Past Seminars & Events
4th-Year Graduate Research Seminar Series: Session 12
Thursday, Nov. 5, 2020, 9:30 a.m. through Thursday, Nov. 5, 2020, 11 a.m.
Via Zoom
Rebecca L. Combs at 9:30 a.m.
Adviser: Professor Lee Penn
Controlling Size and Aspect Ratio of MOF NU-1000 Using Solvent Identity
Nathan Love at 10 a.m.
Adviser: Professor Kenneth Leopold
A Microwave Study of a Superacid Ion Pair and Applications of an Intelligent Fitting Algorithm
Minog Kim at 10:30 a.m.
Adviser: Professor Andreas Stein
Three-Dimensionally Ordered Macroporous Mixed Metal Oxide as an Indicator for Monitoring the Stability of ZIF-8
4th-Year Graduate Research Seminar Series: Session 11
Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020, 9:30 a.m. through Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020, 11 a.m.
Via Zoom
Maetzin Cruz-Reyes at 9:30 a.m.
Advisers: Professor R. Lee Penn & Professor William Arnold
Environmental Reactivity of Akaganeite: Growth and Phase Transformations
Thorn A. Dramstad at 10 a.m.
Adviser: Professor Aaron Massari
Spectroscopic Correlation between the Interfacial Pentacene Deposition Phase and Substrate Temperature
Baoyue Fan at 10:30 a.m.
Advisers: Professor Andreas Stein
Diffusive Formation of Hollow Mesoporous Silica Shells from Core-Shell Composites: Insights from the Hydrogen Sulfide Capture Cycle of CuO@mSiO2 Nanoparticles
4th-Year Graduate Research Seminar Series: Session 10
Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2020, 9:30 a.m. through Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2020, 11 a.m.
Via Zoom
Claire L. Seitzinger at 9:30 a.m.
Adviser: Professor Timothy Lodge
Phase transitions of stimuli-responsive block copolymers in ionic liquids
Celeste Rousseau at 10 a.m.
Adviser: Professor Philippe Bühlmann
Redox Buffers for Calibration-Free Ion-Selective Electrodes
4th-Year Graduate Research Seminar Series: Session 9
Monday, Oct. 26, 2020, 1 p.m. through Monday, Oct. 26, 2020, 2:30 p.m.
Via Zoom
Blair Troudt at 1 p.m.
Adviser: Professor Philippe Buhlmann
Development of Analyte-Specific Probes for Self-Assembly onto Graphene and Use in Graphene-Based Electrochemical Sensor Arrays
Lun Jin at 1:30 p.m.
Adviser: Professor Philippe Buhlmann and Steven Koester
Chemical Vapor Deposition of Monolayer Transition Metal Dichalcogenides and Lateral Heterojunctions
Michael H. Hodny at 2 p.m.
Adviser: Professor David Blank
Two-Photon Induced Absorption and Dissociation of Dibenzofuran Based Photocages
Developing a Strategic Plan for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in our Department
Friday, Oct. 23, 2020, 3 p.m. through Friday, Oct. 23, 2020, 4 p.m.
Following a brief summary of recent departmental activity around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) by Professor Erin Carlson, chair of the Department of Chemistry Diversity & Inclusion Committee, we will introduce Stacie LeSure, Ph.D. She is a consultant based out of Washington, D.C., and an expert in DEI work with specific emphasis in science and engineering. LeSure will be working with the chemistry department to develop, implement, and assess the impacts of a strategic plan around DEI. She will provide some background and discuss the plans, general approach, and expectations. There will be a significant amount of time at the end for questions, comments, and discussion.
4th-Year Graduate Research Seminar Series: Session 8
Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020, 9:30 a.m. through Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020, 11 a.m.
Via Zoom
Xiaoxiao Yao at 9:30 a.m.
Adviser: Professor Christy L. Haynes
Environmental impact of carbon dots and its copper complex on plants growth
Nicholas J. Van Zee at 10 a.m.
Advisers: Professor Marc A. Hillmyer and Professor Timothy P. Lodge
Cell Membrane Stabilization Using Poloxamer Analogues
Jiaqian Li at 10:30 a.m.
Adviser: Professor William Pomerantz
Development of Protein-Based 19F MRI Imaging Agents for Breast Cancer Diagnosis
Sigma-Aldrich Chemistry Symposium: Midwest Region
Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020, 12:15 p.m. through Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020, 4:30 p.m.
SIGMA-ALDRICHTM Chemistry Symposium - Midwest Region
Symposium brochure
Professor Christopher Douglas
Presentation: 12:30-1:30 p.m.
Department of Chemistry
University of Minnesota
The activation of acyl C–O and C–C bonds: discovery, mechanism and application in synthesis
The metal-mediated activation of bonds to carbon has changed the way organic chemists approach chemical synthesis. This seminar will tell two stories from our lab in the area of activating the carbon acyl bond. The first story describes our sterically-controlled arene acylation with esters via iridium catalysis. This transformation provides complementary selectivity to the electronically controlled Friedel-Crafts acylation, and allows direct access to new substituted benzophenones. I will present our discovery of this process, and investigation into the synthetic utility of the reaction through a study of the scope of both arene and ester components, culminating in the concise synthesis of the potent anti-cancer/anti-mitotic agent hydroxyphenstatin. Our mechanistic data indicates a unique reaction mechanism that integrates metal mediated acyl C–O activation with arene C–H activation with a single iridium catalyst. The second story describes our development of the activation of the acyl bond of cyanoformamides for additions across alkenes. Our mechanistic work elucidated the role of Lewis base and Lewis acid additives in the process and paved the way for its application in alkaloid synthesis.
4th-Year Graduate Research Seminar Series: Session 7
Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2020, 9:30 a.m. through Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2020, 11 a.m.
Via Zoom
Randall K. Wilharm at 9:30 a.m.
Adviser: Professor Valérie C. Pierre
Medical and Environmental Applications of Lanthanide-based Receptors for Phosphate
Noelle Olson at 10 a.m.
Adviser: Professor William Pomerantz
NMR Analyses of Acetylated H2A.Z Isoforms Identify Differential Binding Interactions with the Bromodomain of the NURF Nucleosome Remodeling Complex
Andrew Northwick at 10:30 a.m.
Advisers: Professor Erin Carlson and Professor Timothy Griffin
Novel Techniques to Study Biomolecular Corona Evolution
Professor Kristopher McNeill
Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020, Noon through Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020, 1 p.m.
Professor Kristopher McNeill
Department of Environmental Systems Science
ETH Zurich
Host: Professor Marc Hillmyer
Abstract
An Environmental Chemist's View of Biodegradable Plastics
Contamination of the environment with plastic is a long-recognized problem, but in recent years, there has been a remarkable increase in public attention and outcry regarding plastic pollution. The low cost and durability of plastic materials, which make them desirable for many applications, are the same factors that contribute to their accumulation. The low cost lowers the barrier to short-term and single use applications and the durability means that, once in the environment, these materials are highly persistent. On this latter point, there is a growing interest and market for non-persistent, biodegradable plastic materials, which could help the problem of accumulation of plastic in the environment. This presentation will focus on several key questions about these alternative biodegradable materials: How do we know that a material is really biodegrading instead of just breaking down into microplastic? How does the receiving environment affect biodegradability? Are there applications where biodegradable plastics are viable alternatives to conventional plastics? What are the challenges that we face from an environmental chemistry perspective?
4th-Year Graduate Research Seminar Series: Session 6
Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020, 9:30 a.m. through Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020, 11 a.m.
Via Zoom
Huda Zahid at 9:30 a.m.
Adviser: Professor William Pomerantz
Development of Small-Molecule Inhibitors of the Bromodomain of Epigenetic Protein BPTFn
Andrey Joaqui at 10 a.m.
Adviser: Professor Valérie C. Pierre
Designing Bacteria-Specific Tracers for PET Imaging
Katherine Jones at 10:30 a.m.
Adviser: Professor Daniel Harki
Discovery of APOBEC3 Ligands by High-Throughput Screening