Olivia DrakeDecember 2, 20101min
Erika Taylor, assistant professor of chemistry and environmental studies, has received a $193,809 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy for a project called “Imaging Lignin Degradation." Taylor will collaborate with colleagues at Penn State University and the University of Tennessee. Taylor hopes to use fluorescence imaging and isotope trace experiments to develop probes for finding organisms that can break down lignin. She plans to test complex biological samples. "Think going to the forest and bringing home a bucket of dirt containing small insects and lots of microorganisms and then figuring out which ones can break down lignin. This is…

Olivia DrakeSeptember 2, 20101min
Michael Calter, associate professor of chemistry, received a $472,490 grant from the National Institutes of Health for his study titled “Asymmetric C-C Bond-Forming Reactions Catalyzed by Cinchona Alkaloid Derivatives.” The grant will fund this research through July 31, 2013. The project described was supported by Award Number R15GM094764 from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences.

Olivia DrakeAugust 3, 20102min
Stewart Novick, professor of chemistry, and Herb Pickett, a visiting scholar in chemistry, received a $323,880 grant from the National Science Foundation for their research titled “High resolution spectroscopy of molecular hydrogen complexed with Transition metal halides and chalcogens: a model for H2 MOF hydrogen storage.” The grant will be awarded Sept. 1 through Aug. 31, 2013. The grant is subcontract with the project’s co-PI Zhenghong Yu at Aerodyne Research Inc. Using the extremely sensitive Fourier transform microwave spectrometer in Novick's laboratory and incorporating "laser ablation" as a source of refractory molecules, Novick and Pickett plan to study the "active site" of the…

Olivia DrakeApril 21, 20101min
Brian Northrop, assistant professor of chemistry, is the co-author of several new articles. These include: “Ultrafast Optical Excitations In Supramolecular Metallacycles with Charge Transfer Properties,” published in Journal of the American Chemical Society, 132, 1348-1358 in 2010; “Assembly of Metallacycles on HOPG by Shape-Persistent Macrocycle Templates,” published in Journal of the American Chemical Society, 132, 1328-1333, 2010; “Surface Confined Metallosupramolecular Architectures: Formation and Scanning Tunneling Microscopy Characterization,” published in Accounts of Chemical Research, 42, 249-259, 2009; “Directed Self-Selection in the Coordination-Driven Self-Assembly of Irregular Supramolecular Polygons,” published in Journal of Organic Chemistry, 74, 3554-3557, 2009. Also, “Synthesis of Six-Component Metallodendrimers…