First Crystal Structure!

We’ve collected our first data set on the new diffractometer, a nice bis(dimethylglyoximato)(isobutyl)(pyridyl)cobalt(III) complex grown by students in our CHEM 352 lab.  Take CHEM 352 and you can grow some for yourself!  R1 = 3.01%, wR2 = 7.24% — not too bad for a first crystal.

New Diffractometer!!

We are thrilled to show off the newest addition to our lab, a Bruker Quest ECO single-crystal X-ray diffractometer.  This instrument will provide awesome new capabilities for our work in inorganic synthesis and small-molecule activation, and we are looking forward to new opportunities to incorporate crystallography into CHEM 352 laboratory and outreach activities.  Thanks to the Dreyfus Foundation and Carleton College for their generous support that enabled this purchase!!

Cooperative CO2 Scission Paper is Out!

This one has been a long time coming, but it has been worth the wait!  Check out this fantastic work in Organometallics by Jim Zhang ’18, Teddy Donnell ’17, Paul Peterson ’18, and Mike Trenerry ’18, as well as our awesome collaborators Prof. Buck Taylor (and student Vanessa Eng) and Prof. Daron Janzen.  We provide experimental and computational evidence for silicon-assisted CO2 cleavage by an anomalous insertion mechanism, highlighting another mechanism by which silicon can play a key role in transforming CO2.

Seminar travel

Matt recently made seminar trips to Yale University, MIT, and Princeton University.  What a great chance to share the cool chemistry being explored by Carleton undergrads!  The trips provided a nice opportunity to chat with students and postdocs about careers at PUIs and to catch up with Carleton alumni Kaz Skubi ’11, Anna Brezny ’13, Mia Borden ’13, Joe Boerma ’13, and Paul Peterson ’18 (Paul was a great student host for Matt’s Princeton visit!).  Thanks to Pat Holland, Alex Radosevich, and Paul Chirik for great visits!

Congrats, thanks, and good luck!

Many thanks and congratulations are in order for Jim Zhang ’18, who just completed his time as a 5th-year research associate in the lab!  Over the past year, Jim has elaborated some fascinating new bimetallic chemistry of Co(I) silylenes, addressed some mysteries in our Rh CO2 chemistry, and ironed out some loose ends with Ru silylenes (for those who are counting, that’s 3 papers to add to the 2 he already completed as an undergrad).  After a well-deserved break this summer, Jim will be heading to Stanford University to pursue a PhD in Chemistry.  As if that all were not enough, Jim finished off his time at Carleton by getting married (see picture below).  Congratulations and best wishes to Jim and Lucy!

Awesome Alumni!

A belated congratulations to Whited group alumni and newly minted doctors Dan DeRosha ’13 and Alex Kosanovich ’14!  Dan earned his PhD in Chemistry from Yale University for work done with Prof. Pat Holland; he just started a postdoctoral position at Columbia University with Prof. Jon Owen.  Alex earned his PhD in Chemistry from Texas A&M University for work done in Prof. Oleg Ozerov‘s lab, and he will begin work at Dow in their polyurethanes division this summer.  Way to go!

Alex (left) and Dan (third from left), back when they were younger men and members of the first cohort of Whited Group students, in front of the (now defunct) Mudd Hall of Science!