Department of Chemistry

Building Addressable Libraries: A Site-Selective Oxidation Reaction?

The image shows a "site-selective" Wacker oxidation on a microelectrode array, fabricated(?) by Kevin Moeller's research group. In this experiment, the Wacker oxidation is triggered by using the electrodes in the array to generate a Pd(II) oxidant.

Biohybrid Photosynthetic Light-Harvesting Architectures: Filling in the Gaps

Three synthetic bacteriochlorins (mauve, gold, teal) are each attached to a native-like bacterial photosynthetic β-peptide (green), which self assembles with α-peptide (blue) and bacteriochlorophyll (purple) to form a dyad (top left) and then a cyclic oligomer with enhanced absorption (lower left). The three constructs can be combined to give cyclic oligomers (top right) with blended bacteriochlorin absorption (lower right) and ~95% energy-transfer efficiency.

FPOP

Using a pulsed laser, the Michael Gross group photolyzes HO-OH to produce HO• for foot printing solvent-accessible side chains on proteins. The approach, coupled with MS analysis, maps protein interfaces faster than a protein can unfold.

Meet the Chemistry Department

Faculty, doctoral students and undergraduates talk about the department and their experiences at Washington University. From the outset, students get exposed to a broad range of expertise and fields. Interdisciplinary and collaborative research are strengths of this medium-sized department with considerable resources, instrumentation, and facilities.

Electrophilic Addition to Azapentadienyl-Metal Complexes

Azapentadienyl-metal complexes possess two potential sites of reactivity for electrophiles, the nitrogen atom and the basic metal center. The Bleeke group has investigated the reactions of (1,2,3-η³)-(5-t-butylazapentadienyl)Rh(PMe₃)_x (x = 2 or 3) and (1,2,3-η³)-(5-t-butylazapentadienyl)Ir(PEt₃)_x (x = 2 or 3) with triflic acid and has shown that either the nitrogen atom or the metal center can serve as the primary reaction site (see accompanying graphic).

Can We Sequester Carbon Dioxide

The Hayes and Conradi groups are collaborating on in situ high-pressure high-temperature NMR to monitor the reaction of CO2 as it converts to magnesium carbonate and calcium carbonate. This work involves WU's Consortium for Clean Coal Utilization

Read more in this special issue of Environmental Science & Technology: Surface et al. Environ. Sci. Technol., 2013, 47, 119?125. DOI: 10.1021/es301287n

Seminars

Date	Event description	Operations
Oct 18	Recent Advances in Atomic-Scale Characterization of Materials Surfaces by DNP-Enhanced Solid-State NMR \| Marek Pruski - Iowa State University McMillen 311 @ 4:00 pm
Oct 25	Walking the Tightrope: The Role of RNA Binding Proteins in Neurodegeneration \| Yuna Ayala - Saint Louis University McMillen 311 @ 4:00 pm
Nov 01	TBD \| Steve Zimmerman - University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign McMillen 311 @ 4:00 pm