Past Seminars & Events
Professor Luis A. Colón
SUNY Distinguished Professor
A. Conger Goodyear Professor of Chemistry Associate Dean for Inclusive Excellence, College of Arts and Sciences
University at Buffalo
“Tinkering with silica: new approaches to modified silica materials”
Silica can be considered a ubiquitous material with a widespread of applications in chemical and biomedical research, let alone its multiple industrial applications. My research group investigates new approaches to synthesize silica materials and their chemical functionalization for several applications. This has led to the synthesis of stable hybrid silicas in the monolithic and particulate formats, studies of submicron hybrid particles for separations under ultrahigh pressure liquid chromatographic and capillary elelctrochromatographic modes, as well as exploring non-conventional methods to silica modification. One of our major research efforts is the production of silica particulates that can be utilized in chemical separations. In this lecture, I will present our recent work on two fronts: 1) the use of diazotization reactions to synthesize a thin polyphenylene-like layer on the silica particle surface, and 2) the synthesis of radially oriented nanostructures of organo-silica hybrid layers in a core-shell format. In both cases, the particulate’s surface contains a reactive pendant that allows for further surface functionalization, while preserving desired particle properties. I will discuss the synthetic approach used and the physicochemical characteristics of the synthesized silica material, as well as their potential use in chemical separations.
Luis A. Colón
Luis A. Colón received the B.Sc. degree in chemistry from the University of Puerto Rico at Cayey, the Ph.D. degree in chemistry from UMASS-Lowell, and was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University before joining
the Department of Chemistry at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo. He is currently a SUNY Distinguished Professor and the A. Conger Goodyear Chair Professor of Chemistry. He also serves as Associate Dean for Inclusive Excellence in the College of Arts and Sciences. His current research focuses on the study and characterization of materials for use in separation science and chemical measurements. Of particular interest are the development of chromatographic media for liquid phase separations and the development of new strategies to separate and analyze complex chemical or biochemical sample mixtures (e.g., biofluids, intracellular components, protein digests, and pharmaceutical drugs). He also works on issues that advance diversity in graduate education. His has mentored over 50 graduate students.
Luis Colón is Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences (AAAS), the American Chemical Society (ACS), and the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). He has been awarded the NSF Special Creativity Award, the Benedetti-Pichler Award from the Microchemical Society, the Jacob F. Schoellkopf Medal (ACS- WNY), the EAS Outstanding Achievements in Separation Science Award, and the Dal Nogare Award in Chromatography. Other distinctions include the AAAS Mentor Award, ACS Award for Encouraging Disadvantaged Students into Careers in the Chemical Sciences, the ACS Stanley C. Israel Award, and the USA Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring.
Host: Professor Edgar Arriaga
Professor Luis A. Colón
SUNY Distinguished Professor
A. Conger Goodyear Professor of Chemistry Associate Dean for Inclusive Excellence, College of Arts and Sciences
University at Buffalo
“A few words on mentoring and diversifying the workforce in the chemical sciences”
Advances in the chemical sciences have been possible because of the research contributions of many individuals, each one providing a unique perspective to solve a research problem, which in turn allows progress. Diverse viewpoints and backgrounds enhance the collaborative efforts necessary to achieve superior outcomes that ultimately benefit society. Progress, therefore, requires diversity in all its forms and at all levels. As academics, educating the next generation of scientists, we confront the reality that the students in the classrooms and trainees in the research laboratories do not represent the national demographics. In the view of many, this continues to create a demand for a diverse workforce that can allow a comprehensive and diverse approach to solve world challenges and advance chemistry for the benefit of everyone. Many aspects contribute to the poor mirror image of national demographics and graduate outcomes in our profession, and these can be complex in nature. Despite some progress, we must maintain a bold determination to advancing diversity in the chemical profession. I make the argument that relationship building, and mentoring are key factors to close the gap between national demographics and representation in our laboratories, and eventually in the workforce. Interventions that serve individuals, enhancement of support, and institutional changes are all contributors to provide better outcomes. The mentoring and support of graduate students and new faculty becomes essential in this endeavor. One can draw a parallel between our own research work and the efforts toward advancing diversity and increasing participation in our field. As new approaches are investigated to produce improved material characteristics in my own research, there are many “diamonds in the rough” waiting for an opportunity and a little “push” to bring new perspectives that will advance scientific research. This presentation will reflect on experiences and efforts undertaken to increase participation of underrepresented students in the chemical sciences. It is also a tribute to the number of researchers from different backgrounds who have created an enriched environment in our laboratories to advance research in the chemical sciences.
Luis A. Colón
Luis A. Colón received the B.Sc. degree in chemistry from the University of Puerto Rico at Cayey, the Ph.D. degree in chemistry from UMASS-Lowell, and was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University before joining
the Department of Chemistry at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo. He is currently a SUNY Distinguished Professor and the A. Conger Goodyear Chair Professor of Chemistry. He also serves as Associate Dean for Inclusive Excellence in the College of Arts and Sciences. His current research focuses on the study and characterization of materials for use in separation science and chemical measurements. Of particular interest are the development of chromatographic media for liquid phase separations and the development of new strategies to separate and analyze complex chemical or biochemical sample mixtures (e.g., biofluids, intracellular components, protein digests, and pharmaceutical drugs). He also works on issues that advance diversity in graduate education. His has mentored over 50 graduate students.
Luis Colón is Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences (AAAS), the American Chemical Society (ACS), and the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). He has been awarded the NSF Special Creativity Award, the Benedetti-Pichler Award from the Microchemical Society, the Jacob F. Schoellkopf Medal (ACS- WNY), the EAS Outstanding Achievements in Separation Science Award, and the Dal Nogare Award in Chromatography. Other distinctions include the AAAS Mentor Award, ACS Award for Encouraging Disadvantaged Students into Careers in the Chemical Sciences, the ACS Stanley C. Israel Award, and the USA Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring.
Host: Professor Edgar Arriaga
Professor Yiming Wang
Assistant Professor
Chemistry Department
University of Pittsburgh
“Cationic Late Transition Metal Complexes for Selective α-C–H Functionalization”
We describe the discovery and development of catalytic α-C–H functionalization reactions of simple unsaturated hydrocarbons, including alkynes, alkenes, and allenes, using cationic cyclopentadienyliron (II) dicarbonyl complexes. These complexes enable the development of a new mode of catalytic C–H functionalization in which metal coordination to a π-bond facilitates the deprotonation of a neighboring C–H bond. The implementation of this strategy resulted in mild, functional group tolerant, and regioselective transformations for the coupling of unsaturated hydrocarbons with aldehydes, iminiums, and other readily available or easily accessed carbon electrophiles. Investigations into the reaction mechanism and the discovery and optimization of new ligand systems are discussed. Extensions of this approach to other transition metal catalysts for stereoselective transformations are also described.
Yiming Wang
Yiming Wang was born in Shanghai, China and grew up in Colorado, USA. He graduated with an A.B./A.M. degree in chemistry & physics and mathematics from Harvard University in 2008 after conducting research in the group of Professor Andrew Myers. After obtaining his Ph.D. under the supervision of Professor Dean Toste at the University of California, Berkeley in 2013, he conducted postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Professor Stephen Buchwald at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellow. He joined the Department of Chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh in Fall 2017.
Dr. Kimberly Schultz
Dr. Kimberly Schultz
Senior Product Development Specialist, 3M Company
Celebrating Women Chemists Lunch Seminar Series
The Celebrating Women Chemists lunch seminar series, hosted by the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Chemistry Chapter, provides a forum for networking across the various subdivisions of chemistry and fosters a sense of community among participants. These presentations are an opportunity for women chemists to share information about their unique career paths in a way to help inform students and postdocs in our department on the variety of opportunities they can pursue. These seminars are open to all, but we especially encourage women, including graduate students, postdocs, faculty and staff, to attend. This month’s speaker is Dr. Kimberly Schultz, Senior Product Development Specialist at 3M.
Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Chemistry Chapter
The Chemistry WISE team provides a networking resource for women graduate students and post-docs in the department, with the goal of increasing the recruitment and retention of women, and improving the climate for all chemists.
Contact: Polly Lynch, CWC Luncheon Coordinator lynch764@umn.edu
Dr. Vinícius Wilian D. Cruzeiro
Dr. Vinícius Wilian D. Cruzeiro
Department of Chemistry
Stanford University
“Pushing boundaries in computational chemistry: describing quantum effects in large and complex systems with accelerated calculations”
Computational chemistry acts as a “virtual microscope” that em- ploys quantum mechanics (or approximations to it) to allow us to observe the behavior of matter at the atomic level. These computational simulations not only advance our understanding of experimental observations but can even be used to guide experimental designs. Therefore, innovations that extend existing methods in new directions or that make the calculations faster are essential to push the computational chemistry field forward, allowing for novel and more complex systems to be explored. In this talk, we will examine three cases where limitations in existing methods were surpassed and applied to address a range of different chemical problems. First, we will see how – despite limitations in classical force fields to describe bond breaking/formation and electron transfer – we were able to use classical force fields to describe pH and redox effects in proteins. Then, we will see how to exploit the power of GPU-acceleration in quantum calculations while connect- ing quantum chemistry programs with third-party consumers in an efficient and easy-to-use way. Lastly, we will examine quantitative predictions in atmospheric chemistry for the reactive uptake of N2O5 by aerosol particles, which is notable as experimental measurements of this process are particularly difficult to obtain, but computational chemistry provided insight into the reaction mechanism. Taken together, these studies show exciting applications of computational chemistry that either directly provided new insights to experimental observations or were performed in situations where experimental measures are inaccessible.
Vinícius Wilian D. Cruzeiro
Dr. Vinícius Cruzeiro is currently a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University working with Professor Todd Martínez at the Department of Chemistry. Dr. Cruzeiro obtained his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Florida working with Professor Adrian Roitberg. Dr. Cruzeiro’s research with computational/theoretical chemistry aims at accurately describing the behavior of proteins, biomolecules, and related systems using molecular simulations, quantum mechanics, and machine learn- ing representations while leveraging collaborations with experimentalists. Dr. Cruzeiro develops methodologies and software for molecular simulations and electronic structure calculations, including simulations to pre-dict coupled electrochemical and pH effects, enhanced sampling techniques, and quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics approaches. Some of Dr. Cruzeiro’s recent research interests include elucidating enzyme-catalyzed reaction mechanisms, making quantum calculations more accessible and efficient, describing the X-ray emission spectrum of liquid water, and providing quantitative predictions about the reactive update of N2O5 by aerosol particles in atmospheric chemistry.
Professor Lisa A. Fredin
Assistant Professor
Chemistry Department
Lehigh University
“Modeling Photoactive Organic Materials”
Chemical intuition is well developed for single molecules but the extent to which disorder in solid state molecular materials contributes to their properties is poorly understood. In particular, molecular materials move charges in some directions much more efficiently than others due to the packing of the molecules. Noncovalent interactions between the molecular components mean that dynamic disorder in these materials can have a large impact on the electronic properties of these materials at room temperature. This work explores how packing and vibrations in organic crystals affect charge transport in light driven devices. In particular, the size of dynamic disorder due to phonons or electronic excitation of molecules in the crystal is predicted for well-ordered high-mobility single crystals.
Lisa A. Fredin
Lisa A. Fredin is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Lehigh University. Her research draws on her background combining experiment and theory to develop computational and theoretical models of fundamental electronic properties to design materials with targeted properties. The Fredin group develops models of the chemistry and physics of a broad range of disordered materials, bridging physical chemistry, material science, nanoscience, and computation; as well as, probing the boundaries of the particle and wave approximations of electrons in materials.
Professor Fredin earned a doctorate in chemistry at Northwestern University, and a bachelor’s in chemistry, biochemistry and applied mathematics (minor in computer science) at the University of Texas
at Austin. Before coming to Lehigh, Fredin served as a research chemist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
Professor Brent Sumerlin
Department of Chemistry
George & Josephine Butler Polymer Research Laboratory
University of Florida
“Photocatalysis to synthesize, derivatize, depolymerize, and degrade polymers”
Relying solely on mild ultraviolet or visible light irradiation of thiocarbonylthio compounds, we have developed a new avenue to polymer-protein conjugates, semi-telechelic polymers, and well-defined ultrahigh molecular weight (UHMW) block polymers. Using either a photocatalyst or relying on the direct activation of photoactive functional groups, we are able to (i) synthesize polymers by photoiniferter polymerization and (ii) install new functionality to these polymers to prepare copolymers of (meth)acrylates and olefins that are inaccessible by direct copolymerization. Extending these approaches to the rapidly growing field of photocatalytic decarboxylation, we were also able to prepare
photodegradable polymers that have all-carbon backbones. Most recently, we have demonstrated that by employing the traditional conditions of photopolymerization at elevated temperatures, we are able to achieve dramatically accelerated depolymerization to regenerate monomer, suggesting low-energy photochemistry can be leveraged to approach life-cycle circularity.
Brent Sumerlin
Brent Sumerlin is the George Bergen Butler Chair in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Florida. He received his undergraduate degree from North Carolina State University in 1998 and later earned his PhD in Polymer Science & Engineering at the University of Southern Mississippi under the guidance of Charles McCormick. After completing his PhD, Sumerlin worked as a Visiting Assistant Professor/Postdoctoral Research Associate at Carnegie Mellon University under Krzysztof Matyjaszewski. In 2005, he took a faculty position at Southern Methodist University before moving to the University of Florida in 2012. Sumerlin is an associate editor for ACS Macro Letters and a
Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. He has received numerous awards, including the Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, NSF CAREER Award, ACS Leadership Development Award, Journal of Polymer Science Innovation Award, Biomacromolecules/Macromolecules Young Investigator Award, the Hanwha-Total IUPAC Award, and the UF Doctoral Dissertation Mentoring/Advising Award.
Professor Guowei Wei
Foundation Professor
Department of Mathematics; Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Electrical & Computer Engineering
Michigan State University
“Mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2 Evolution and Transmission”
Discovering the mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2 evolution and transmission is one of the greatest challenges of our time. By integrating artificial intelligence (AI), viral genomes isolated from patients, tens of thousands of mutational data, biophysics, bioinformatics, and algebraic topology, the SARS-CoV-2 evolution was revealed to be governed by infectivity-based natural selection in early 2020 (J. of Mole. Biol. 2020, 432, 5212-5226). Two key mutation sites, L452 and N501 on the viral spike protein receptor-binding domain (RBD), were predicted in summer 2020, long before they occur in prevailing variants Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Kappa, Theta, Lambda, Mu, and Omicron. Our recent studies identified a new mechanism of natural selection: antibody resistance (J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2021, 12, 49, 11850–11857). AI-based forecasting of Omicron’s infectivity, vaccine breakthrough, and antibody resistance was later nearly perfectly confirmed by experiments (J. Chem. Inf. Model. 2022, 62, 2, 412–422). The replacement of dominant BA.1 by BA.2 in later March was foretold in early February (J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2022, 13, 17, 3840–3849). On May 1, 2022, we projected Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 to become the new dominating COVID-19 variants (arXiv:2205.00532). This prediction became reality in late June. Our models accurately forecast mutational impacts on the efficacy of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs).
Guowei Wei, Ph.D.
Guowei Wei earned his Ph.D. degree from the University of British Columbia in 1996. He was awarded a post-doctoral fellowship from the NSERC of Canada to pursue his postdoctoral work at the University of Houston. In 1998, he joined the faculty of the National University of Singapore and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2001. In 2002, he relocated to Michigan State University, where he is an MSU Foundation Professor of Mathematics, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. His current research interests include mathematical foundations of data science and biosciences, deep learning, drug discovery, and computational geometry, topology, and graph. Dr. Wei has served extensively in a wide variety of national and international panels, committees, and journal editorships. His work was reported in numerous news and media articles.
Professor Hans Renata
Associate Professor
Department of Chemistry
Rice University
“Combining Synthetic Chemistry and Biology for Streamlining Access to Complex Molecules”
By virtue of their unrivaled selectivity profiles, enzymes possess re markable potential to address unsolved challenges in chemical synthesis. The realization of this potential, however, has only recently gained traction. Recent advances in enzyme engineering and genome mining have provided a powerful platform for identifying and optimizing enzymatic transformations for synthetic applications and allowed us to begin formulating novel synthetic strategies and disconnections. This talk will describe our recent efforts in developing a new design language in chemical synthesis that centers on the incorporation of biocatalytic approaches in contemporary synthetic logic. Case studies will focus on the use of this platform in the chemoenzymatic syntheses of complex natural products and also highlight how this platform could serve as a starting point to enable further biological and medicinal chemistry discoveries.
Hans Renata
Hans Renata received his B.A. degree from Columbia University in 2008, conducting research under the tutelage of Professor Tristan H. Lambert. He earned his Ph.D. from The Scripps Research Institute in 2013 under the guidance of Professor Phil S. Baran. After postdoctoral studies with Professor Frances H. Arnold at the California Institute of Technology, he started his independent career at The Scripps Research Institute in 2016. In 2022, he moved to Rice University as an Associate Professor and CIPRIT Scholar. His research focuses on natural product synthesis and biocatalytic reaction developments. For these efforts, he has received several notable awards, such as the NSF CAREER award, the Sloan fellowship, the Chemical and Engineering News “Talented 12” award and the Arthur C. Cope Scholar award.
Sponsored by Organic Syntheses and AbbVie
Dr. Russell D. Cink
Dr. Russell D. Cink
Senior Principal Research Scientist
AbbVie
“Process Development of Glecaprevir”
Glecaprevir was identified as a potent hepatitis C virus (HCV) protease inhibitor, and an enabling synthesis was required to support early clinical trials. The key steps in the enabling route involved a ring-closing metathesis (RCM) reaction to form the 18-membered macrocycle and a challenging fluorination step to form a key difluoromethyl-substituted cyclopropyl amino acid. To support the late-stage clinical trials and subsequent commercial launch, a large-scale synthetic route to glecaprevir was required. The large-scale route to the macrocycle employed a unique intramolecular etherification reaction as the key step. The large-scale route to the difluoromethyl-substituted cyclopropyl amino acid avoided the fluorination challenges by constructing the amino acid from a commercially available difluoromethyl-substituted hemi-acetal. The key steps in the amino acid synthesis were a Knoevenagel condensation, a Corey- Chaykovsky cyclopropanation, a Curtius rearrangement, and a chiral resolution. Subsequent coupling of the macrocycle to the amino acid containing sidechain produced glecaprevir in 16% overall yield.
Russell D. Cink
Russell D. Cink graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1991 with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering. While an undergraduate, he conducted research under the direction of Wayland E. Noland which sparked his interest in synthetic organic chemistry. After working for 2 years as a consultant, he returned to the University of Minnesota and obtained a Ph.D. in Chemistry in 1998 under the direction of Craig J. Forsyth. Since 1998 he has worked as a process chemist at Abbott / AbbVie, primarily focused on small molecule process development and antibody drug conjugates.
Sponsored by Organic Syntheses and AbbVie