Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Dr. Paul Craig, from The Rochester Institute of Technology, will present a seminar entitled, “Using protein function prediction to promote hypothesis-driven thinking in undergraduate biochemistry education.” Abstract: A team of twelve faculty members at eight institutions is developing a Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience where students are seeking to predict functions for proteins of unknown functions. In the past year we have learned a great deal about the logistical aspects of implementing a CURE curriculum on a variety of campuses with widely [...]

Dr. Caleb Martin, from Baylor University, will be presenting a seminar titled, " Exploiting the Diverse Chemistry of Boroles to Access Unsaturated Boracycles". Abstract: Although boroles (1) were first reported in 1969, their reactivity has remained virtually unexplored until recently. The unique combination of a Lewis acidic tricoordinate boron center, a diene, and a strained planar BC4 five-membered ring in a single molecule coupled with the four p-electron anti-aromatic state results in highly diverse reactivity for boroles.1 Our groups’ efforts [...]

Dr. Toby L. Nelson, from Oklahoma State University, will be presenting a seminar titled "Redefining Melanin: From Eumelanin- inspired materials to structure- property relationships." Melanin is a unique class of natural occurring pigments found in the hair, eyes, skin and the brain of mammals. Eumelanin is the black-brown variety of Melanin and understood to be a biosynthesized heterogeneous macromolecule containing 5,6-dihydroxyindole and 5,6-dihydroxyindole-2-carboxyic acid. Nature has chosen this substance with such complexity and undefined structure as the centerpiece for so [...]

Dr. James Collins, from The University of Florida, will be presenting a seminar titled, "Iron-Copper Interactions in Health and Disease".

Dr. Sherri McFarland, from The University of North Carolina - Greensboro, will be presenting a seminar titled, "Adventures in Photomedicine: Using Light-Mediated Processes to Improve Health and Treat Disease". Photomedicine is an interdisciplinary field where chemistry and light meet to fight disease. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a special branch of photomedicine that employs a sensitizer molecule, light, and oxygen to destroy target cells with spatiotemporal selectivity. Despite its enormous potential for treating certain diseases, including cancer and infection, PDT has [...]

Dr. Andrew Murkin, from University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, will present a seminar titled, "Mechanism and inhibition of enzyme-catalyzed retro-aldol reactions in Mycobacterium tuberculosis." Abstract: Retro-aldol reactions involve the cleavage of a compound containing an alcohol b to a carbonyl, yielding an aldehyde and another carbonyl-containing product (i.e., aldehyde, ketone, ester, or carboxylic acid). Enzymes that catalyze this process may release the two products, as in the case of aldolases and other carbon-carbon lyases, or may [...]

Dr. Brian Long, from The University of Tennessee, will be presenting a seminar titled, "Accessing Tailored Polyolefins and Gas Separation Membranes via Coordination Polymerization Methods." ABSTRACT:       Coordination-insertion based polymerization methods provide a multitude of opportunities for enhanced control over catalytic activity, selectivity, and reactivity. Through tailored catalyst development and macromolecular design, the Long Research Group leverages these advantages to synthesize unique and/or tailored polymeric structures for a variety of applications. In this talk, we will demonstrate the potential power of [...]