Transformations of Alkenes using Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Nickel-Hydride Catalysts

Abstract: Surface Organometallic Chemistry is an approach to synthesizing heterogeneous catalysts with molecular precision and relies on knowledge of homogeneous organometallic reactions. In our lab, we aim to install active sites on surfaces using oxidative addition of low-valent metal centers to surface functional groups. This strategy is a complementary route to the more common approaches (e.g., protonolysis of metal-ligand bonds by acidic surface sites) taken in surface organometallic chemistry.

The missing piece: in situ diffraction for catalytic understanding

Abstract: For decades the materials paradigm has been a linear process used to connect structure to properties and performance. However, this wrongfully assumes that the operating conditions under which the materials work do not affect the structure measured under ambient or mild conditions. In this work, several oxygen transport membranes have been studied under industrially relevant conditions for the partial oxidation of methane via in situ neutron and synchrotron diffraction.

Lee Event 2024: A Fresh Look at the Chemistry Behind Acid Rain

Abstract: The two major components of acid rain are sulfuric acid (H2SO4) and nitric acid (HNO3). Sulfur dioxide (SO2) is the main precursor of H2SO4. Atmospheric sulfur dioxide is oxidized homogeneously by reaction of SO2 with OH and O2 leading to SO3, which then reacts with water to form sulfuric acid. This is the now accepted acid rain mechanism for generation of atmospheric sulfuric acid.

Creative Routes to Unnatural Amino Acids, Chiral Phosphines, and Nitrogen-Heterocycles

Abstract: 

Hydrofunctionalization is a powerful tool to add fragments across unsaturated building blocks to furnish more complex structures and introduce new stereocenters. My PhD studies have focused on Rh and Cu-catalyzed hydrofunctionalization to build both carbon-carbon and carbon-heteroatom bonds in a stereoselective and regioselective manner. With careful pairing of transition-metals and ligands, we successfully accessed chiral α,α-disubstituted-α-amino acid precursors, chiral cyclopropyl phosphines and N-arylated pyrazole motifs.

Eddleman Quantum Institute Seminar: New Developments in Superconducting Quantum Computing with Josephson Junctions

Abstract: Among the myriad of quantum systems being considered for the implementation of quantum computing, superconducting circuits are among the earliest to be developed and most mature. This is likely because they are relatively straightforward and simple to implement, i.e. the fabrication is significantly simpler than typical VLSI circuits as well as the fact that typical VLSI circuits can be leveraged to control and read out the information from the superconducting quantum bits (qubits).

Thermal density functional theory from a strictly correlated electron perspective

Abstract: Density functional theory is a key computational tool in the design and analysis of fusion experiments and the examination of materials under extreme conditions. To explore how best to model the complicated electronic behavior seen under these warm dense matter conditions, the strictly correlated electron approach is extended to thermal density functional theory.

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