Tags: Inorganic Seminar


Homogeneous Electrosynthesis Using N2

Nitrogen is the atmosphere’s most abundant chemical, making up around 78% of air. The current method of utilizing atmospheric N2 relies on the Haber-Bosch Process, which converts N2 to ammonia using high pressure and heat with an iron catalyst. This process is energy intensive and is responsible for ~2% of global energy consumption. NH3 electrosynthesis is a promising alternative due to its low energy consumption and near ambient conditions.…


Guest Speaker: Prof. Laura K.G. Ackerman-Biegasiewicz


Leveraging One- and Two-Electron Mechanisms in Nickel-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling

Nickel-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions have emerged as sustainable and cost-effective synthetic methods. While nickel operates via classical closed-shell pathways to catalyze biaryl coupling reactions, its ability to mediate radical pathways has significantly broadened the scope of cross-coupling to include a diverse range of alkyl motifs. Building on mechanistic insights, we developed the ProPhos ligand, which enhances the reactivity of…


Radical Polar Crossover in Hydrofunctionalization

Alkenes serve as a key handle for further functionalization, thus methods of activation that provide both selectivity, and tolerance to substitution and functional groups are highly sought after. Metal hydride atom transfer (MHAT) has seen a high level of interest for this reason. It avoids issues that occur in other common alkene functionalization methods like hydrometallation and Bronsted acid conditions. MHAT, however, is limited in that it…


Guest Speaker: Prof. F. Peter Guengerich


Cobalt Nitrosyl Complexes as Tunable HNO Donors

Nitric oxide (NO•) has long attracted interest in chemistry and biochemistry. In fact the establishment of NO• as the endothelium-derived relaxing factor (EDRF) won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry and Physics in 19981-3 and established its vital role in cardiovascular signaling. It has since been used as a first line of defense in the treatment of heart failure. However, the overuse of exogenous NO• leads to pathological effects due to its radical…


Navigating Lipid Metabolism by Human Cytochrome P450s:  From Basic Molecular Mechanisms to Cellular Symphony

Lipids are vital for cellular functions, acting as structural components, signaling molecules, and energy sources. Their metabolism, particularly through cytochrome P450s and other oxidizing enzymes, plays a key role in inflammation and disease. This study uses biochemical, analytical, and biophysical methods to examine the metabolism of endocannabinoids (a class of signaling lipids) and minor cannabinoids by membrane-bound cytochrome P450s,…


Investigating Metal Identity and Active Site Details in Metalloproteins Using Combined Structural and Spectroscopic Approaches

Metals in proteins enable a range of chemical functionality due to different redox states, electronic structures, and coordination environments, empowering an expansive breadth of biomolecular reactivity. This talk will highlight several research projects in the Bowman Lab on metalloprotein biology and the methods available to interrogate how structure contributes to their unique chemistry. Metals in proteins are ubiquitous, involving up to 50%…


Ligand Design toward Bifunctional Bond Activation and Catalysis

The selective cleavage and construction of chemical bonds are the foundation of synthetic chemistry. In these processes, transition metal complexes have been broadly utilized to mediate the otherwise difficult transformations, in which the metal center often plays an active role making and breaking bonds, whereas the ligands are spectators. In contrast, the active participation of actor ligands in bond cleavage and formation processes has…


2025 R. B. King Lecture:
Sustainable Production of Reduced Phosphorus Compounds

This project seeks to invent novel chemical pathways from phosphate raw material inputs to value-added phosphorus chemicals of commercial importance. Traditionally, the phosphorus chemicals industry has utilized carbothermal reduction of mined phosphate rock in the production of white phosphorus as the starting point for all reduced phosphorus chemicals. This example of industrial redox malpractice needs to be replaced, and we are calling for…
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