The principal goal of the La Pierre group synthetic and X-ray absorption spectroscopic (XAS) studies is to disentangle the complex electronic structure of f-block materials. Definitive spectroscopic and thermodynamic signatures of electronic structure phenomena unique to lanthanide, actinide, and transuranic materials are lacking.

As bacteria play essential roles in maintaining human health and contributing to human illness, the establishment and maintenance of a symbiotic microbiome is key to metabolic, immunologic, and hormonal homeostasis. At no time is this more important than during infancy which is a critical period of growth and immune system development.

Bimetallic nanocrystals, made of two different metal species, have properties that are often superior to their single-metal counterparts. The arrangement of the two different metals relative to each other in the nanocrystal is very important in determining the nanocrystal properties, and considerable effort has been made to deposit one metal atop the nanocrystal surface of another metal with precision in location.

Various natural products, such as taxol, morphine and vancomycin, play a prominent role in medicine due to their ability to modulate biological targets critical to human disease. Our lab has two natural product inspired synthetic medicinal chemistry programs, driven by the structural complexity of indole alkaloids and the function of phenazine antibiotics. Each program aims to address major biomedical problems, including: (1) enhancing the chemical diversity of screening libraries used

Freestanding nanosheets of lead titanate (PbTiO₃) were synthesized via a hydrothermal approach. PbTiO₃ is distinguished for being a piezoelectric material that exhibits ferroelectricity, as well as for having a high Curie temperature compared to other perovskite materials.

Main-chain and side-chain functionality are critical to polymeric thermal properties and degradation behavior.  This presentation will describe synthetic routes for polymerizing bioaromatics and other biogenic cyclics to yield polymers with high glass transition temperatures or high melting temperatures.  Some of these monomers are already present in common biomass sources, including vanillin, coumaric acid, ferulic acid, and sinapic acid.  However, some monomers are not immediately available from biomass

New particle formation (NPF) is the process by which trace atmospheric gases cluster and grow into small particles.  These particles make up a substantial fraction of climatically-relevant aerosols, but they are difficult to study due to their small size and ephemeral nature.  We are particularly interested in the role of intermolecular interactions such as proton transfer and hydrogen bonding in governing particle formation and growth.  Our group has been using vibrational spectroscopy and temperature-controlled ion trap mass spectrom

All cells require nutrient metal to carry out essential biochemical processes. This requirement is something that the vertebrate immune system has exploited as a strategy to defend against infection by restricting microbial access to nutrient metal. This process of nutrient restriction during infection is called “nutritional immunity”. Bacterial pathogens have evolved elaborate mechanisms to circumvent nutritional immunity and acquire metal during infection.

The main research focus of the Fang group is conjugated ladder molecules and macromolecules, in which the entire molecular backbone is fused and π-conjugated. The structures of these ladder-type systems mimic the constitution of graphene nanoribbons, endowing them with promising electronic, optical, and mechanical properties. These unique fused-ring constitutions, however, also impose formidable synthetic and processing challenges on the development and application of ladder polymers.