Tags: Inorganic Seminar


Investigating Heme Superoxo and Peroxo Mediated Pathways of Heme Enzymes Using Functional Synthetic Mimics

Heme enzymes mediate a plethora of paramount reaction pathways in a wide variety of organisms, including humans, wherein dioxygen activating heme enzymes are prevalent.[1, 2] Interestingly, a number of pivotal geometric and electronic parameters in concert fine-tune such heme centers for their specialized reactivities, which strongly modulate the reactivity properties of their relevant reaction intermediates. Dioxygen activating heme enzymes…


Fe-Containing Enzymes and ATP-Grasp Enzymes for the Biosynthesis of Bioactive Natural Products

Natural products (NPs) are a proven and paramount source of novel drug leads due to their structural complexity and diverse bioactivities. This complexity arises from unique serial enzymatic transformations. In my talk, I will discuss the biochemical and structural characterization of several key enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of various natural products. Highlights will include the exploration of a nonheme diiron monooxygenase involved in…


From Point Source CO2 Capture to Grid-Scale H2 Storage – The Promise and Science of the Ultramicroporous Adsorbent Aluminum Formate (ALF)

Gas storage and separations are vitally important to many areas of society. Though perhaps easy to appreciate the utility of storing gasses, separating one from another is just as significant. In fact, such processes are conservatively responsible for up to hundreds of billions of dollars of global commerce each year. Significant separations include isolating O2 and noble gasses from air, as well as isolating short chain hydrocarbons from one…


Understanding Materials and Interfaces in Solid-State Batteries

Solid-state batteries offer the promise of improved energy density and safety compared to lithium-ion batteries, but degradation of materials and interfaces can play an outsized role in limiting their performance. Here, I will present our emerging understanding of the key differences between how high-capacity anode materials behave in solid-state batteries compared to in conventional liquid-electrolyte batteries. The electro-chemo-mechanical…


Emerging Chemistry of Main Group Element-Based Dithiolene Complexes

While transition metals have played a dominant role in the development of dithiolene chemistry, their main-group element-based counterparts have received considerably less attention. This laboratory recently reported the first structurally characterized lithium dithiolene radical, via reaction of the anionic N-heterocyclic dicarbene with elemental sulfur. This radical provides an effective synthetic platform to access the largely unexplored main…


Secondary Interactions in Transition Metal Catalysis: Metal-Ligand Cooperativity and Beyond

As our global population continues to grow and demand more resources, development of more advanced methods of chemical production and catalysis in an efficient manner are paramount. One such route to advancing catalysis in transition metal chemistry is to utilize not only abundant, inexpensive first-row transition metals, but also utilize more complex means of controlling chemistry around these metal centers. One of the principal challenges to…


Hydrogen Evolution by Homoleptic Ni-Tetrathiolato Electrocatalysts

In combating the global warming crisis, there is a particular interest in mitigating fossil fuel use as it remains a significant source of anthropogenic CO2 emissions. One solution for reducing fossil fuel emissions is the development of alternative fuel sources that are clean and renewable such as hydrogen gas (H2). Natural systems have evolved efficient machinery utilizing cheap, earth-abundant metals that can provide sources of alternative…


Discovery of A New Subclass of Class I Ribonucleotide Reductase

Ribonucleotide reductases (RNRs) catalyze de novo biosynthesis of deoxynucleotides in almost all organisms that use DNA as their genetic material. They are current drug targets for both cancer and infectious diseases. All RNRs share a common catalytic mechanism initiated by a cysteinyl radical, while the radical generation varies greatly and provides the biochemical basis dividing the RNRs into the three major classes and several subclasses. All…


Methanobactin: An Intriguing Copper-Chelating Peptide with a Unique Biosynthesis

Methanotrophs produce methanobactin (Mbn), a copper-chelating peptide, when copper levels in the environment are low.1,2 These methanotrophs utilize the copper-dependent enzyme methane monooxygenase to oxidize methane, which is the methanotrophs only carbon source. Mbn has a high affinity for copper and chelates Cu(I) directly, or indirectly utilizes Cu(II) by conversion to Cu(I) through an unknown reductive process.2,3 Mbn is an example of…


Facile Synthesis of Two-Dimensional (2D) Materials to Discover New Compounds and Stabilize Metastable Modifications

Two-dimensional materials remain one of the hottest research fields for a few decades due to their emerging physical properties existing in a single atomic layer or a few atomic layers. After intensive research efforts, 2D materials started to find their applications in our daily life, such as in batteries, electronics, or even bulletproof vests. To turn on the functionalities of 2D materials, controlled synthesis of 2D materials is…
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