Happening @ Michigan https://events.umich.edu/list/rss RSS Feed for Happening @ Michigan Events at the University of Michigan. Alum|NUM & URAN|UM 2023 (July 27, 2023 9:00am) https://events.umich.edu/event/107909 107909-21818388@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, July 27, 2023 9:00am
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Alum|NUM (pronounced “aluminum”) stands for Alumni Networking at UMich. The purpose of this graduate student run event is to connect chemistry department alumni to current graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and faculty and to enable graduate students and post docs to learn from the wealth of experiences of the department’s alumni. The festivities will include:

• A networking reception
• Presentation of the graduate student awards
• Various professional development activities
• Academic and industrial career panels, and
• An undergraduate poster session (URAN|UM)

URAN|UM (pronounced “uranium”) stands for Undergraduate Research and Networking at UMich. The purpose of this graduate student run event is to connect undergraduates in chemistry related departments at or near UMich to Faculty, alumni, and current graduate students at UMich. We aim to enable professional development of these undergraduates, showcase the resources of our department to students from PUIs, and provide a way for students to gain experience presenting research.

All event registrants and University of Michigan affiliated students, postdocs, faculty and staff are welcome to attend the Undergraduate Poster Session 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm July 27th 2023.

Any questions, contact the organizing committee at aluminum.uranium.2023@umich.edu

Faculty support for this event comes from Prof. Paul Zimmerman.

Support is provided by Corteva, the University of Michigan Department of Chemistry, CSIE|UM, CALC|UM, and the Chemistry Graduate Student Council.

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Conference / Symposium Wed, 26 Jul 2023 08:34:39 -0400 2023-07-27T09:00:00-04:00 2023-07-27T17:00:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Conference / Symposium Save the Date
Karle Symposium 2023 (July 28, 2023 9:00am) https://events.umich.edu/event/109242 109242-21821303@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, July 28, 2023 9:00am
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Designed and run by graduate students, the Isabella and Jerome Karle Symposium serves as a venue for sharing exciting research taking place within the Department of Chemistry.

The Symposium is named for Isabella and Jerome Karle, distinguished graduates of the University of Michigan Department of Chemistry.

Both Isabella and Jerome Karle received their doctorates in physical chemistry from the University of Michigan. Isabella received her B.S., M.A., and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan before the age of 23. The two returned to the University of Michigan to become faculty members in the chemistry department before pursuing illustrious careers at the United States Naval Research Laboratory where they focused on the development and advancement of X-ray crystallography methods. Isabella and Jerome worked together to improve upon these methods needed to analyze and understand complex biomolecules. Though both contributed to solving this problem, only Jerome Karle was awarded, jointly with Herbert Hauptman, a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1985 “for their outstanding achievements in the development of direct methods for the determination of crystal structures”. Isabella and Jerome Karle’s contribution to chemistry can be felt around the world as laboratories perform X-ray crystallography experiments necessary to determine molecular structures.

The Karle Symposium was formerly known as the Victor Vaughan Symposium and PECRUM.

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Workshop / Seminar Thu, 20 Jul 2023 16:31:56 -0400 2023-07-28T09:00:00-04:00 2023-07-28T17:00:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Karle Logo
News from Phosphorus in Low Coordination (August 10, 2023 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109145 109145-21821130@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, August 10, 2023 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Low-coordinate phosphorus(III) compounds have recently re-gained noticeable interest as the very peculiar stereoelectronic and coordination properties of such λ3σ2-species differ significantly from classical trivalent λ3σ3-phosphanes. These special characteristics can lead to interesting effects in more applied research fields, such as homogeneous catalysis and material science.

This lecture will focus on the design and preparation of novel, functionalized phosphinines, the higher homologs of pyridines. Special emphasis will be paid to the modification of their electronic properties, their coordination chemistry and reactivity. A novel route towards terminal cyaphido-complexes LnM-C≡P will also be highlighted.

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Workshop / Seminar Tue, 25 Jul 2023 11:32:20 -0400 2023-08-10T16:00:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Electrochemical Society Ice cream Social Central Campus (August 17, 2023 3:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/110029 110029-21823597@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, August 17, 2023 3:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: ECS University of Michigan Student Chapter

Ice cream social at Central Campus!
When: August 17th from 3:00 - 4:00 PM
Where: In front of the Chemistry Building, 930 N University Ave.

Come out to enjoy some ice cream during the last few summer days and learn more about the Electrochemical Society (ECS) University of Michigan Student Chapter!

RSVP: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc7F3FRCYLdhPWrh0X5atvxNbptAfFnQZEHAWreh76-WnrX5w/viewform

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Social / Informal Gathering Fri, 11 Aug 2023 14:03:28 -0400 2023-08-17T15:00:00-04:00 2023-08-17T16:00:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab ECS University of Michigan Student Chapter Social / Informal Gathering Chemistry Dow Lab
Merck Symposium 2023 (August 24, 2023 8:00am) https://events.umich.edu/event/109245 109245-21821306@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, August 24, 2023 8:00am
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

ACADEMIC KEYNOTE TITLE: Organic Reaction Development Meets Data Science

ABSTRACT: The optimization of catalytic reactions for organic synthesis is difficult as the interplay between the ligand, reaction conditions, and substrates involved is a complex multidimensional problem. In other words, it is difficult to ascertain the pattern within the noise to offer a complete picture of how to optimize and/or interrupt why a certain set of conditions are required for a particular reaction. Therefore, we have aimed to develop several data science-based tools that assist the rapid analysis of structure function relationships to reveal the underlying reasons for improved performance of substrates and catalysts. Specifically, we have used new methods to develop descriptors for complex molecular architectures as well as data science methods to discern how these catalysts interact with a range of substrate types. This lecture will outline how we have put into practice a workflow that integrates data science tools, physical organic chemistry, and reaction optimization with a focus on new case studies in catalytic processes.

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Conference / Symposium Thu, 10 Aug 2023 08:19:08 -0400 2023-08-24T08:00:00-04:00 2023-08-24T18:00:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Conference / Symposium Chemistry Dow Lab
H.H. Willard Lecture (September 18, 2023 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109250 109250-21821310@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, September 18, 2023 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

TITLE: Ionic Liquids and GUMBOS: A Materials Approach to Analytical Chemistryach to Analytical Chemistry

ABSTRACT: In recent years, much of my research has focused in the general area of analytical applications of ionic liquids where ionic liquids are defined as organic salts whose melting points are below 100 °C. The unique and tunable properties of ionic liquids have garnered much attention, primarily because of their low melting points, ease of syntheses, and unique solvation properties. However, ionic liquids whose melting points are above room temperature are solid phase materials and are often described as frozen ionic liquids. My research over the past few years has involved the application of ionic liquids in both the liquid and solid phase. In regard to solid phase ionic liquids, my research has demonstrated the unique properties of solid phase organic salts with the unique tunability of ionic liquids. In describing these materials, we have coined the acronym, GUMBOS, i.e. a group of uniform materials based on organic salts. We have also designated such materials as having the expanded melting point range of 25 °C to 250 °C. Since these materials have similar tunability to ionic liquids, they can best be described as designer solid phase materials. In this talk, I will describe my recent studies using ionic liquids and GUMBOS. The unique properties and applications of nanomaterials derived from GUMBOS, i.e. nanoGUMBOS, will also be highlighted. We note that in combining the distinct tunability of ionic liquids with the well-documented applications of nanoparticles, we have engineered a new class of nanomaterials with wide general applicability. Several applications of traditional ionic liquids, GUMBOS, and nanoGUMBOS will be highlighted with applications in the areas of medicine, sensors, and material science.

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Lecture / Discussion Thu, 17 Aug 2023 09:22:24 -0400 2023-09-18T16:00:00-04:00 2023-09-18T17:15:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Lecture / Discussion Chemistry Dow Lab
Unconventional Approaches for Mediating Redox Reactions (September 19, 2023 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109251 109251-21821375@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, September 19, 2023 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Reactions involving electron transfers are known as oxidation-reduction, or redox, processes, common and vital to our daily lives. Redox reactions lie at the heart of chemical, biological, environmental, and energy sciences and technologies. Here, we show how employing unconventional approaches and blueprints to a broad range of redox reactions taking place within homogeneous photocatalysts, protein scaffolds, and electrochemical systems provides an avenue for novel chemistries. Together, our studies showcase examples of redox processes proceeding under mild conditions, with some being driven by light or an external bias. Specifically, we investigate the photoactivation of metal-oxo bonds in coordination compounds, mechanism and function of a new class of copper enzymes, and novel electrolyte materials for use in organic redox flow batteries. Importantly, the diversity of molecular structures, functions, and mechanisms involved in these examples will highlight the versatility and modularity of the redox reactions and their vital role in realizing a sustainable future.

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Workshop / Seminar Mon, 14 Aug 2023 13:21:43 -0400 2023-09-19T16:00:00-04:00 2023-09-19T17:15:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Wenjing Wang Promotion Seminar (September 20, 2023 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109252 109252-21821312@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, September 20, 2023 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Talk Title: Protein-based tools for studying brain signaling and neurodegenerative diseases

Abstract: One major challenge in neuroscience is capturing and manipulating neuronal signaling and modulation with high spatiotemporal resolution and across a large brain volume. To address this gap, my research group takes a chemical biology approach to design novel classes of protein-based sensors and tools. For example, we have designed new classes of fluorescence-integrators which generate permanent marks upon detection of specific neuromodulators. These fluorescence-integrators will enable whole-brain mapping of opioids, epinephrine, dopamine, and other neuromodulators with high spatial resolution. We have also designed light- and chemical-activated protein switches for controlling the activity of peptide agonists for G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), which will enable the activation of GPCRs in selective neuronal circuits to study their causal-effect on various physiological processes and behaviors. These protein-based sensors and tools will significantly facilitate the study of brain signaling and neuromodulation. Another significant hurdle in neuroscience is the lack of reagents to target misfolded a-synuclein (a-syn) protein aggregates, a hallmark of synucleinopathies. We have designed a-syn fibril-selective nanobodies which show efficacy in inhibiting pathology development in cultured neurons and mouse models. The a-syn fibril-selective nanobodies will provide valuable tools for studying synucleinopathies.

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Workshop / Seminar Tue, 12 Sep 2023 10:47:29 -0400 2023-09-20T16:00:00-04:00 2023-09-20T17:15:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Exploring the connections between chelating polymer structure and rare-earth element binding thermodynamics (September 21, 2023 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109253 109253-21821313@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, September 21, 2023 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Rare-earth elements (REEs: La–Lu, Y, and Sc) are integral to modern technology, but as technological development continues, world demand for these metals will increasingly outpace supply. Consequently, new and sustainable sources are needed, as well as more efficient methods of extraction and purification. Metal-chelating polymers have great potential in REE extraction and separation applications due to their relatively low cost and high affinity for target elements, but tuning the interaction between the polymer and metal is often challenging. To investigate the interplay between polymer structure and metal chelation, we synthesized metal-chelating polymers with systematic variations in structure (chelating group, tacticity, hydrophobicity, etc.). We then used isothermal titration calorimetry to directly measure the binding affinity, enthalpy changes, and stoichiometry of the interactions between a series of REEs in solution and these metal-chelating polymers. These measurements enabled us to characterize the complete thermodynamic profile of these polymer-metal interactions. Further measurements of changes in heat capacity, along with computational data, reveal the key role of water during metal binding. Ultimately, this structure–function information will be used to design new materials that are more effective for REE extraction and separation.

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Workshop / Seminar Fri, 11 Aug 2023 10:07:15 -0400 2023-09-21T16:00:00-04:00 2023-09-21T17:15:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Chemical tools to capture and control hexosamine sugar signaling in hyperglycemic disease (September 26, 2023 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109254 109254-21821314@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, September 26, 2023 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

All cells use sugar, but a consequence of unbalanced sugar usage is disease through hexosamine sugar signaling pathways including glucosamines. To precisely define the roles of hexosamine sugar-driven effects, the Fehl Group designs chemical tools sensitive for live-cell applications, for example our light-controlled photosugars and our cell compartment-specific "GlycoID" labeling strategy. We apply chemical biology tools at the interface of metabolism disease and cancer pathways to discover new roles for glucose-driven events in cells and disease. A key target area is determining the mechanisms and potential treatment strategies for cancers that have elevated risk in patients with hyperglycemia.

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Workshop / Seminar Thu, 21 Sep 2023 14:10:40 -0400 2023-09-26T16:00:00-04:00 2023-09-26T17:15:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Stabilizing Radical Processes (October 3, 2023 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109256 109256-21821316@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, October 3, 2023 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Our group kinetically traps reactive intermediates from group transfer catalysis or small molecule activation processes. Using molecular design, we can use steric confinement or Lewis acid coordination to stabilize reactive radicaloid ligands. We examine the electronic structure of the transition metal-element multiple bonds using a variety of spectroscopic and theoretical means. The electronic structure of the ensuing complexes will be examined for efficacy in group transfer catalysis. As the nuclearity of the reaction site expands, we examine how oxidation state and ligand field effects influence small molecule activation and redox distribution throughout the cluster cores.

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Workshop / Seminar Tue, 19 Sep 2023 09:01:00 -0400 2023-10-03T16:00:00-04:00 2023-10-03T17:15:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Exploring the Biosynthesis of Unusual Sugar-derived Natural Products (October 5, 2023 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109257 109257-21821318@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, October 5, 2023 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Many natural products derive their biological activities from their sugar components. Changing the structures of these sugar moieties can profoundly impact the biological properties of the fully assembled compounds. Realizing the potential of this chemistry requires both an understanding of the biosynthetic pathway of each sugar and a detailed mechanistic knowledge of the key enzymes. We and others have thus been devoted to unravelling the biochemical principles underlying the assembly of glycosylated natural products wherein a core set of enzyme activities mix and match to synthesize structurally diverse secondary metabolites. This work has laid the foundation for our more recent studies of the biosynthesis of sugar-derived natural products and revealed several cases involving unique and interesting chemistry. For example, the key transformation converting cytosylglucuronic acid (CGA) to cytosyl-4'-keto-3'-deoxy-D-glucuronic acid during the biosynthesis of blasticidins is a radical initiated 1,2-diol dehydration catalyzed by the radical SAM enzyme BlsE. Likewise, C-glycosylation appears to be required for the introduction of a C–C bond between pyranose and furanose bearing precursors during the biosynthesis of herbicidin thereby generating its tricyclic structure. However, the herbicidin biosynthetic gene cluster does not contain a typical glycosyltransferase. Instead, it was found that the C–C coupling reaction proceeds in two-stages resulting in net C5'-glycosylation between ATP and UDP-glucuronic acid catalyzed by two NAD-dependent enzymes. The biosynthetic roles of selected enzymes in these two systems, their mechanisms of catalysis, and the insights they can offer for understanding natural product biosynthesis and radical SAM enzymology will be discussed.

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Workshop / Seminar Tue, 05 Sep 2023 09:15:01 -0400 2023-10-05T16:00:00-04:00 2023-10-05T17:15:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
From Oscillations to Chaos: In Search of Attractor States on the Cortex of Living Cells (October 6, 2023 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109091 109091-21821060@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, October 6, 2023 12:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: LSA Biophysics

Periodic wave patterns are widely observed in oscillatory or excitable chemical systems and in multicellular systems. More recently, waves of cortical activity, linked to actin dynamics in many cases, have been documented in a variety of single-cell systems, including various immune cell types. I will discuss our understanding of the pattern formation mechanisms on the cortical region of mast cells, including the molecular definitions underlying a number of wave characteristics. These spatial and temporal patterns represent attractor states in dynamical systems, which describe the trajectory a system gravitates towards depending on the network topology, control parameter, and sometimes initial conditions. We are particularly interested in applying this dynamical framework to understand lipid metabolism, actin dynamics and signal transduction that controls fundamental cell biological processes such as mitosis.

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Workshop / Seminar Tue, 26 Sep 2023 08:59:32 -0400 2023-10-06T12:00:00-04:00 2023-10-06T13:00:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab LSA Biophysics Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Alison Narayan Promotion Seminar (October 9, 2023 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109258 109258-21821319@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, October 9, 2023 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Title: Biocatalysis tools & strategies to enable complex molecule synthesis

Abstract: In Nature’s approach to building molecules, hundreds of different enzymes carry out their individual chemical reactions simultaneously in a single cell. The laboratory approach to chemical synthesis is very different. Modern medicines, dyes, fragrances, and biological probe compounds are prepared with combinations of small molecule reagents and catalysts that are significantly less effective than Nature at achieving multistep synthetic cascades. The work described leverages the power of Nature’s tools for building complex molecules to synthesize libraries of natural and unnatural products. Enzymes with potential synthetic utility are used as a starting point for engineering biocatalysts with (1) broad substrate scope, (2) high catalytic efficiency, and (3) exquisite substrate, site-, and stereoselectivity. These biocatalytic methods are employed to efficiently synthesize biologically active complex molecules in a high throughput format.

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Workshop / Seminar Thu, 21 Sep 2023 14:11:54 -0400 2023-10-09T16:00:00-04:00 2023-10-09T17:15:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Jennifer Bridwell-Rabb Promotion Seminar (October 10, 2023 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/107242 107242-21815668@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, October 10, 2023 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Title: Design Principles for Metalloprotein Chemistry

Abstract: Metalloproteins catalyze some of Nature’s most amazing and difficult chemical transformations. One such transformation, of interest to our laboratory, is the use of a high valent Fe-based oxidant to facilitate the functionalization of a traditionally inert C–H bond. Since this chemistry is vital to a variety of biochemical pathways, metalloproteins are recognized for their potential to build natural products with medical, environmental, and industrial relevance, and to degrade environmental contaminants. However, the practical applicability of metalloproteins, in many cases, is limited by a gap in knowledge regarding structure–function relationships. Within our broad interests of elucidating the structure and mechanism of understudied metalloproteins, I will highlight our work on the Rieske Oxygenases. I will showcase our progress toward identifying the architectural motifs that Rieske oxygenases employ to dictate site-selectivity, substrate specificity, and reaction outcome in different enzyme systems. Furthermore, I will detail our mechanistic work on a divergent Rieske oxygenase that catalyzes two iterative monooxygenation reactions. Collectively, this work adds to our fundamental understanding of Rieske oxygenase chemistry, provides predictive power for thinking about how other members of the 70,000-membered enzyme class can be custom-tuned to catalyze alternative reactions, and will facilitate rational engineering of these catalysts.

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Other Tue, 19 Sep 2023 10:46:55 -0400 2023-10-10T16:00:00-04:00 2023-10-10T17:15:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Other Chemistry Dow Lab
Advances in the Design of Real-time Chemical/biochemical Sensors: Meeting Needs for the 21st Century (October 17, 2023 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/113230 113230-21830584@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, October 17, 2023 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

ABSTRACT: In recent years, sensor research has experienced a revolution, promising to have a significant impact on a broad range of applications relating to national security, health care and medicine, the environment, energy, food safety, and manufacturing etc. This presentation will discuss some of the key technological developments of chemical and biosensors, particularly, the real-time electrochemical sensor technology that has taken place in the past decades in our laboratory for health, environmental and energy applications. It will include a few topics: (1) general theory of sensors; (2) basic characteristics and applications of sensors; (3) unique sensing elements and interface reactions such as peptides, conductive polymers, ionic liquids and nanocrystals in our sensing strategy to achieve in situ and real time detection of important chemical and bioanalytes with high temporal and spatial resolution. Our fundamental and applied research at solid/liquid/gas interfaces allows us to address many sensors challenges, especially miniaturized, real-time and continuous sensing that are essential for their integration with engineering advancements such as portable electronics, networked sensing and next-generation monolithic implementation of autonomous sensors with the performance, cost, power, and operational lifetime characteristics to suit a broad range of applications in health, environment and energy applications

SHORT BIO: Xiangqun Zeng is currently a Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan. She recently accepted a joint full professor position at departments of chemistry, chemical and biomedical engineering at University of Missouri Columbia starting Jan. 1, 2024. Dr. Zeng received her Ph.D. in electrochemistry and surface chemistry from State University of New York at Buffalo, her M.S. in Electroanalytical Chemistry from Beijing Normal University and her B.S. in Analytical Chemistry from Sichuan University in China. Her research interests lie at materials and interface science. Currently, her lab studies fundamental interfacial phenomena at electrode interfaces for the development of next generation detection technologies, i.e., in vitro, ex vivo, in vivo, in situ detection and quantification of molecules and species of chemical and biological significance with high sensitivity and specificity at high temporal and/or spatial resolution for a broad range of applications including health, environment and energy applications. She has nine patents and published over 100 high quality peer review papers and six book chapters which summarize her significant contributions to applied electrochemistry, analytical chemistry and sensor fields. She has mentored over 80 students/postdocs/visiting scholars including a Fulbright scholar. Seventeen of her former trainees obtained competitive academic positions in US and other countries. She is an organizer for the 18th international meeting on chemical sensors in 2021 and an Editorial Board member of Journal of Electrochemistry. She has received numerous awards to recognize her work including Frank Giblin Lifetime Achievement Award (2020) that is given to the principal investigator with the most funding over the course of a faculty’s career at Oakland University. More information can be found at her website: www.oakland.edu/~zeng

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Workshop / Seminar Thu, 28 Sep 2023 10:54:49 -0400 2023-10-17T16:00:00-04:00 2023-10-17T17:15:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Rafael Gramage-Doria Seminar (October 25, 2023 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109260 109260-21821321@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, October 25, 2023 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Title & Abstract TBD

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Workshop / Seminar Wed, 26 Jul 2023 08:24:55 -0400 2023-10-25T16:00:00-04:00 2023-10-25T17:15:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Insights into the Meaning of Exchange Energy (October 26, 2023 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109261 109261-21821322@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, October 26, 2023 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

The concept of exchange energy is a distinctive feature of quantum-mechanical models of many-electron systems. Usually, only exchange interactions involving spin-1/2 fermions (electrons) are considered. We deduce and examine Hartree-Fock exchange energy formulas and exchange density functionals for fermions of arbitrary spin quantum number. The explicit spin-dependence provides illuminating insights into the meaning of exchange interactions, correspondence principle, self-interaction error, and other concepts of electronic structure theory.

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Workshop / Seminar Thu, 21 Sep 2023 14:11:16 -0400 2023-10-26T16:00:00-04:00 2023-10-26T17:15:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Functional Disorder at Biological Membranes (October 27, 2023 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109092 109092-21821061@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, October 27, 2023 12:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: LSA Biophysics

Cellular membranes are critical interfaces for the biochemical interactions that regulate cell behavior and function. These membranes are composed of heterogeneous mixtures of lipids and proteins. Understanding and controlling biomolecular interactions that occur at membranes is challenging owing to the inherent ability of the membrane environment to functionally couple interactions between proteins and lipids. Nonetheless, elucidating the interplay between proteins and lipids in biological membranes is important for a variety of applications, such as pinpointing the mechanisms of disease, discovering and delivering new drugs, and developing functional biomaterials. Toward addressing these challenges, our group uses engineering principles and fluorescence techniques to develop the tools, approaches, and ideas that will enable us to understand and control the protein-lipid interface.

This presentation will primarily focus on protein-lipid interactions that facilitate sensing and/or generation of membrane curvature, which are processes that are essential to cellular physiology. Specifically, the prevailing structure-function paradigm posits that protein function only arises from specific structural features. However, our recent work has revealed that proteins lacking secondary structure – Intrinsically Disordered Proteins (IDPs) – can be potent sensors and generators of membrane curvature. The mechanisms for this functional behavior arises from the polyampholytic nature of these unfolded, amino acid chains. Interestingly, IDPs comprise ~40% of the human proteome but only a handful of IDPs have been examined in the context of protein-lipid interactions. Therefore, this paradoxical finding represents a significant, yet unexplored frontier in the field of membrane remodeling. Our most recent findings highlight an example of this disordered functionality in α-Synuclein, which is a neuronal protein heavily implicated with the onset of Parkinson’s Disease. In addition to the investigation of IDPs at biological membranes, this talk will briefly discuss some of our other research areas which include engineering strategies for mitigating lipid peroxidation in cellular membranes and the development of biomembrane-inspired technologies.

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Workshop / Seminar Tue, 26 Sep 2023 08:58:52 -0400 2023-10-27T12:00:00-04:00 2023-10-27T13:00:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab LSA Biophysics Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Nano- and Micro-technologies for data-driven systems biology (November 2, 2023 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109262 109262-21821323@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, November 2, 2023 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

My research focuses on developing biophysical and analytical tools for data-driven systems biology. We integrate advances in chemistry, engineering, and data science to characterize native biological systems at unprecedented resolution and details and to quantitatively profile the fundamental mechanisms that govern the system’s ensemble behavior. We have pioneered 'Single Virus Genomics' by developing microfluidic platforms that enable direct profiling of individual virus genomes, bypassing the need for virus culture. This technology allows large-scale, unbiased profiling of single virus genomes, enabling a quantitative assessment of viral evolution and infection dynamics. In parallel, we are actively developing and applying spatial omics tools to leverage spatial information to identify the key molecular and cellular features that drive system-level phenotypes. Molecular and cellular interactions are mediated by physical contact. Thus, the spatial organization of molecules and cells is strongly linked to their functional organization. In my talk, I will present our technical innovations in achieving single virus sequencing and demonstrate the application of this novel technology in the quantitative assessment of influenza reassortment. Reassortment is a crucial mechanism for zoonosis, facilitating the transmission of viruses from animals to humans. Thus, analysis of reassortment statistics between natural influenza strains provides valuable insights into influenza evolution and emerging human strains. In addition, I will present insights gained from a spatial transcriptomics map of the honey bee brain, demonstrating how spatial information reveals new biological insights into the collective performance of molecules and cells in system-level functions.

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Workshop / Seminar Mon, 25 Sep 2023 16:32:48 -0400 2023-11-02T16:00:00-04:00 2023-11-02T17:15:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Understanding and leveraging radical SAM enzyme reactivity towards novel scaffolds (November 7, 2023 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109263 109263-21821324@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, November 7, 2023 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Radical S-adenosyl-L-methionine (rSAM) enzymes catalyze diverse and complex radical mediated transformations. These enzymes reductively cleave SAM to generate a 5’-deoxyadenosyl radical (dAdo•), which initiates transformation of the substrate. rSAM enzymes are widely distributed in naturally occurring biosynthetic pathways, including those that generate ribosomally produced and posttranslationally modified polypeptides (RiPPs). We have carried out extensive biochemical studies of members of the rSAM RiPP maturase enzymes that produce thioether crosslink in their cognate substrate. This presentation will focus on our work leveraging detailed biochemical insights into development of a rSAM-based system introducing thioether crosslinks in RiPPs. Current progress and breadth of transformations catalyzed will be discussed.

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Workshop / Seminar Mon, 16 Oct 2023 14:57:40 -0400 2023-11-07T16:00:00-05:00 2023-11-07T17:15:00-05:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
A thermodynamic and molecular model for ion channel and transporter dimerization in membranes (November 10, 2023 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109094 109094-21821062@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, November 10, 2023 12:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: LSA Biophysics

Ion channels and transporters are the molecular gatekeepers of biology, governing the passage of atoms and molecules in and out of cells. They provide essential nutrients for metabolism, eliminate waste, enable cell-to-cell communication, and store the potential energy that fuels life. Yet, despite their overwhelming importance, we still lack a physical and molecular understanding of why membrane transport proteins form stable structures that enable their specific functions within the oil-filled environment of the lipid bilayer. Our lack of understanding here is well rationalized by the inherent challenge of measuring equilibrium reactions of membrane protein assembly in membranes, compounded by the complexity of the reaction solvent as a structured lipid bilayer. However, through a combination of novel experimental single-molecule microscopy approaches coupled with coarse-grained and all-atom computational modeling, we can now measure equilibrium constants of protein association in membranes and dissect out the important molecular contributions from the protein and surrounding membrane. Here, I present our results on two systems where reversible binding within membranes can be quantitatively assessed - the homodimeric CLC-ec1 chloride/proton antiporter and the dual-topology homodimeric Fluc fluoride ion channel. By combining experimental and computational studies, we identify a driving force for protein association that arises from state-dependent perturbation of the membrane structure, and a mechanism for tuning dimerization stability by altering solvation energetics through preferential solvation. These results present a generalizable driving force for membrane protein assembly in membranes that is expected to apply to all ion channels and transporters.

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Workshop / Seminar Tue, 17 Oct 2023 11:08:03 -0400 2023-11-10T12:00:00-05:00 2023-11-10T13:00:00-05:00 Chemistry Dow Lab LSA Biophysics Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Leveraging Metalloenzymes for Human Health and Disease (November 14, 2023 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109264 109264-21821325@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, November 14, 2023 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Pathogens of all kinds continue to represent major public health challenges and demand new therapeutic strategies. Our lab focuses on developing therapeutics that derive from mechanistic analysis of anaerobic enzymes. Two of our projects are based on the iron-sulfur cluster enzymes Viperin and MqnE. Viperin, an acronym derived from the enzymes conspicuous properties (virus-inhibitory protein, endoplasmic reticulum-associated, interferon inducible), is an interferon inducible protein found in all higher eukaryotes that inhibits the replication of a remarkable range of both RNA and DNA viruses. We recently discovered that viperin converts the ribonucleotide CTP to a novel compound 3ʹ-deoxy-3′,4ʹ-didehydro-CTP (ddhCTP) through a radical-based mechanism. Interestingly, bacterial, fungal, and archaeal viperin-like enzymes are divergent in substrate specificity, producing alternative ddh-nucleotide triphosphate (ddhNTP) products (i.e. ddhUTP, ddhGTP). Our recent studies understanding the mechanism by which viperin and viperin-like enzymes catalyze this reaction and the structural basis for their divergent nucleotide specificity will be the focus of Part 1 of my talk. Part 2 will focus on the enzyme MqnE from Helicobacter pylori, which is involved in menaquinone (MK) biosynthesis. MK is a soluble lipid cofactor needed for the respiratory chain in all anaerobic bacteria. MK can be synthesized by two pathways: the canonical pathway and the futalosine pathway. Fortunately, the futalosine pathway is only found in a narrow set of bacteria—including Helicobacter pylori—which are not normally found in the human digestive track, making this pathway an attractive target for the development of narrow spectrum antibiotics. Our research has focused on understanding the catalytic mechanism of this central enzyme and development of inhibitors against it, employing a combination of traditional enzymology, structural biology, and drug discovery.

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Workshop / Seminar Tue, 07 Nov 2023 08:24:34 -0500 2023-11-14T16:00:00-05:00 2023-11-14T17:15:00-05:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Promoting Student Engagement in Active Learning Environments: Characterizing Task Design and Implementation (November 16, 2023 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109265 109265-21821326@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, November 16, 2023 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

In the past decade there has been increased emphasis on research-based instructional practices in the STEM fields, specifically in terms of student-centered active learning approaches. Much of this drive for pedagogical change has come from the numerous publications on the positive impact active learning environments have on student populations in large introductory courses as well as on students who are underrepresented in the STEM fields. However, less research has been done on how students engage in these learning environments. Our group is working to characterize the essential features of effective task design and implementation that foster productive engagement of diverse students in discourse practices known to promote meaningful learning in different active learning environments. Initial analysis has been done on the nature of interactions occurring between students in small group discussion formatted courses along with an analysis of the activities worked on by students as well as the facilitation of activities by instructors and graduate teaching assistants. Results of this initial analysis suggest features of effective task design, but also indicate that effective design is not enough to foster students’ construction of scientific knowledge and meaningful learning, and that instructor facilitation and group dynamics play a major role.

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Workshop / Seminar Thu, 12 Oct 2023 14:08:57 -0400 2023-11-16T16:00:00-05:00 2023-11-16T17:15:00-05:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Super-resolution fluorescence imaging of extracellular environments (November 17, 2023 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109095 109095-21821064@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, November 17, 2023 12:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: LSA Biophysics

The extracellular matrix (ECM) is a biophysical environment that plays an important role in physiological processes and disease development. The ECM is highly dynamic, with changes occurring as local, nanoscale, physicochemical variations in physical confinement and chemistry from the perspective of biological molecules. The length and time scale of ECM dynamics are challenging to measure with current microscopic techniques. Super-resolution fluorescence microscopy has the potential to probe local, nanoscale, physicochemical variations in the ECM. Here, I will share our development of super-resolution imaging and analysis methods and their application to study model nanoparticles and biomolecules within synthetic ECM hydrogels. This includes 1) fluorescence correlation spectroscopy super-resolution optical fluctuation imaging or “fcsSOFI,” a super-resolution optical signal processing technique that simultaneously characterizes the nanometer dimensions of and diffusion dynamics within porous structures using correlation and 2) expansion microscopy using tensile force, a sample-based super-resolution method that physically expands stretchable hydrogels. Overall, super-resolution imaging is a powerful tool that can increase our understanding of extracellular environments at new spatiotemporal scales to reveal ECM processes at the molecular-level.

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Workshop / Seminar Tue, 17 Oct 2023 11:45:03 -0400 2023-11-17T12:00:00-05:00 2023-11-17T13:00:00-05:00 Chemistry Dow Lab LSA Biophysics Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Metal Homeostasis at the host – pathogen interface: from nutritional immunity to nutritional intoxication (December 1, 2023 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109096 109096-21821065@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, December 1, 2023 12:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: LSA Biophysics

Antibiotic resistance is a global health concern that causes over one million deaths worldwide. Understanding molecular mechanisms of bacterial pathogenesis and the innate immune response is critical for identifying new antimicrobial therapeutic approaches. My lab is interested in characterizing the underlying determinants of metal homeostasis with an eye toward creating new antimicrobial agents. One-third of the proteome is predicted to comprise metalloproteins. Metals are essential for all forms of life as they serve as enzymatic cofactors, structural stabilizers and chemical messengers. However, high concentrations of metals are toxic. Thus, maintenance of metal homeostasis is essential at the host-pathogen interface. For example, S100A12 is a high affinity transition metal binding protein that starves invading pathogens and prevents them from acquiring essential zinc, in a process termed nutritional immunity. I will present recent results from my lab that sugges t zinc binding to S100A12 potentiates oligomerization and is associated with activation of inflammation through the receptor for advanced glycation end products. The importance of zinc regulation is also highlighted in the pathogenesis of the human pathogen Streptococcus agalactiae, one of the primary causes of adverse pregnancy outcomes. CadD, a metal efflux transporter is essential for S. agalactiae to resist zinc intoxication by macrophages, thereby facilitating ascending infection in a pregnant host. Together, these data demonstrate the importance of understanding metal homeostasis and provide potential pathways to overcoming antibiotic resistance.

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Workshop / Seminar Mon, 20 Nov 2023 13:43:14 -0500 2023-12-01T12:00:00-05:00 2023-12-01T13:00:00-05:00 Chemistry Dow Lab LSA Biophysics Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Chemical Biology Approaches to Dissect Microbial Pathogenesis (December 5, 2023 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109267 109267-21821328@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, December 5, 2023 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

This talk gives an overview of the current projects in the Lupoli group, which seek to answer questions that fall under two main categories related to microbial pathogenesis: (1) regulation of bacterial chaperones; (2) assembly of bacterial surface glycans. The initial project focuses on the “skin”, or surface, of bacteria called the cell envelope, which mediates infection of the host and protects bacteria from host immune defense tactics. While Gram-negative bacteria contain a protective outer membrane layer absent in most Gram-positives, almost all bacteria contain polymers composed of unique monosaccharides that extend from the cell surface. Gram-negative bacteria typically contain lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in the outer leaflet of the outer membrane with attached polysaccharides called O-antigens that help mediate interactions with the environment. O-antigens are composed of repeating oligosaccharides that define particular bacterial serotypes, which distinguishes bacterial strains within a single species. Foundational chemical biology work has contributed to our understanding of eukaryotic cell surface composition. However, we still lack a clear understanding of assembly of bacterial surface glycan polymers that contain prokaryote-specific or “rare” sugars. In this talk, we describe synthetic and chemoenzymatic methods to construct rare nucleotide sugars to study substrate recognition by bacterial glycosyltransferases that build O-antigens. We identify key regions in sugar substrates that are required for substrate binding and activity, and we use this knowledge to design chemical probes that will be used for the construction of synthetic O-antigens and small molecule inhibitors that will stall O-antigen synthesis. This work will expand our understanding of cellular mechanisms underlying bacterial polysaccharide synthesis, and will teach us about the roles that rare sugars play in bacterial cellular interactions.

The latter project focuses on DnaK, the bacterial homolog of Hsp70, an ATP-dependent chaperone that functions in concert with cofactor proteins to catalyze nascent protein folding and salvage misfolded proteins. In the pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis (TB), DnaK and its cofactor proteins DnaJ1, DnaJ2 and GrpE are proposed drug targets. Despite the importance of chaperone function in human cancers and infectious disease, there are limited chemical probes or inhibitors that enable in vivo studies on the function of individual chaperones/cofactors. In this talk, we describe the discovery of small molecule inhibitors of mycobacterial DnaK, most notably a peptidomimetic called telaprevir, which is able to inhibit chaperone function through interactions with the peptide-binding cleft of DnaK. Binding of telaprevir leads to allosteric conformational changes that prevent ATP hydrolysis in a distal domain. We find that telaprevir also inhibits E. coli DnaK and human Hsc70 chaperones due to high conservation of Hsp70 sequences. Using in vitro and in vivo chaperone assays, we demonstrate that telaprevir modulates the function of mycobacterial DnaK and its cofactor protein DnaJ2 in cells, which disrupts cellular proteostasis. Co-treatment of mycobacteria with telaprevir and aminoglycosides, which further stress the proteome, enhances the potency of these antibiotics. In addition, telaprevir combats mycobacterial resistance to the frontline TB drug rifampin, as DnaK-DnaJ2 function is required for stabilization of protein mutants that confer drug tolerance. This work sets the stage for our current work on the design of peptide-based inhibitors with higher selectivity for bacterial chaperones to probe chaperone-protein interactions and explore resulting synergy with different classes of antibiotics.

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Workshop / Seminar Mon, 13 Nov 2023 08:57:51 -0500 2023-12-05T16:00:00-05:00 2023-12-05T17:15:00-05:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
3rd Year Analytical Chemistry Student Seminars (December 6, 2023 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/113884 113884-21831858@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, December 6, 2023 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Dec 6, 4 PM, 1640: Steven DeFiglia (Hakansson) and Emily Costa (Pratt)

Dec 8, 4 PM, 1706: Logan Forshee (Pratt) and Scarlet Aguilar Martinez (Zimmerman)

Dec 13, 4 PM, 1640: Ryan Van Daele (Bartlett) and Ian Bain (Kennedy)

Dec 15, 4 PM, 1640: Rebecca Parham (Ault)

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Workshop / Seminar Wed, 29 Nov 2023 11:57:31 -0500 2023-12-06T16:00:00-05:00 2023-12-06T17:00:00-05:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Mucinomics as the next frontier of mass spectrometry (December 7, 2023 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109268 109268-21821329@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, December 7, 2023 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Mucin-domain glycoproteins are densely O-glycosylated and play key roles in a host of biological functions. However, their dense O-glycosylation remains enigmatic both in glycoproteomic landscape and structural dynamics, primarily due to the challenges associated with studying mucin domains. Here, we present advances in the mass spectrometric analysis of mucins, including the characterization of mucinases, software comparisons, and complete mucinomic mapping of translationally relevant mucin proteins.

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Workshop / Seminar Tue, 14 Nov 2023 15:00:02 -0500 2023-12-07T16:00:00-05:00 2023-12-07T17:15:00-05:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
3rd Year Analytical Chemistry Student Seminars (December 8, 2023 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/113884 113884-21831859@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, December 8, 2023 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Dec 6, 4 PM, 1640: Steven DeFiglia (Hakansson) and Emily Costa (Pratt)

Dec 8, 4 PM, 1706: Logan Forshee (Pratt) and Scarlet Aguilar Martinez (Zimmerman)

Dec 13, 4 PM, 1640: Ryan Van Daele (Bartlett) and Ian Bain (Kennedy)

Dec 15, 4 PM, 1640: Rebecca Parham (Ault)

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Workshop / Seminar Wed, 29 Nov 2023 11:57:31 -0500 2023-12-08T16:00:00-05:00 2023-12-08T17:00:00-05:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Gomberg Lecture - Molecular Oxygen as a Reagent in Late Transition Metal Organometallic Chemistry (December 11, 2023 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109269 109269-21821330@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, December 11, 2023 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

From environmental and economic standpoints, molecular oxygen represents the ideal oxidant for chemical transformations. It is readily available, inexpensive (particularly if used without separation from air) and environmentally benign. However, more expensive and/or hazardous oxidants are often employed in homogeneous metal-catalyzed oxidation reactions. In fact, typically organometallic chemists don’t even let their compounds “see” molecular oxygen, using special equipment and procedures to rigorously protect their compounds from the air. Unfortunately, this deliberate exclusion of air has resulted in a lack of understanding of exactly how transition metal organometallic complexes react with molecular oxygen, which in turn has inhibited efforts to design catalysts for selective aerobic oxidations. Kinetic and mechanistic studies of the reactions of oxygen with various late metal alkyl and hydride complexes will be presented along with our nascent mechanistic understanding of these reactions. The generality of these aerobic oxidation reactions and their potential for incorporation into hydrocarbon functionalization strategies will also be discussed.

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Workshop / Seminar Tue, 21 Nov 2023 09:50:49 -0500 2023-12-11T16:00:00-05:00 2023-12-11T17:15:00-05:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Molecular consequences of deregulated rRNA processing and modification in biology and disease (December 12, 2023 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109270 109270-21821331@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, December 12, 2023 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Ribosome biogenesis in eukaryotes is a complex and highly regulated process involving the action of over 200 assembly factors, bringing together a total of 79 proteins and 4 ribosomal RNAs in yeast. The maturation of rRNAs from precursor transcripts is a critical aspect of ribosome biogenesis involving the precise processing steps facilitated by essential nucleases, among which the RNA exosome complex plays a pivotal role. Additionally, over a hundred RNA chemical modifications, the majority of which are guided by small nucleolar RNAs, are deposited on the rRNAs co- and post-transcriptionally. Despite tight regulatory steps, rRNA processing and modifications go awry in several human diseases. Missense mutations in genes encoding structural subunits of the RNA exosome cause a growing family of diseases with diverse pathologies, collectively termed RNA exosomopathies. Similarly, pathogenic mutations that impact rRNA modifications are associated with neurodevelopmental disorders and implicated in the onset and progression of cancer. I will highlight our recent findings that shed light on the molecular consequences of dysregulated rRNA processing and rRNA modifications. These molecular defects have a profound impact on both the quantity and quality of ribosomes within the translating pool, thereby disrupting cellular protein homeostasis. Our results underscore the intricate interplay between ribosome biogenesis, RNA processing, modifications, and disease pathogenesis, providing new insights and a deeper understanding of these complex cellular processes.

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Workshop / Seminar Tue, 14 Nov 2023 15:00:51 -0500 2023-12-12T16:00:00-05:00 2023-12-12T17:15:00-05:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
3rd Year Analytical Chemistry Student Seminars (December 13, 2023 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/113884 113884-21831860@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, December 13, 2023 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Dec 6, 4 PM, 1640: Steven DeFiglia (Hakansson) and Emily Costa (Pratt)

Dec 8, 4 PM, 1706: Logan Forshee (Pratt) and Scarlet Aguilar Martinez (Zimmerman)

Dec 13, 4 PM, 1640: Ryan Van Daele (Bartlett) and Ian Bain (Kennedy)

Dec 15, 4 PM, 1640: Rebecca Parham (Ault)

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Workshop / Seminar Wed, 29 Nov 2023 11:57:31 -0500 2023-12-13T16:00:00-05:00 2023-12-13T17:00:00-05:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
3rd Year Analytical Chemistry Student Seminars (December 15, 2023 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/113884 113884-21831861@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, December 15, 2023 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Dec 6, 4 PM, 1640: Steven DeFiglia (Hakansson) and Emily Costa (Pratt)

Dec 8, 4 PM, 1706: Logan Forshee (Pratt) and Scarlet Aguilar Martinez (Zimmerman)

Dec 13, 4 PM, 1640: Ryan Van Daele (Bartlett) and Ian Bain (Kennedy)

Dec 15, 4 PM, 1640: Rebecca Parham (Ault)

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Workshop / Seminar Wed, 29 Nov 2023 11:57:31 -0500 2023-12-15T16:00:00-05:00 2023-12-15T17:00:00-05:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Dynamics and computer-aided molecular design (January 12, 2024 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/116051 116051-21836110@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, January 12, 2024 12:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: LSA Biophysics

Nature has developed eloquent mechanisms for producing molecules through complex biosynthetic pathways consisting of enzymes as the primary molecular machines. Our goal is to hijack these metabolic pathways to create custom molecules for solving problems related to human health and the environment. The major challenges lie in understanding the mechanism of these dynamic pathways and decoding the relationship between enzyme sequence, structure, and function. Building upon state-of-the-art technologies, we use enhanced sampling molecular dynamics, machine learning, and computational models tightly coupled to experimental results for protein and small molecule design. Recent breakthroughs include uncovering molecular recognition mechanisms in carrier-protein dependent biosynthesis pathways and understanding viral infection.

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Workshop / Seminar Fri, 05 Jan 2024 13:54:43 -0500 2024-01-12T12:00:00-05:00 Chemistry Dow Lab LSA Biophysics Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Obvious Facts and Deceptions of Photoredox Catalysis (January 16, 2024 11:30am) https://events.umich.edu/event/109387 109387-21821957@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, January 16, 2024 11:30am
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Photoredox catalysis is transforming modern synthetic chemistry. Expensive, hard to handle stoichiometric reagents can be replaced by short-lived excited states using a visible light absorbing photocatalyst. While the scope of photoredox methods has grown at an exceptional pace, mechanistic and kinetic understanding has lagged behind. An overarching goal of research in the Swierk group is to provide a solid mechanistic foundation for reactions that are successful but poorly understood. This talk will describe how a combination of transient absorption spectroscopy, electrochemical methods, steady state photochemical measurements, and kinetic modeling can be used to map out the reaction mechanisms and kinetics of photoredox reactions, using prototypical photoredox reactions as examples. The importance of quantum yield and, by extension mechanistic studies, will be discussed and highlighted as a key criteria for translating photoredox catalysis to scale.

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Workshop / Seminar Thu, 04 Jan 2024 09:42:39 -0500 2024-01-16T11:30:00-05:00 2024-01-16T12:45:00-05:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Macromolecular Silanes: Target-Oriented Synthesis and Emergent Properties (January 16, 2024 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/115748 115748-21835460@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, January 16, 2024 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

The Klausen Research Groups identifies innovative synthetic paradigms that control material structure from the atom to the bulk, enabling the emergence of new properties. This presentation will focus on macromolecular silanes, inclusive of clusters, polymers, and polymer networks. Silicon is the semiconductor behind technologies like computer chips, solar cells, and batteries. The conventional approach to silicon-based materials is “top-down”: in a high-temperature process sand (SiO2) is converted to silicon (Si) ingots, which is carved down to smaller components. This process only accesses the most thermodynamically stable form of silicon, leaving uncovered vast swaths of structure-function space. Can we instead build silicon from the bottom-up, atom-by-atom? Our approach realizes otherwise unknown structures and compositions. Inspired by the cyclic subunits embedded within crystalline silicon, we envisioned that cyclosilane “building blocks” functionalized at distinct sites with reactive groups (e.g., SiH2) could be elaborated via dehydrogenative coupling to the poly(cyclosilane)s, a new polymeric form of an essential semiconductor. We have realized unprecedented levels of stereochemical and architectural control of structure, from which structure-based control of light absorption has emerged. The presentation will conclude on a new direction for macromolecular silanes, focusing on the wide-ranging impact of silicon’s greater polarizability on polymer mechanical properties, from the single strand to the network.

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Workshop / Seminar Mon, 08 Jan 2024 15:18:26 -0500 2024-01-16T16:00:00-05:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
New Generation of Atomically Dispersed Electrocatalysts (January 18, 2024 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109271 109271-21821332@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, January 18, 2024 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Platinum Group Metal-free (PGM-free) catalysts have been extensively developed for both Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) and Alkaline Exchange Membrane (AEM) fuel cells aiming automotive, stationary and portable applications. In this lecture we will address the critical challenges that our team has faced on the way to practical application of such catalysts.

Over the last decade or so (while at the University of New Mexico), our team has developed the Sacrificial Support Method (SSM) as a main approach for templated synthesis of hierarchically structured electrocatalysts materials. In this method the catalysts precursors are being absorbed on, impregnated within or mechanically mixed with the support (usually mono-dispersed or meso-structured structured silica), thermally processed (pyrolyzed) and then the silica support is removed by etching to live the open frame structure of a “self-supported” material that consists of the catalysts only.

The makeup and structure of the active site/sites of the PGM-free ORR electro-catalysts, including geometry (coordination) and chemistry (composition and oxidation state) remain contentious even after 50 years of research. There is an emerging agreement that iron and nitrogen functionalities, displayed on the surface if the carbonaceous substrate/support, govern ORR activity. This is often combined with a broadly accepted hypothesis that micro-porous surface area plays a critical role forming the active site. Candidate structures participating in ORR include multitudes of nitrogen defect motifs in the carbon matrix of different degrees of graphitization, with metal incorporated as metal nano-particles, corresponding (native) oxides and/or as atomically dispersed, oxidized metal species, linked (coordinated) to nitrogen defects in carbonaceous matrix in a variety of possible configurations. This presentation will attempt to address rational design and performance metrics of M-N-C electrocatalyst based on a broad experimental set of data. Scientific and engineering technology challenges will be discussed in the context of maturtion of Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells (PEMFC) and their market penetration.

This lecture will review the applications of this new class of electrocatalyst across several fuel cell applications: from automotive to microbial and from regenerative electrolyzer/ fuel cell units to water purification and de-salination devices. These catalysts allowed also broad introduction of state-of-the art electrochemical technology in microbial electrochemical devices: microbial fuel cells, bio-electrochemical electrolyzers and advanced water treatment technologies.

New/emerging directions for extending these materials types to catalysis of CO2 electro-reduction and N2 low temperature, low pressure electro-reduction aiming potentially at electrochemical ammonia synthesis will be discussed as well.

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Workshop / Seminar Mon, 08 Jan 2024 15:19:26 -0500 2024-01-18T16:00:00-05:00 2024-01-18T17:15:00-05:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Visualizing cellular force-sensing through the actin cytoskeleton (January 19, 2024 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109099 109099-21821068@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, January 19, 2024 12:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: LSA Biophysics

In addition to chemical cues, cells in the body must perceive physical forces at the molecular scale to orchestrate development and maintain homeostasis. Cells probe and respond to the physical properties of their local environments through the actin cytoskeleton, a network of protein polymers, motor proteins, and myriad associated partners. The Alushin lab studies how actin filaments serve as cellular tension sensors, engaging in force-sensitive binding interactions to transduce mechanical forces into biochemical signals. Different force regimes elicit specific conformational transitions in actin, suggesting the potential for a mechanical code that is interpreted by binding partners. These mechanical transitions are evoked through mechanisms distinct from standard biochemical regulation, providing a glimpse at how forces modulate protein structure to regulate function.

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Workshop / Seminar Thu, 14 Dec 2023 10:39:05 -0500 2024-01-19T12:00:00-05:00 2024-01-19T13:00:00-05:00 Chemistry Dow Lab LSA Biophysics Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Quantum Dynamics of Light and Matter (January 23, 2024 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/117280 117280-21839112@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, January 23, 2024 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Placing molecules and materials between mirrors (or inside optical cavities) can enable the generation of exciting new chemical and physical phenomena in a highly controllable manner. In this talk, I will share a few of our theoretical works that demonstrate how photons can play the roles of a catalyst, a solvent, and a quantum degree of freedom beyond their usual role as a source of energy, to modify the chemical and physical properties of molecules and materials that are coupled to quantized radiation. First, I will discuss how quantum light-matter interactions can be utilized to modify the photochemistry of molecules and how a single photon can act as a catalyst to initiate multiple chemical reactions, leading to a quantum yield of more than one. Second, I will share our theoretical work that investigates how coupling molecular vibrations to vacuum radiation inside optical cavities can suppress or enhance the cleavage of specific chemical bonds, as seen in several recent experiments. I will share our theories that reveal that photons can act like solvents to enhance or suppress ground-state chemical kinetics. Next, I will show that quantum light-matter interactions can modify exciton-phonon interactions and can lead to the suppression of phonon-mediated decoherence. This enables fast ballistic transport in materials that are coupled to cavity radiation. I will share experimental results from our collaborators that confirm our theoretical predictions. Finally, I will share our theoretical framework, the quasi-diabatic propagation scheme, that allows for performing on-the-fly ab-initio quantum dynamics simulations, enabling us to investigate a wide range of problems, from photochemistry to polariton chemistry and beyond.

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Workshop / Seminar Wed, 17 Jan 2024 11:50:38 -0500 2024-01-23T16:00:00-05:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Cavity-Enhanced Ultrafast and Multidimensional Spectroscopy (January 25, 2024 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109272 109272-21821333@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, January 25, 2024 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Ultrafast optical spectroscopy methods, such as transient absorption spectroscopy and 2D spectroscopy, are widely used to study molecular dynamics. However, these techniques are typically restricted to optically thick samples, such as solids and liquid solutions. In this talk, I will present our work using cavity-enhanced frequency combs to perform all-optical ultrafast spectroscopy in dilute gasses, with detection limits orders of magnitude lower than conventional methods. My talk will have three parts.

First, I will describe our experimental work on UV/visible transient absorption spectroscopy in dilute molecular beams. Using a custom optical frequency comb and dispersion-managed cavity mirrors, we have achieved a sensitivity of $\Delta OD < 10^{-9}$ across nearly the entire visible spectral range. In the molecular beam we can vary the molecule’s temperature between a few 10’s of Kelvin to 450 K, and also simulate solvation and caging effects via forming clusters. I will present results on several molecules undergoing excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) and also preliminary results on internal conversion in uracil and 2-thiouracil in isolated gas-phase and Ar cluster environments.

Second, I will describe methods we have invented for using multiple frequency combs for performing multidimensional spectroscopy, and also cavity-enhancing the signals using higher-order cavity modes. This can enable cavity-enhanced ultrafast 2DIR spectroscopy of elementary hydrogen-bond networks such as small water clusters, and also trace-gas analysis in complex mixtures via high-resolution cavity-enhanced 2DIR.

Finally, I will discuss our work on high-resolution rotationally-resolved 2DIR spectra of freely rotating molecules and also control these spectra via polarization. Theoretically, we found new polarization conditions unique to suppressing whole branches of the rotationally-resolved spectra, and these theoretical predictions have recently been confirmed in experiments in gas-phase carbon dioxide. An accompanying suite of open-source software enables rapid calculation of rotationally-resolved 2DIR spectra under a wide range of conditions, using spectroscopic constants from standard reference databases (e.g. HITRAN) as input.

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Workshop / Seminar Thu, 04 Jan 2024 10:08:43 -0500 2024-01-25T16:00:00-05:00 2024-01-25T17:15:00-05:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
How basic laws of fitness landscapes uncover disease risk genes: Alzheimer’s and other complex diseases (January 26, 2024 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109102 109102-21821071@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, January 26, 2024 12:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: LSA Biophysics

In genetics and evolutionary theory, the fitness landscape is often used as a metaphor. Here, instead, we treat it as a physical entity in which genomes move under mutational displacements. This model enables the definition of an energy term for genome variants, computable for coding mutations. Surprisingly, coding variants found in healthy individuals and populations seem to follow elementary laws of thermodynamics. However, in patients with complex diseases, a subset of genes carries variants that do not. This divergence in behavior was seen in Alzheimer’s disease, autism, and cancer, each time pointing to genes known to be involved in disease risk, or likely to, even when using smaller populations. These findings establish a new and formal bridge between physics, genetics, and personalized medicine by way of the fitness landscape.

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Workshop / Seminar Fri, 12 Jan 2024 09:13:03 -0500 2024-01-26T12:00:00-05:00 2024-01-26T13:00:00-05:00 Chemistry Dow Lab LSA Biophysics Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Access to “Inaccessible” Arynes and Redox Chemistry Using Transition Metals (January 30, 2024 11:30am) https://events.umich.edu/event/109273 109273-21821334@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, January 30, 2024 11:30am
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Research in the Roberts group involves looking at unsolved problems in organic synthesis through the perspective of organometallic/inorganic chemistry. One main area of interest for the group is the synthesis of heterocycles through aryne intermediates. Despite their useful reactivity, a number of challenges still remain in the use of arynes including problems with regioselectivity and the synthesis of N-heterocyclic arynes. Using fundamental principles of Ni chemistry, our group is the first to be able to access previously “inaccessible” 5-membered heterocyclic arynes for the first time since they were hypothesized to exist 120 years ago. We are also the first group to demonstrate catalyst controlled regioselectivity in arynes, where all previous examples operated under substrate control. Another challenge in organic synthesis lies in alkyl–alkyl cross-coupling. This is due to challenges with oxidative addition and off cycle pathways such as beta-hydride elimination. Our group has pioneered the use of Group 3 metal catalysts supported by redox-active ligands to overcome some of these challenges. Using 10 mol% of a Sc, Y, or Lu tris(amido) catalyst, coupling partners that both have beta-hydrogens can be successfully cross-coupled for the first time using early transition metals. These improvements related to organic synthesis can only be accessed using inorganic/organometallic chemistry.

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Workshop / Seminar Thu, 04 Jan 2024 10:30:07 -0500 2024-01-30T11:30:00-05:00 2024-01-30T12:45:00-05:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Advancing the logic of polymer synthesis, modification, and degradation (February 1, 2024 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109300 109300-21821364@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, February 1, 2024 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

The polymer backbone is fundamental to the polymer’s identity and properties. My seminar will focus on the development of metathesis mechanisms to access heteroatom-rich polymer backbones, new editing tools to transform existing polymer backbones into different ones, and both strategies and tactics to depolymerize commodity polymeric materials into valuable small molecules. Specifically, I will discuss iridium-guanidinate catalyzed ring-opening metathesis of cyclic carbodiimides and the current directions toward diazene metathesis, as well as an array of rearrangement transformations—including Ireland-Claisen and aza-Cope—applied to edit the backbones of polymers. Besides the focus on polymer backbones, retrosynthetic logic applied to polymeric materials will be another common thread woven throughout this seminar, as it is a central element of the research in the Zhukhovitskiy group.

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Workshop / Seminar Fri, 08 Dec 2023 12:08:01 -0500 2024-02-01T16:00:00-05:00 2024-02-01T17:15:00-05:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
"Predicting microbial community responses to environmental change" (February 5, 2024 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/118028 118028-21840371@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, February 5, 2024 12:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: LSA Biophysics

Predicting how microbial communities respond to environmental change is crucial for managing their function in the face of changing climate, health, and disease. Yet these communities’ enormous diversity and complexity raises the question of whether it is possible to predict their dynamics. While the environment plays a direct role in selecting for particular species, measuring these direct effects may not be sufficient for making predictions, because the environment also indirectly alters interactions between species. Moreover, measurements of communities in particular conditions may not predict their behavior when the environment fluctuates between conditions. In this talk, I will explain how I have employed tractable laboratory microcosms and mathematical models to formulate unifying rules of microbial communities subject to changing temperature, mortality, and fluctuations. I will also outline future plans to study longer-term community dynamics and to predict when evolution will maintain or destabilize coexistence.

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Workshop / Seminar Mon, 29 Jan 2024 14:11:40 -0500 2024-02-05T12:00:00-05:00 2024-02-05T12:50:00-05:00 Chemistry Dow Lab LSA Biophysics Workshop / Seminar Clare Abreu
Reimagining Porous Materials for a Sustainable Future (February 8, 2024 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109274 109274-21821335@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, February 8, 2024 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Porous materials shape the world around us: many of the chemicals we use in our daily lives have, at some point, been purified or chemically transformed within subnano- to nano-sized pores. In this talk, I will discuss my group’s efforts to enhance the catalytic activity and physical properties of porous materials to meet rising global challenges in clean energy and sustainability. The first half will focus on the synthesis of electrically conductive metal–organic materials. As sources of renewable electricity become increasingly abundant, new porous architectures that can directly interface with electrical energy are needed. I will detail our efforts to apply structural motifs commonly observed in conjugated carbon nanomaterials to the construction of new 0D, 1D, and 2D conjugated metal–organic nanostructures. The second half of the talk will focus on pushing the frontiers of single-site heterogeneous catalysis design. In enzymes, multiple metal centers and organic functional groups work together to catalyze transformations not achievable by a single component in isolation. My group is applying these bioinspired concepts to the development of new bimetallic and bifunctional heterogeneous catalysts.

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Workshop / Seminar Fri, 05 Jan 2024 10:07:53 -0500 2024-02-08T16:00:00-05:00 2024-02-08T17:15:00-05:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
The role of language in learning, communicating, and doing chemistry (February 12, 2024 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/117281 117281-21839113@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, February 12, 2024 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Having a shared language such as English facilitates globalization of science, but it may also limit science by posing unique challenges for those who are learning English-as-an-additional language (Eng+). Research is needed on the experiences of learners and scientists from Eng+ backgrounds to ensure that all members of our scientific community have the opportunity to learn and contribute, especially as our classrooms and research groups become increasingly diverse.

In this seminar, I will share two of our studies on the experiences of Eng+ learners in chemistry education. Our first study examined how undergraduate science students (N = 166) justified a chemical phenomenon in English and how this related to students' English proficiency. Our second study explored the experiences of Eng+ chemistry research trainees (N = 18) in learning, communicating, and doing chemistry in English. We explored challenges these trainees faced, but also strategies and supports they found helpful and needed from supervisors/colleagues and departments. Alongside findings from both projects, I will share implications for teaching and mentorship, with special attention to what may be relevant to making learning and research more equitable at the University of Michigan.

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Workshop / Seminar Wed, 17 Jan 2024 11:52:19 -0500 2024-02-12T16:00:00-05:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Emergent Properties from Dynamicity: Investigating Conformational Control in Biomimetic Inorganic Systems (February 13, 2024 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109275 109275-21821336@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, February 13, 2024 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

From the reduction of dinitrogen to the oxidation of water, the chemical transformations catalyzed by metalloenzymes underpin global geo- and biochemical cycles. These reactions represent some of the most kinetically and thermodynamically challenging processes known. Interestingly, rate-limiting conformational changes precede catalysis in many metalloenzymes. The pervasiveness of this mechanistic pattern suggests that conformational gating may play an important role in mediating challenging chemical transformations in an energy-efficient manner. However, these enzymes are extremely complex, rendering direct examination of their conformational gating steps a tremendous challenge. Instead, we have taken the unique approach of preparing model systems in which macroscopic changes in the molecular structure of a ligand or protein host give rise to subatomic changes in the electronic structure of a bound metal ion. These systems include both conformationally dynamic coordination complexes and conformationally switchable artificial metalloproteins. In both cases, exciting new properties have emerged from the structural dynamicity at play. Ultimately, our work with these systems aims to define and quantify the kinetic and thermodynamic consequences of conformational gating mechanisms. Additionally, the systems under development are molecular switches and can also be exploited in applications ranging from solar energy conversion, to biomedical imaging, to green methods in chemical catalysis.

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Workshop / Seminar Fri, 05 Jan 2024 10:53:30 -0500 2024-02-13T16:00:00-05:00 2024-02-13T17:15:00-05:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Mass Spectrometry Imaging for Space-resolved Metabolomics: Cancer Studies and Instrument Development (February 14, 2024 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/117282 117282-21839114@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, February 14, 2024 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Space-resolved metabolomics using mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) allows the direct visualization of metabolite distributions in tissues, thus enabling in-depth understanding of cancer-associated biochemical changes within specific structures. In recent years, MSI studies have been increasingly used to uncover metabolic reprogramming associated with cancer development, enabling the discovery of key biomarkers with potential for cancer diagnostics.

Ovarian cancer (OC) is one of the deadliest cancers among women with no effective screening tools available, especially for early-stage diagnosis. Due to the lack of symptoms at its early stage, only a small fraction of OCs is diagnosed for effective treatment. Furthermore, the detailed mechanism of OC progression and metastasis remains unclear. Herein, space-resolved lipid and N-glycan profiling of ovarian cancer tissues collected from two mouse models were investigated using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) MSI. In this talk, I will discuss spatial distributions and alterations of key lipids and N-glycans in OC mouse tissues, and their correlations with OC development and metastasis. Selected lipid and N-glycan features were used to develop multivariate statistical models for differentiation of OC tissues from healthy control tissues, providing basis for early-stage OC diagnosis.

I will also introduce my current work on developing a new laser based MSI platform powered by a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG), which can induce lipid C=C bond epoxidation for in-depth lipid identification in MSI experiments.

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Workshop / Seminar Tue, 23 Jan 2024 13:54:45 -0500 2024-02-14T16:00:00-05:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
From molecular biophysics to developing high content genomics tools to unlock new therapeutic potential (February 16, 2024 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109104 109104-21821072@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, February 16, 2024 12:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: LSA Biophysics

My training in molecular biophysics served as a solid platform to explore a variety of new, high-content technologies and data. Moreover, the ability to operate at the interface of mathematical modeling, technology development, and biology created a unique opportunity to ask challenging questions in cross-functional teams.

Specifically, recent advances in single cell biology and human genetics have enabled profiling transcriptomics of healthy and diseased individuals leading to the discoveries of gene programs and genetic variants associated with disease. However, we lack robust pipelines to understand the function of implicated genes and to place those genes in directional cellular and tissue circuits. We are uniquely suited to bring together emerging multimodal single cell technologies and advances in CRISPR screening to map genetic circuits in unprecedented resolution thus opening new questions and unlocking new therapeutic potential.

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Workshop / Seminar Wed, 07 Feb 2024 14:55:41 -0500 2024-02-16T12:00:00-05:00 2024-02-16T13:00:00-05:00 Chemistry Dow Lab LSA Biophysics Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
"Understanding vector-host interactions to build better gene therapies" (February 19, 2024 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/118856 118856-21841812@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, February 19, 2024 12:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: LSA Biophysics

Recombinant Adeno-associated viral vectors (rAAVs) are the leading platform for in-vivo gene therapy. Despite many desirable properties, rAAVs have several limitations that prevent their application to many diseases, and their difficulty to manufacture at large scales earned rAAVs the title "The Most Expensive Drug in the World." Although rAAV vectors have been studied for nearly 40 years, the adeno-associated virus (AAV) from which they originate causes no disease; therefore AAV interactions with host cells are historically understudied and remain poorly defined. Understanding the basic biology at the interface of rAAV and its host cell is the first step to illuminate how these mechanisms can be tuned to overcome rAAV's clinical limitations. In this talk, I will present my graduate work studying AAV capsid assembly, how I applied these findings to identify key structure-function relationships within the icosahedral capsid, and how I used these principles to engineer capsids that assemble without a previously required viral co-factor. Next, I will share my postdoctoral work that identified host factors involved in processing rAAV-delivered DNA, and how their manipulation led to an over 30-fold increase in expression of an oversized transgene. Finally, I will summarize the plans for my future lab, which will continue studying vector-host interactions to overcome major limitations in the rAAV gene therapy field.

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Workshop / Seminar Wed, 14 Feb 2024 16:22:25 -0500 2024-02-19T12:00:00-05:00 2024-02-19T12:50:00-05:00 Chemistry Dow Lab LSA Biophysics Workshop / Seminar Anna Maurer
Engineering Iron Enzymes to Reprogram Biological Signaling and Chemical Catalysis (February 20, 2024 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109277 109277-21821338@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, February 20, 2024 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

From respiration to nitrogen fixation, iron containing enzymes drive key biological processes in all forms of life. Bhagi-Damodaran lab seeks to uncover the structural and mechanistic basis of iron enzyme function, and design small-molecule and computational protein design approaches to engineer their biological activity. Such enzyme engineering studies, while fundamentally relevant to the fields of biological and inorganic chemistry, are posed to have significant implications on biological redox signaling and chemical catalysis. In this talk, Prof. Bhagi-Damodaran will discuss her lab’s research towards (A) reprograming non-heme iron enzyme driven oxygen signaling as a mechanism to target chemo-resistance in cancer cells, and (B) developing non-heme iron enzyme based bio-catalysts that enable direct and modular C-H functionalization reactions. The research talk will be of broad interests to Biological, Inorganic, Computational, and Inorganic Chemists.

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Workshop / Seminar Tue, 30 Jan 2024 15:46:08 -0500 2024-02-20T16:00:00-05:00 2024-02-20T17:15:00-05:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Preventing Premature Birth and Substance Use Disorder (February 21, 2024 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109259 109259-21836839@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, February 21, 2024 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Carbohydrates are the most abundant organic molecules on earth and are critical to a myriad of biological processes. The Vanderbilt Laboratory for Glycoscience uses a blend of synthetic organic chemistry and microbiology to elucidate the biological roles of carbohydrates, with a foci on advances in chemical synthesis and learning new mechanistic concepts. Emerging areas in the lab focus on the synthesis and evaluation of complex alkaloids. Our discussion will be divided into two categories: application of the host defense properties of human milk and the synthesis of iboga alkaloids.

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Workshop / Seminar Tue, 13 Feb 2024 16:38:09 -0500 2024-02-21T16:00:00-05:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
LSA@Play: Kate the Chemist (February 21, 2024 6:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/117962 117962-21840239@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, February 21, 2024 6:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: The College of Literature, Science, and the Arts

Science entertainer and LSA Alum (B.S. ’08) Professor Kate Biberdorf, aka “Kate the Chemist”, will captivate the audience by igniting excitement for science. This engaging program will leave the audience with a positive, memorable impression of science – all while diminishing the stigma around women in STEM.

Reception to follow with a back-by-request swag item! Must attend the presentation to participate in the reception. Registration required: https://myumi.ch/4rgmM

Cosponsored with the following LSA Departments and Units: Chemistry; Program in Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology; Physics; Science Learning Center

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LSA@Play is a series of events to welcome and support LSA students. Gatherings and activities offer opportunities for students to prioritize self-care, inclusivity, and community. Plus, get free food and LSA swag!

Visit the LSA@Play webpage: lsa.umich.edu/play for more details, sign-up to receive text/email updates, and check for additional events being added soon!

If you have an accessibility need you feel may not be automatically met at an event, please email lsaatplay@umich.edu. Advance notice is necessary for some accommodations to be fully implemented, but we will always attempt to remove those barriers.

* While supplies last. One swag item per student, must be present with MCard to receive.

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Presentation Wed, 07 Feb 2024 14:54:05 -0500 2024-02-21T18:00:00-05:00 2024-02-21T19:00:00-05:00 Chemistry Dow Lab The College of Literature, Science, and the Arts Presentation LSA@Play: Kate the Chemist
Enabling High-Throughput Multi-Omics with Ion Mobility-Mass Spectrometry (February 22, 2024 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109278 109278-21821339@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, February 22, 2024 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

There is growing interest and appreciation in the use of mass spectrometry-based multi-omics approaches to study biological processes and diseases from a systems-level perspective. The performance of discovery-level multi-omics typically involves the partitioning of a complex sample in its individual components, followed by thorough analysis of each “ome” under optimized LC and MS conditions. However, these multi-omics experiments must be streamlined before their findings can be implemented into diagnostic or prognostic applications. The rapid gas-phase structural separations afforded by IM-MS provides an opportunity for high-throughput measurements of biological samples containing mixtures of lipids, metabolites, peptides, and other biochemicals. We are developing methods for single injection high-throughput multi-omics based on flow injection analysis (FI) and ion mobility-mass spectrometry (IM-MS). The feasibility and advantages of FI-IM-MS will be demonstrated for the identification of microorganisms to the species and strain levels using integrated lipidomic and metabolomic features.

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Workshop / Seminar Tue, 06 Feb 2024 09:19:58 -0500 2024-02-22T16:00:00-05:00 2024-02-22T17:15:00-05:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Masquerading Soft Materials: Anomalous Behavior in Macromolecular Design (February 27, 2024 11:30am) https://events.umich.edu/event/109279 109279-21821340@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, February 27, 2024 11:30am
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

The Golder Research Team utilizes fundamental principles of molecular structure to control synthetic polymer function. Many of society’s greatest advancements spanning health, sanitation, construction, electronics, and transportation have been enabled by the invention and application of plastics. Simultaneously, these materials have created significant concerns about global sustainability, climate impact, and environmental pollution. My laboratory aims to discover new materials and methods that unveil unexpected phenomena on the macroscopic scale; this overarching strategy will produce next-generation designer plastics and reform how commodity plastics are utilized. In this talk, the team’s efforts towards these common goals will be outlined in the context of recent work centered on: (1) synthetic transformations fueled by initiator and methodology development, and (2) molecular design of new soft materials.

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Workshop / Seminar Tue, 20 Feb 2024 15:44:26 -0500 2024-02-27T11:30:00-05:00 2024-02-27T12:45:00-05:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Rewriting Genetic Information in RNA with Adenosine Deaminases (March 5, 2024 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109280 109280-21821341@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, March 5, 2024 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Adenosine Deaminases Acting on RNA (ADARs) are RNA editing enzymes that catalyze the hydrolytic deamination of adenosine (A) to inosine (I) in duplex RNA. In humans, two catalytically active ADARs, ADAR1 and ADAR2, perform this A-to-I editing reaction. The growing field of nucleotide base editing has highlighted ADARs as promising therapeutic agents while multiple studies have also identified ADAR1’s role in innate immunity and cancer. This presentation will introduce ADARs and A to I RNA editing along with a description of biochemical and structural studies that have advanced our understanding of ADARs’ reactivity and selectivity. In addition, I will describe how high throughput screening and chemical modifications can be used to optimize guide RNAs that can recruit ADARs for the correction of disease-causing mutations at the RNA level.

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Workshop / Seminar Thu, 08 Feb 2024 11:00:01 -0500 2024-03-05T16:00:00-05:00 2024-03-05T17:15:00-05:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
The Photophysics and Photochemistry of First-row Transition Metal Complexes: Quantum Coherence, the Marcus Inverted Region, and Applications in Excited-state Chemistry (March 7, 2024 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109281 109281-21821342@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, March 7, 2024 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

There has been considerable renewed interest in the photophysical properties of first-row transition metal complexes, driven in part by a long-standing desire to shift to earth-abundant materials for a variety of photolytic applications. A significant challenge to achieving this goal is the fundamental difference in the excited-state properties of first-row metal complexes as compared to their second- and third-row congeners subsequent to light absorption. Our group has been working on understanding the origins of this difference in an effort to develop design principles that will assist in overcoming these intrinsic challenges and develop new paradigms for the creation of photo-active first-row chromophores for applications in solar energy conversion strategies as well as photoredox catalysis.

This presentation will provide a brief survey of the work we have been engaged in over the past several years employing a combination of synthetic chemistry and ultrafast spectroscopy. Our primary focus has been on compounds involving metals with a d6 valence electronic configuration. In the case of Fe(II), leveraging information from vibronic coherence was found to provide what amounts to a roadmap for effective synthetic design to lengthen the lifetime of MLCT excited states, whereas the excited-state redox activity of Co(III)-based ligand-field excited states coupled with dynamics occurring in the Marcus inverted region enabled previously unforeseen applications in photoredox catalysis. Future directions envisioned for this line of research will also be discussed.

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Workshop / Seminar Mon, 26 Feb 2024 14:12:08 -0500 2024-03-07T16:00:00-05:00 2024-03-07T17:15:00-05:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
The awesome power of fluorine NMR - from drugs to cells (March 8, 2024 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109105 109105-21821073@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, March 8, 2024 12:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: LSA Biophysics

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is a versatile tool for probing structure, dynamics, folding, and interactions at atomic resolution. While naturally occurring magnetically active isotopes, such as 1 H, 13 C, or 15 N, are most commonly used in biomolecular NMR, with 15 N and 13 C isotopic labeling routinely employed at the present time, 19 F is a very attractive and sensitive alternative nucleus, which offers rich information on biomolecules in solution and in the solid state. This presentation will summarize the unique benefits of solution, solid-state and in-cell 19 F NMR spectroscopy for the study of biomolecular systems. Particular focus will be placed on the most recent studies and on unique and important potential applications of fluorine NMR methodology.

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Workshop / Seminar Tue, 20 Feb 2024 14:21:44 -0500 2024-03-08T12:00:00-05:00 2024-03-08T13:00:00-05:00 Chemistry Dow Lab LSA Biophysics Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Physical Chemistry 3rd Year Seminars (March 8, 2024 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/117620 117620-21839700@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, March 8, 2024 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Title & Abstracts TBD

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Workshop / Seminar Mon, 22 Jan 2024 10:48:00 -0500 2024-03-08T16:00:00-05:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Bachmann Lecture (March 11, 2024 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109282 109282-21821343@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, March 11, 2024 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

MONDAY TITLE: Enantioselective Tactics and strategies with Iridium Catalysis
MONDAY ABSTRACT: The ability to readily access small-molecule building blocks at will has important consequences for the discovery and development of novel medicines and materials. It is particularly beneficial when the chemical methods are convenient while at the same time economically and environmentally tenable and sustainable. A focus of our research program at ETH-Zurich is the identification, study, and development of novel reactions and methods for preparation of functionalized structures. We are especially interested in catalytic processes that are easily executed and utilize readily available starting materials. We will discuss several new reaction processes that provide ready access to a host of fundamentally versatile building blocks for synthesis. The presentation will focus in part on the unique reactivity of Ir-complexes with a novel phosphoramidite-olefin ligand. We have found that these can activate allylic alcohols towards a wide range of direct displacement reactions, giving rise to optically active products.

TUESDAY TITLE: New Strategies and Tactics in Natural Products Synthesis
TUESDAY ABSTRACT: The presentation will include discussion and analysis of recent natural product targets that have been synthesized in the group. It will focus on target-oriented synthesis as an engine for the generation of novel methods and approaches to bioactive agents. The methods involve novel, unexpected reactivity and unusual building blocks that are fully integrated to lead to efficient routes. We will focus specifically on recently completed syntheses.

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Lecture / Discussion Thu, 22 Feb 2024 15:39:00 -0500 2024-03-11T16:00:00-04:00 2024-03-11T17:15:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Lecture / Discussion Chemistry Dow Lab
Bachmann Lecture (March 12, 2024 11:30am) https://events.umich.edu/event/109282 109282-21822013@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, March 12, 2024 11:30am
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

MONDAY TITLE: Enantioselective Tactics and strategies with Iridium Catalysis
MONDAY ABSTRACT: The ability to readily access small-molecule building blocks at will has important consequences for the discovery and development of novel medicines and materials. It is particularly beneficial when the chemical methods are convenient while at the same time economically and environmentally tenable and sustainable. A focus of our research program at ETH-Zurich is the identification, study, and development of novel reactions and methods for preparation of functionalized structures. We are especially interested in catalytic processes that are easily executed and utilize readily available starting materials. We will discuss several new reaction processes that provide ready access to a host of fundamentally versatile building blocks for synthesis. The presentation will focus in part on the unique reactivity of Ir-complexes with a novel phosphoramidite-olefin ligand. We have found that these can activate allylic alcohols towards a wide range of direct displacement reactions, giving rise to optically active products.

TUESDAY TITLE: New Strategies and Tactics in Natural Products Synthesis
TUESDAY ABSTRACT: The presentation will include discussion and analysis of recent natural product targets that have been synthesized in the group. It will focus on target-oriented synthesis as an engine for the generation of novel methods and approaches to bioactive agents. The methods involve novel, unexpected reactivity and unusual building blocks that are fully integrated to lead to efficient routes. We will focus specifically on recently completed syntheses.

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Lecture / Discussion Thu, 22 Feb 2024 15:39:00 -0500 2024-03-12T11:30:00-04:00 2024-03-12T12:45:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Lecture / Discussion Chemistry Dow Lab
Bartell Lecture (March 13, 2024 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/118075 118075-21840466@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, March 13, 2024 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Title: Expanding the Synthetic Capabilities of Yeast

Abstract: In vitro directed evolution allows biomolecules with new and useful properties to be engineered—mimicking natural evolution on an experimentally accessible time scale by creating large libraries of DNA mutants using PCR and then carrying out a high-throughput assay for variants with improved function. To provide a breakthrough in the complexity of libraries that can be readily searched experimentally for synthetic biology and to allow systems to be directly engineered in the cell, my laboratory is engineering S. cerevisiae so that both the mutagenesis and selection steps of directed evolution can be carried out entirely in vivo, under conditions of sexual reproduction. We have built a modular chemical complementation assay, which provides a selection for diverse chemistry beyond that natural to the cell using themes and variations on the yeast two-hybrid assay. In addition, we devised a heritable recombination system, for simultaneous mutagenesis and selection in vivo under conditions of sexual reproduction. Finally, we have begun to utilize these mutagenesis and selection technologies to engineer yeast to carry out new functions themselves ranging from being a biosensor, to a therapeutic, to a self-organizing community.

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Lecture / Discussion Tue, 30 Jan 2024 11:17:31 -0500 2024-03-13T16:00:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Lecture / Discussion Chemistry Dow Lab
Revealing Molecular Pathology at High Chemical and Spatial Resolutions Using Mass Spectrometry (March 14, 2024 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109428 109428-21822015@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, March 14, 2024 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Imaging mass spectrometry is a powerful analytical technique for analyzing the spatial lipidome. This technology enables the visualization of molecular pathology directly in tissues by combining the specificity of mass spectrometry with the spatial fidelity of microscopic imaging. This label-free methodology has proven exceptionally useful in research areas such as cancer diagnosis, diabetes, and infectious disease. However, state-of-the-art experiments stress the limits of current analytical technologies, necessitating improvements in molecular specificity and sensitivity in order to answer increasingly complicated biological and clinical hypotheses. Especially when studying lipids, many isobaric (i.e., same nominal mass) and isomeric (i.e., same exact mass) compounds exist that complicate spectral analysis, with each structure having a potentially unique cellular function. The Prentice Lab develops instrumentation and novel gas-phase reactions to provide unparalleled levels of chemical resolution. These gas-phase transformations are fast, efficient, and specific, making them ideally suited for implementation into imaging mass spectrometry workflows. For example, these workflows have enabled the identification of multiple sn-positional phosphatidylcholine isomers, the separation of isobaric phosphatidylserines and sulfatides, and the identification of fatty acid double bond isomers using a variety of charge transfer and covalent ion/ion reactions as well as ion/electron and ion/photon reactions. Working with biologists and clinicians, we then leverage these novel imaging technologies to understand the molecular events associated with important problems in human health, including infectious disease, diabetes, and neurodegenerative diseases.

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Workshop / Seminar Thu, 22 Feb 2024 11:04:52 -0500 2024-03-14T16:00:00-04:00 2024-03-14T17:15:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Physical Chemistry 3rd Year Seminars (March 15, 2024 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/117620 117620-21839701@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, March 15, 2024 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Title & Abstracts TBD

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Workshop / Seminar Mon, 22 Jan 2024 10:48:00 -0500 2024-03-15T16:00:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Gomberg Lecture - Inorganic Control of Biological Self-Assembly (March 18, 2024 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/110516 110516-21825006@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, March 18, 2024 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Nature uses barely more than a handful of transition metal ions. Yet, when incorporated into protein scaffolds, this limited set of metal ions carry out innumerable cellular functions and execute essential biochemical transformations such as photochemical H2O oxidation, O2 or CO2 reduction, and N2 fixation, highlighting the outsized importance of metalloproteins in biology. Elucidating the intricate interplay between metal ions and protein structures has been the focus of extensive structural and mechanistic scrutiny over the last several decades. As a result, we have gained a reasonably detailed understanding of how metal ions shape protein structures and how protein structures in turn influence metal reactivity. By contrast, translating this knowledge into an ability to construct functional metalloproteins from scratch remains a great challenge.

Motivated by a desire to (a) build new bioinorganic functions beyond what nature has invented and (b) retrace the routes for the emergence of bioinorganic complexity during evolution, we have developed a design approach in which folded proteins are used as synthons for building supramolecular complexes through metal-mediated self-assembly. The interfaces in the resulting protein superstructures are subsequently tailored with covalent, non-covalent or additional metal-coordination interactions for stabilization and incorporation of new functionalities. This strategy has not only enabled the construction of functional metalloproteins and protein-based materials with unusual properties, but also led to the discovery of fundamental design principles that govern the metal-protein interplay. This presentation will focus on a few examples from our laboratory.

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Workshop / Seminar Fri, 08 Mar 2024 10:26:51 -0500 2024-03-18T16:00:00-04:00 2024-03-18T17:15:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
WISE Advice (March 20, 2024 1:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/116452 116452-21836857@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, March 20, 2024 1:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Sessions @ Michigan

Your Weekly Boost for Success in STEM! Topics offered include:

Peer Mentorship: Connect with experienced STEM peers who've been in your shoes, ready to guide you through challenges and celebrate your victories.

Time Management Mastery: Learn the art of balancing coursework, projects, and personal time to make the most out of your academic experience.

Goal Setting Support: Define and achieve your academic and personal goals with the help of our seasoned mentors.

Stress-Free Strategies: Discover effective methods to manage stress and maintain your well-being throughout the winter semester.

Community Bonding: Forge connections with like-minded STEM enthusiasts in a relaxed, supportive environment.

Winter Wellness: Navigate the challenges of the winter semester with strategies for staying healthy, both mentally and physically.

You are welcome to register to get reminders and add it to your calendar, but drop ins are also encouraged.

Email ScienceSuccessSeries@umich.edu with any questions.

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Workshop / Seminar Mon, 18 Mar 2024 10:01:01 -0400 2024-03-20T13:00:00-04:00 2024-03-20T14:00:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Sessions @ Michigan Workshop / Seminar WISE Advice
Cobalt Photoredox Catalysts for Selective Radical Trifluoromethylations (March 20, 2024 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/110347 110347-21824803@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, March 20, 2024 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Direct trifluoromethylation of unactivated C–H bonds offers a powerful, atom-economical route to CF3-containing molecules of interest in pharma and agrochemicals. Photoredox methods to generate electrophilic •CF3 are robust and powerful, but outer-sphere methods suffer from the lack of selectivity inherent to •CF3 radicals. Organometallic approaches suggest solutions, but metal-catalyzed trifluoromethylations are frequently challenged by the intrinsic properties of the M−CF3 intermediates. Whereas early transition metal M−CF3 bonds readily undergo α-fluoride abstraction to generate difluoromethyl carbene complexes, M−CF3 bonds to low-valent later 3d metals are often thermodynamically robust and kinetically inert. We have developed a photoinduced method to activate thermodynamically stable Co(III)–CF3 bonds for selective arene C–H trifluoromethylations. Central to this strategy is the capacity of pincer (OCO)Co complexes to function as combined chromophores and organometallic reaction centers. Low energy visible light capture leads to intramolecular LMCT from a redox-active [OCO] pincer ligand to Co, which destabilizes the Co–CF3 bond toward homolysis and release of a persistent •CF3 radical. The capacity of the Co(II) byproduct to catalyze H2 production permits direct arene C–H trifluoromethylation without a sacrificial or substrate-derived oxidant. This seminar will describe our recent extensions to photocatalysis and ongoing efforts to elaborate regiospecific radical substitution via intramolecular photolytic arene C–H trifluoromethylations and alkylations. Structure-property relationships will be presented, which are guiding new ligand designs and establishing design principles for next generation base metal photocatalysis.

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Workshop / Seminar Tue, 12 Mar 2024 10:46:16 -0400 2024-03-20T16:00:00-04:00 2024-03-20T17:15:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Super-resolution imaging of intracellular transport along the microtubule cytoskeleton (March 22, 2024 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109106 109106-21821074@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, March 22, 2024 12:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: LSA Biophysics

Microtubules play important roles as highways for intracellular transport. I will highlight how super-resolution microscopy and single molecule tracking tools have enabled us to map the mobility of organelles moving along individual microtubules and study how microtubule post translational modifications impact cellular processes like autophagy. Finally, I will talk about recent work determining the mechanisms by which specific post translational modifications become enriched on microtubule subsets.

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Workshop / Seminar Thu, 14 Mar 2024 15:22:38 -0400 2024-03-22T12:00:00-04:00 2024-03-22T13:00:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab LSA Biophysics Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
WISE Advice (March 26, 2024 3:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/116452 116452-21836858@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, March 26, 2024 3:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Sessions @ Michigan

Your Weekly Boost for Success in STEM! Topics offered include:

Peer Mentorship: Connect with experienced STEM peers who've been in your shoes, ready to guide you through challenges and celebrate your victories.

Time Management Mastery: Learn the art of balancing coursework, projects, and personal time to make the most out of your academic experience.

Goal Setting Support: Define and achieve your academic and personal goals with the help of our seasoned mentors.

Stress-Free Strategies: Discover effective methods to manage stress and maintain your well-being throughout the winter semester.

Community Bonding: Forge connections with like-minded STEM enthusiasts in a relaxed, supportive environment.

Winter Wellness: Navigate the challenges of the winter semester with strategies for staying healthy, both mentally and physically.

You are welcome to register to get reminders and add it to your calendar, but drop ins are also encouraged.

Email ScienceSuccessSeries@umich.edu with any questions.

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Workshop / Seminar Mon, 18 Mar 2024 10:01:01 -0400 2024-03-26T15:00:00-04:00 2024-03-26T16:00:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Sessions @ Michigan Workshop / Seminar WISE Advice
Biophysics Undergraduate Program - Q&A and Snacks! (March 27, 2024 6:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/119912 119912-21843811@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, March 27, 2024 6:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: LSA Biophysics

Biophysics UG Program Q&A&Snacks!
6-7PM, March 27, 2024
Room 4041 CHEM
Contact saramin@umich.edu for more information

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Social / Informal Gathering Fri, 08 Mar 2024 14:08:50 -0500 2024-03-27T18:00:00-04:00 2024-03-27T19:00:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab LSA Biophysics Social / Informal Gathering Biophysics Student
Reactive nitrogen compounds and their contribution to new particle formation and growth (March 28, 2024 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/117509 117509-21839405@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, March 28, 2024 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Atmospheric new particle formation (NPF) followed by growth of the particles to ~50-100 nm accounts for ~50% of the particles that can activate cloud droplets. As such, constraining how aerosols affect cloud lifecycle, properties, and processes and, more generally, the earth’s radiative balance requires knowledge of NPF and growth processes. However, our understanding of NPF and growth remains incomplete because these processes are governed by a complex interplay between the chemistry and physical state of the atmosphere. Additionally, ambient measurements of molecules, such as amines, that have been proposed to be important for NPF are sparse, thus limiting our ability to evaluate the global importance of different nucleation mechanisms. In this talk, I will discuss our work on NPF and growth at the Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Southern Great Plains (SGP) research station, one of the longest-running atmospheric measurement sites in North America. At this agricultural site, we investigate NPF and growth using a combination of long-term measurements of aerosol size distributions and intensive operating periods in which we measure NPF and growth precursors and chemically characterize the growing clusters using mass spectrometry. Our measurements provide insight into the contribution of various oxidized and reduced reactive nitrogen compounds to these processes and highlight the importance of ambient measurements in providing the scientific information required to improve our understanding of aerosol-cloud interactions.

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Workshop / Seminar Tue, 12 Mar 2024 11:32:13 -0400 2024-03-28T16:00:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Gomberg Lecture - How a Love of RNA Biophysics Lead to the Discovery of a Novel Antiviral (April 1, 2024 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109301 109301-21821365@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, April 1, 2024 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Positive Strand RNA viruses persist to pose serious threats to human health and global economies. Disease progression mediated by viral pathogenesis requires numerous intersections between host proteins and viral RNA (vRNA) structures. Host-vRNA complexes drive essential processes in the replication cycles of viruses; as such, they represent untapped targets for therapeutic intervention. In my seminar, I will describe the mechanisms by which the mutually antagonistic human hnRNP A1 and AUF1 proteins compete for the same vRNA structure to differentially regulate Enterovirus (EV) translation efficiency. By screening a library of small molecule RNA binders, we discovered that the compound DMA-135 binds SLII IRES domain to dose-dependently inhibit viral replication by attenuating viral translation. Serial passaging of EV-A71 in the presence of low doses of DMA-135 selects for revertant viruses with drug-resistant mutations that map to the SLII bulge environment. Comparative structure-function studies reveal that the cellular mechanism of action of DMA-135 is to tip the SLII-hnRNP regulatory axis towards significantly lower levels of IRES-dependent translation, and the virus can compensate by evolving mutations that restore homeostasis. Our work defines the antiviral mechanism of action of DMA-135; it demonstrates that functional specificity can be modulated through natural and drug-dependent viral evolution; and it shows how small molecules can reveal new insights about host-virus interfaces that regulate early stages of EV replication.

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Workshop / Seminar Tue, 19 Mar 2024 11:34:13 -0400 2024-04-01T16:00:00-04:00 2024-04-01T17:15:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
AbbVie Symposium "Development of a Scalable Route for the Drug-Linker of Immunology ADC ABBV-154" (April 2, 2024 11:30am) https://events.umich.edu/event/120818 120818-21845351@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, April 2, 2024 11:30am
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

A scalable route has been developed to the bromoacetamide glucocorticoid drug-linker used in conjugation with the monoclonal antibody (mAb) adalimumab to produce antibody-drug conjugate ABBV-154. Optimization and insights will be discussed into the key transformations and isolations including a challenging acetal deprotection, amide coupling between an aniline and dipeptide, phosphate formation via a phosphoramidite displacement and oxidation, Fmoc cleavage with a continuous extraction, bromoacetic acid coupling, and a global acidic deprotection. Notably, the final deprotection of three t-butyl protecting groups proceeds through several intermediates and is complicated by acetal epimerization. This complex reaction was initially optimized in a batch setup, but scaling issues prompted the development of a flow process with an impinging jet mixing element.

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Conference / Symposium Wed, 27 Mar 2024 14:48:56 -0400 2024-04-02T11:30:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Conference / Symposium Chemistry Dow Lab
AbbVie Symposium "Electrochemical Methods for Reductive Cross-Coupling Reactions" (April 2, 2024 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/120820 120820-21845352@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, April 2, 2024 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

The seminar will describe our group's efforts towards the development of scalable, mild, and general electrosynthetic methodologies for cross-coupling reactions. Many of the discussed electrosynthetic methodologies are possible because of a synergy between conventional transition metal catalysts for cross coupling and redox-active mediators developed by the battery community. Electrocatalytic reactions are dramatically improved with the incorporation of co-catalytic quantities of redox mediators that serve to assist in electron transfer, protect catalysts from degradation by over-oxidation/reduction, or promote in the formation of otherwise inaccessible catalytic intermediates. Additionally, a general approach to cross-coupling will be presented that relies on the electrosynthesis of organometallic reagents that undergo radical capture and coupling.

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Conference / Symposium Wed, 27 Mar 2024 14:50:14 -0400 2024-04-02T16:00:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Conference / Symposium Chemistry Dow Lab
WISE Advice (April 3, 2024 1:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/116452 116452-21836859@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, April 3, 2024 1:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Sessions @ Michigan

Your Weekly Boost for Success in STEM! Topics offered include:

Peer Mentorship: Connect with experienced STEM peers who've been in your shoes, ready to guide you through challenges and celebrate your victories.

Time Management Mastery: Learn the art of balancing coursework, projects, and personal time to make the most out of your academic experience.

Goal Setting Support: Define and achieve your academic and personal goals with the help of our seasoned mentors.

Stress-Free Strategies: Discover effective methods to manage stress and maintain your well-being throughout the winter semester.

Community Bonding: Forge connections with like-minded STEM enthusiasts in a relaxed, supportive environment.

Winter Wellness: Navigate the challenges of the winter semester with strategies for staying healthy, both mentally and physically.

You are welcome to register to get reminders and add it to your calendar, but drop ins are also encouraged.

Email ScienceSuccessSeries@umich.edu with any questions.

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Workshop / Seminar Mon, 18 Mar 2024 10:01:01 -0400 2024-04-03T13:00:00-04:00 2024-04-03T14:00:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Sessions @ Michigan Workshop / Seminar WISE Advice
Harnessing energy flow in molecules & nanomaterials: A tale of forbidden transitions, molecular motions, and exotic excitations (April 4, 2024 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109302 109302-21821367@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, April 4, 2024 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Spectroscopy has the potential to reveal the structure and dynamics of complex materials, ranging from chromophores in solution to molecular aggregates and nanomaterial heterostructures. Yet, disentangling spectral signals and extracting an intuitive picture of how excitations form, move, and exchange energy is one of the deepest and most persistent challenges of physical chemistry. In this talk, I will offer two vignettes on our work developing and applying approaches to predict and understand spectral features in molecular and nanomaterial systems. In the molecular world, I will show how our recent advances in condensed phase spectroscopy enable us to decipher a long-standing puzzle in porphyrin photophysics: why and how do the Q bands involved in energy transfer in photosynthesis and artificial energy conversion split? In the nanomaterial world, I will highlight how we have been able to demonstrate how the unusual photophysics of atomically thin 2D materials enables hot carrier extraction for photocatalysis. Then, I will illustrate how addressing the challenge of hot carrier extraction enabled us to develop a simple scheme to disentangle the signals of exotic quasiparticles that explain the tunability of the optical behavior of these materials as a function of potential, laser fluence, and time.

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Workshop / Seminar Tue, 26 Mar 2024 08:47:54 -0400 2024-04-04T16:00:00-04:00 2024-04-04T17:15:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Physical Chemistry 3rd Year Seminars (April 5, 2024 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/117620 117620-21839702@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, April 5, 2024 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Title & Abstracts TBD

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Workshop / Seminar Mon, 22 Jan 2024 10:48:00 -0500 2024-04-05T16:00:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Gomberg Lecture - Carbenes as Powerful Transition-Metal Surrogates (April 8, 2024 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109303 109303-21821368@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, April 8, 2024 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Since the discovery at the beginning of the XXth century of a stable radical, many species that do not obey the octet rule have been isolated. The availability of these stable versions has led to a variety of applications. This statement is well supported by the example of stable carbenes, with only six-valence electrons, which have become among the most powerful tools in chemistry.
Our recent results dealing with the development of catalytic processes promoted by carbenes, which are genuine organic compounds, will be discussed.1-4 They could address the major drawbacks of current transition metal catalysis technology that are the excessive cost of metal complexes (metal + ligands) and in many cases the toxicity of the metal.
To push the boundaries further, we wish to undress carbon atoms even more. As an illustration we will discuss our results dealing with a dicoordinate carbodication.5,6


1 J. L. Peltier, E. Tomas-Mendivil, D. R. Tolentino, M. M. Hansmann, R. Jazzar, G. Bertrand, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2020, 142, 18336-18340.
2 W. Liu, A. Vianna, Z. Zhang, S. Huang, L. Huang, M. Melaimi, G. Bertrand, X. Yan. Chem. Catalysis 2021, 1, 196-206.
3 Z. Zhang, S. Huang, C.-Y. Li, L.-L. Zhao, W. Liu, M. Melaimi, G. Bertrand, X. Yan. Chem Catalysis 2022, 2, 3517-3527.
4 C. Liu, Z. Zhang, L.-L. Zhao, G. Bertrand, X. Yan. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2023, e202303478.
5 Y. K. Loh, M. Melaimi, D. Munz, G. Bertrand. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2023, 145, 2064-2069.
6 Y. K. Loh, M. Melaimi, M. Gembicky, D. Munz, G. Bertrand. Nature 2023, 623, 66-70.

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Workshop / Seminar Thu, 28 Mar 2024 11:03:27 -0400 2024-04-08T16:00:00-04:00 2024-04-08T17:15:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
WISE Advice (April 9, 2024 3:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/116452 116452-21836860@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, April 9, 2024 3:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Sessions @ Michigan

Your Weekly Boost for Success in STEM! Topics offered include:

Peer Mentorship: Connect with experienced STEM peers who've been in your shoes, ready to guide you through challenges and celebrate your victories.

Time Management Mastery: Learn the art of balancing coursework, projects, and personal time to make the most out of your academic experience.

Goal Setting Support: Define and achieve your academic and personal goals with the help of our seasoned mentors.

Stress-Free Strategies: Discover effective methods to manage stress and maintain your well-being throughout the winter semester.

Community Bonding: Forge connections with like-minded STEM enthusiasts in a relaxed, supportive environment.

Winter Wellness: Navigate the challenges of the winter semester with strategies for staying healthy, both mentally and physically.

You are welcome to register to get reminders and add it to your calendar, but drop ins are also encouraged.

Email ScienceSuccessSeries@umich.edu with any questions.

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Workshop / Seminar Mon, 18 Mar 2024 10:01:01 -0400 2024-04-09T15:00:00-04:00 2024-04-09T16:00:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Sessions @ Michigan Workshop / Seminar WISE Advice
Electrochemical CO2 Capture, Concentration, and Conversion (April 9, 2024 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109304 109304-21821369@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, April 9, 2024 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

CO2 capture, concentration, and utilization are all important processes for a circular carbon economy. Developing selective catalysts for concentration CO2 reduction without concomitant hydrogen evolution is a challenge. I will discuss our thermodynamic and kinetic strategies for suppressing the hydrogen evolution reaction under reductive conditions. I will also discuss our work in developing oxygen-stable systems for electrochemical CO2 capture and concentration using secondary hydrogen-bonding interactions. Lastly, I will discuss our work on integrating CO2 capture and conversion into catalytic systems that can take dilute streams of CO2 directly into products.

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Workshop / Seminar Thu, 28 Mar 2024 11:09:06 -0400 2024-04-09T16:00:00-04:00 2024-04-09T17:15:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Photophysics of Photocatalytic and Radical Systems (April 11, 2024 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/113887 113887-21831865@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, April 11, 2024 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Photoredox catalysis has enabled researchers to overcome previously intractable problems in organic synthesis. The use of light to drive catalysis has allowed for more selective reactions that generate both simple and complex molecules from renewable and economical starting materials under mild conditions. Using ultrafast broadband time-resolved spectroscopy, the Huxter group studies photoinduced single-electron transfer and electronic dynamics in photoredox catalytic and radical systems. These studies have revealed complex mechanisms of photoredox catalytic reactions, including the involvement of reduced solvent as intermediates, multiple photoproducts as well as many productive and unproductive pathways. In addition, our experiments on neutral radical transition metal tripyrrindione systems with tunable redox-active chemistry have demonstrated controllable spin states, reversible antiferromagnetic coupling, and spin-dependent electronic relaxation.

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Workshop / Seminar Thu, 28 Mar 2024 13:20:57 -0400 2024-04-11T16:00:00-04:00 2024-04-11T17:15:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Structural mechanisms of DNA priming by polymerase α–primase (April 12, 2024 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109108 109108-21821076@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, April 12, 2024 12:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: LSA Biophysics

The mechanism by which polymerase α–primase (polα–primase) synthesizes chimeric RNA-DNA primers of defined length and composition, necessary for replication fidelity and genome stability, is unknown. Here, we report cryo-EM structures of polα–primase in complex with primed templates representing various stages of DNA synthesis. Our data show how interaction of the primase regulatory subunit with the primer 5′-end facilitates handoff of the primer to polα and increases polα processivity, thereby regulating both RNA and DNA composition. The structures detail how flexibility within the heterotetramer enables synthesis across two active sites and provide evidence that termination of DNA synthesis is facilitated by reduction of polα and primase affinities for the varied conformations along the chimeric primer/template duplex. Together, these findings elucidate a critical catalytic step in replication initiation and provide a comprehensive model for primer synthesis by polα–primase.

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Workshop / Seminar Thu, 14 Mar 2024 15:23:02 -0400 2024-04-12T12:00:00-04:00 2024-04-12T13:00:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab LSA Biophysics Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Nina Hartrampf Seminar (April 12, 2024 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/120687 120687-21845136@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, April 12, 2024 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Title & Abstract TBD

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Workshop / Seminar Mon, 25 Mar 2024 11:37:58 -0400 2024-04-12T16:00:00-04:00 2024-04-12T17:15:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Gomberg Lecture - Particulate methane monooxygenase structure in situ (April 15, 2024 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/108132 108132-21818977@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, April 15, 2024 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Under the mounting threat of climate change, increasing atmospheric methane concentrations are a constant source of concern and debate. Conversion of methane to desirable fuels and chemicals could simultaneously mitigate global warming and meet increasing energy demands. Industrial catalysts that can selectively activate the 105 kcal mol-1 C-H bond in methane require high temperatures and pressures, along with significant capital expenses. The use of biocatalysts produced by methanotrophic bacteria provides an environmentally friendly alternative. The primary biocatalyst in methanotrophic bacteria is the copper-dependent, membrane-bound enzyme particulate methane monooxygenase (pMMO). Any use of methanotrophs for biological gas-to-liquids conversion or for bioremediation requires a detailed understanding of pMMO structure and function. Despite extensive research, the molecular details of the pMMO copper active site remain controversial, in part because the enzyme loses activity upon isolation from methanotroph membranes. Thus, it is critical to structurally characterize pMMO in its native cellular environment. Our quest to achieve molecular characterization of pMMO in situ will be discussed.

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Lecture / Discussion Thu, 28 Mar 2024 13:32:23 -0400 2024-04-15T16:00:00-04:00 2024-04-15T17:30:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Lecture / Discussion Chemistry Dow Lab
Jeff Martell Seminar (April 16, 2024 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109305 109305-21821370@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, April 16, 2024 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Title & Abstract TBD

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Workshop / Seminar Tue, 25 Jul 2023 16:21:31 -0400 2024-04-16T16:00:00-04:00 2024-04-16T17:15:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Gomberg Lecture - Dinshaw Patel (April 22, 2024 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/108086 108086-21818925@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, April 22, 2024 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Title & Abstract TBD

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Lecture / Discussion Wed, 26 Jul 2023 08:35:09 -0400 2024-04-22T16:00:00-04:00 2024-04-22T17:30:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Lecture / Discussion Chemistry Dow Lab
Kate Waldie Seminar (April 23, 2024 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/118446 118446-21841083@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, April 23, 2024 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Title & Abstract TBD

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Workshop / Seminar Tue, 06 Feb 2024 09:11:33 -0500 2024-04-23T16:00:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Electrifying Nitrogen Splitting for Ammonia Synthesis (April 24, 2024 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109306 109306-21821371@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, April 24, 2024 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

The electrochemical reduction of dinitrogen to ammonia promises a sustainable route to fertilizers and fuels. A mechanism based on direct N2 splitting into metal nitride complexes, followed by proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) to generate NH3, will be considered. Electrochemical kinetic and spectroscopic studies of rhenium and molybdenum complexes capable of reductive N2 binding and splitting provide molecular-level mechanistic details on key steps relevant to ammonia synthesis. The mechanistic studies are complemented by molecular orbital theory analyses probing fundamental aspects of dinitrogen bonding and reactivity, guiding the design of catalysts for ammonia synthesis.

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Workshop / Seminar Thu, 28 Mar 2024 13:38:52 -0400 2024-04-24T16:00:00-04:00 2024-04-24T17:15:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Raman Spectroscopic Probes of Photocatalytic Photonic Materials (April 25, 2024 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109307 109307-21821372@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, April 25, 2024 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Photonic materials, including plasmons and polaritons, are highly promising catalysts for driving energetically unfavorable chemical reactions with sunlight, due to their large optical cross sections and ability to modify potential energy landscapes. However, the efficiencies of most plasmon-driven and polariton-driven processes are quite low, likely due to the lack of mechanistic understanding of the underlying physical processes. Here I’ll discuss our use of Raman spectroscopies to advance our fundamental understanding of these systems. First, I’ll describe our development of ultrafast surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) to probe the contributions of plasmon-generated hot electron transfer, heating, and vibrational energy transfer on timescales relevant to photocatalysis. Second, I will talk about our efforts in mapping out reaction coordinates in polaritonic systems, quantifying the degree of mode-specific activation. These efforts in developing a fundamental understanding of polariton and plasmon-mediated processes in molecules will ultimately aid in the rational design of cost-effective photonic materials capable of driving industrially relevant chemistries using solar radiation.

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Workshop / Seminar Thu, 28 Mar 2024 13:54:31 -0400 2024-04-25T16:00:00-04:00 2024-04-25T17:15:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Gomberg Lecture - Adrian Ferre-D'Amare (April 29, 2024 11:00am) https://events.umich.edu/event/109308 109308-21821373@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, April 29, 2024 11:00am
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Title & Abstract TBD

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Workshop / Seminar Wed, 26 Jul 2023 08:40:40 -0400 2024-04-29T11:00:00-04:00 2024-04-29T12:15:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Keary Engle Seminar (May 2, 2024 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/117276 117276-21839094@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, May 2, 2024 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Title & Abstract TBD

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Workshop / Seminar Wed, 17 Jan 2024 10:54:21 -0500 2024-05-02T16:00:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Amanda Morris Seminar (May 7, 2024 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/109861 109861-21823109@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, May 7, 2024 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Title & Abstract TBD

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Workshop / Seminar Mon, 07 Aug 2023 08:11:46 -0400 2024-05-07T16:00:00-04:00 2024-05-07T17:15:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Amanda Cook Seminar (May 21, 2024 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/110271 110271-21824706@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, May 21, 2024 4:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: Department of Chemistry

Title & Abstract TBD.

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Workshop / Seminar Wed, 16 Aug 2023 09:11:42 -0400 2024-05-21T16:00:00-04:00 2024-05-21T17:15:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab Department of Chemistry Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab