass Spectrometry” Review studies using the photodetachment of precursor negative ions to examine the transition state dynamics of hydroxyl radical reactions. In cases where the anion has a geometry similar to the transition-state region for a bimolecular neutral reaction, […]

Professor Xue-Bin Wang, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory “Probing Structures, Energetics and Reactivities of Anionic Molecules and Clusters Using Cryogenic Photoelectron Spectroscopy and Imaging” Size-selective cryogenic photoelectron spectroscopy (cryoPES) coupled with electrospray ionization (ESI) source has been demonstrated to be a powerful experimental technique to investigate electronic structures and energetics of a wide variety of solution […]

Professor Brenda Rubenstein, Brown University “Predicting the Relative Populations of Protein Conformations without a Physics Engine Using AlphaFold 2” For decades, the conventional way to predict the different conformations of proteins and their relative populations has been to use relatively expensive physics-based algorithms such as molecular dynamics. However, in recent years, an increasing number of […]