Chemistry Faculty
Explorations at the interface of chemistry and biology have spawned new medicines and diagnostics that improve human health, tools for probing natural biology and roadmaps for creating synthetic forms of life engineered to serve human needs. My lab focuses on creating new technologies that promote these endeavors, as well as applying chemical approaches to study systems that elude more conventional methods of biological inquiry. Examples of technologies that drive our research are...
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My laboratory investigates the structure and function of biological systems using many tools and methods, always with a strong physical perspective. Four interconnected themes are being pursued.
First, we are broadly interested in electrostatics in proteins and how electrostatics affect function. Our current work uses vibrational probes whose sensitivity to electric fields can be calibrated by Stark spectroscopy. Probes are introduced on inhibitors, by modification of amino acids and by...
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Research in our group explores the boundaries of modern organic synthesis to enable the more rapid creation of the highest molecular complexity in a predictable and controllable fashion. We are particularly inspired by natural products not only because of their importance as synthetic targets but also due to their ability to serve as invaluable identifiers of unanswered scientific questions.
One major focus of our research is selective halogenation of organic molecules. Dihalogenation...
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Our research program integrates chemistry, biology, and physics to investigate the assembly and function of macromolecular and whole-cell systems. The genomics and proteomics revolutions have been enormously successful in generating crucial "parts lists" for biological systems. Yet, for many fascinating systems, formidable challenges exist in building complete descriptions of how the parts function and assemble into macromolecular complexes and whole-cell factories. We are inspired by...
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The Chidsey group research interest is to build the chemical base for molecular electronics. To accomplish this, we synthesize the molecular and nanoscopic systems, build the analytical tools and develop the theoretical understanding with which to study electron transfer between electrodes and among redox species through insulating molecular bridges. Members of the group have synthesized several series of saturated and conjugated oligomers with which we have studied the fundamental aspects of...
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Our research interest lies in understanding the signal propagation in neurons using quantitative tools developed by physical and chemical sciences. Currently, there are three major research directions: (1) Investigating the axonal transport process using optical imaging, magnetic and optical trapping, and microfluidic platform; (2) Developing vertical nanopillar-based electric and optic sensors for sensitive detection of biological functions; (3) Using optogentic approach to investigate...
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The research of my group interfaces with chemistry, physics, materials science, and biological and medical science. We are interested in solid state and soft biological materials that have well-defined atomic structures. Our work is in the areas of materials chemistry, solid state chemistry and physics, scanning probe microscopy, molecular electronics, novel chemical and biochemical sensors and nanomaterial based biological transporters and carriers for drug, DNA and protein delivery and novel...
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Research in my group is based broadly in methods development and chemical synthesis. Our early efforts have concentrated on the invention of new atom and group transfer-type reaction processes. The application of such methods to problems in natural product synthesis and chemical biology offers unique challenges in reaction design, and serves as the underlying motivation for our research. As one of our overarching goals, we wish to devise molecular systems for selective C-H amination and...
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My research group studies complex molecular systems by using ultrafast multi-dimensional infrared and non-linear UV/Vis methods. The properties of systems, such as water in nanoscopic environments, room temperature ionic liquids, heterogeneous catalysts, liquid crystals, or phospholipid membranes depend on molecular level dynamics and intermolecular interactions. Our ultrafast measurements provide direct observables for understanding the relationships among dynamics, structure, and...
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Our research involves the fields of bioinorganic and biophysical chemistry. In general, we are asking how structure at different organizational levels relates to function. Studies are being done at the molecular and macromolecular levels using a number of x-ray spectroscopic and scattering techniques on a variety of different scientific problems.
Typical of our molecular structural studies are investigations of metal ions as active sites of biomolecules. We are developing and utilizing...
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My group pursues new strategies to address outstanding problems in homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis. We are interested in two general challenges: the control of the selectivity of C-C and C-X bond-forming reactions for organic synthesis and the development of efficient electrocatalysts for energy conversion processes. Our research environment is highly interdisciplinary.
Current strategies for controlling selectivity in chemical reactions rely principally on molecular recognition...
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We approach solid-state materials using the tools of synthetic molecular chemistry and design hybrids to combine the strengths of molecules and extended solids. We target materials for applications in renewable energy and pollution management: sorbents for environmental pollutants, phosphors for solid-state lighting, electrodes for secondary batteries, absorbers for solar cells, etc. We also design molecular centers for the electro- and photo-catalytic activation of small molecules relevant to...
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Research interests in this laboratory lie at the interface of chemistry and medicine.
Assembly line enzymes such as polyketide synthases have extraordinary potential for the programmable biosynthesis of complex natural products. Our laboratory seeks to understand the mechanistic logic of assembly line polyketide synthases, and to harness these insights in order to engineer new antibiotics. The prototypical system of interest to us is the 6-deoxyerythronolide B synthase, which synthesizes the...
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A chief focus of research in our laboratory is on design, synthesis, and study of molecules that function in biological systems. The research can lead to basic understanding of biological mechanisms such as DNA repair and RNA modification, and to the development of molecules for detecting and treating disease.
One long-term goal of the group is the design and discovery of new chemistries and molecules that can react within cells to probe or report on DNA and RNA sequence or structure....
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Our research centers on problems at the interface of quantum and statistical mechanics. Particular themes that occur frequently in our research are hydrogen bonding, the interplay between structure and dynamics, systems with multiple time and length-scales and quantum mechanical effects. The applications of our methods are diverse, ranging from chemistry to biology to geology and materials science. Particular current interests include proton and electron transfer in fuel cells and enzymatic...
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Quantum chemistry traditionally solves the time-independent, zero temperature electronic Schrödinger equation, assuming separability of the electronic and nuclear degrees of freedom. This provides potential energy surfaces for use in molecular dyna-mics simulations to understand finite temperature and time-dependent effects. We take a different approach-extending quantum chemistry into the time domain, bridging the gap between traditional molecular dynamics (what are the atoms doing?) and...
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