Recent Accomplishments in Chemistry
There are always exciting things happening in the department! Check here for recent professional activity by our faculty and students.
Jump to : Publications , Service, Awards and Honors, Grants and Funding, Presentations
Recent Publications
Bucknell chemistry faculty members are indicated in bold,
*Bucknell undergraduates are indicated by an asterisk*
2009 - 2010
Merola, R.B. and M.M. McGuire, "Crystallographic Site Distribution and Redox Activity of Fe in Nontronites Determined by Optical Spectroscopy," Clays and Clay Minerals, in press.
Bzdek, B.R., and M.M. McGuire, "Polarized ATR-FTIR Investigation of Fe Reduction in the Uley Nontronites," Clays and Clay Minerals, 57(2) 227-233 (2009).Contrella, N.D.; Tillman, E.S.; Leasure, J.G.; Monk, I.W. "Sequential Anionic and Reverse Atom Transfer Radical Polymerizations From a Single Carbon: Synthesis of Poly(styrene)-block-Poly(methyl methacrylate)" Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics 2009, in press.
Leasure, J.G.; Tillman, E.S., Brinkman, C.E.; Monk, I.W.; Cohen, N.A. "Effect of Temperature, Solvent, Lewis Acid, and Additives on the Polymerization of t-Butyl Vinyl Ether Using Lewis Acid-induced N-Methyleneamines as Cationic Initiators" Polymer International, in press.
Cohen, N.A.; Eric S. Tillman, Thakur, S.; Smith, J.R.; Eckenhoff, W.T.; Pintauer, T. "Effect of the Ligand in Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization Reactions Initiated By Photodimers of 9-Bromoanthracene" Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics 2009, 210, 163-168 (2009).
Tillman, E.S.; Contrella, N.D.; Leasure, J.G. "Monitoring the Nitroxide Mediated Polymerization of Styrene Using Gel Permeation Chromatography and Proton NMR" Journal of Chemical Education, in press.
Stockland, R.A. Jr.,"Microwave Heating as a Tool for Clean Organic Synthesis" in Microwave Heating as a Tool for Sustainable Chemistry, CRC Press, in press (2009-2010).
Kohler, M.C.; Sokol, J. G.; Stockland, R. A. Jr., "Development of a Room Temperature Hirao Reaction", Tetrahedron Lett. 50, 457 (2009).
M. C. Kohler, T. V. Grimes, X. Wang, T. R. Cundari, Stockland, R. A. Jr.,"Arylpalladium Phosphonate Complexes as Reactive Intermediates in Phosphorus-Carbon Bond Forming Reactions", Organometallics 28, 1193 (2009).
D. Rovnyak, Kennedy, P.E, "Application of shaped adiabatic pulses to MQMAS spectrsoscopy of Spin 3/2 nuclei", Journal of Magnetic Resonance, 196, 191-199(2009).
Mason, P.E., Schildt, D.C., Strein, T.G.,"In-capillary determination of creatinine with electrophoretically mediated microanalysis: characterization of the effects of reagent zone and buffer conditions", Journal of Chromatography A V1216, 154-158 (2009).
2008
Williams, B.W., Celius, T.C.,"New Potentials for Old: The Darboux Transformation in Quantum Mechanics", Journal of Chemical Education V85, 576-585 (2008).
Kennedy, P.E., Francis, N., Rovnyak, D., Kastner, M.E.,"Redetermination of cis-diaquadiglycolatozinc(II)", Acta Crystallographica Section E: Structure Reports Online E64, 1635 (2008).
Fretwell, J., Ismail, S., Cummings, J., Selby, T.L.,"Characterization of a randomized FRET library determination for protease specifity determination", Molecular Biosystems V4(8) 862-870 (2008).
Ozyurt, S., Selby, T.L.,"Computational active site analysis of molecular pathways to improve functional classification of enzymes", Proteins - Structure, Function and Bioinformatics V72(1) 184-196 (2008).
Hebling, C.M., Thompson, L.E., Eckenroad, K.W., Manley, G.A., Fry, R.A., Mueller, K.T., Strein, T.G., Rovnyak, D.,"Sodium cholate aggregation and chiral recognition of the probe molecule R,S-1,1'-binaphthyl-2,2'diylhydrogenphosphate (BNDHP) observed by 1H and 31P NMR spectroscopy", Langmuir 24, 13866-13874 (2008).
Nathan D. Contrella, Eric S. Tillman,"Synthesis and characterization of fluorene-labeled polymers prepared by nitroxide mediated polymerization" Polymer V49, 4076-4079 (2008).
Sona Thakur, Jenell R. Smith, Eric S. Tillman, Nicole A. Cohen, Nathan D. Contrella,"9-Bromoanthracene photodimers as initiators in controlled radical polymerization: silane radical abstraction coupled with nitroxide mediated polymerization", Journal of Polymer Science, Part A: Polymer Chemistry, V46, 6016-6022 (2008).
Sona Thakur, Nicole A. Cohen, Eric S. Tillman,"Chain extension and block copolymer synthesis using silane radical atom abstraction coupled with nitroxide mediated polymerization", Polymer V49, 1483-1489 (2008).
David Rovnyak,"Tutorial on analytic theory for cross polarization in solid state NMR", Concepts in Magnetic Resonance Part A, V32A(4), 254-276 (2008).
2007
Sona Thakur, Eric S. Tillman,"Efficient metal-free coupling of polystyrene chains using silane radical atom abstraction", Journal of Polymer Science, Part A: Polymer Chemistry V45, 3488-3493 (2007).
J. Ryan Bailey and Molly M. McGuire,"ATR-FTIR observations of water structure in colloidal silica: Implications for the hydration force mechanism", Langmuir V23(22), 10995-10999 (2007).
David Rovnyak, Robert A. Stockland Jr.,Editors,"Modern NMR Spectroscopy in Education", Oxford University Press, ACS Symposium Series (2007).
Karen J. Castle, "High-resolution vibration-rotation spectroscopy: Understanding the Boltzmann Distribution", Journal of Chemical Education V84, 459 (2007).
Eric S. Tillman, Daniel S. Miller*, Amanda C. Roof*, "Photodimers of 9-Haloanthracenes as Initiators in Atom transfer Radical polymerization: Effect of the bridgehead Halogen", Polymer Bulletin 2007, 58, 881-891.
Jayne A. Kubat*, James, J. Chou, David Rovnyak,"Application of nonuniform sampling and maximum entropy reconstruction to the accuracte measurement of residual dipolar couplings", Journal of Magnetic Resonance,186 201-211 (2007).
Laura E. Thompson*, David Rovnyak, "Accessible NMR experiments studying the hydrodynamics of 15N-enriched ubiquitin at low fields", Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, 2007, 35, 49-56.
R.Brit Merola,* Eric D. Fournier,* and M.M. McGuire, "Spectroscopic investigations of Fe2+ complexation on nontronite clay," Langmuir, 2007, V23(3), 1223-1226.
R. A. Stockland Jr., B. D. Wilson, C. C. Goodman, B. J. Giese* and F. L. Shrimp II*, "Synthesis, Characterization, and Reactivity of a Hexane Soluble Silver Salt." Journal of Chemical Education, 84, 694 (2007).
2006
Jeffrey N. McKnight*; Eric S. Tillman; Louis R. Sarry* “Lewis Acid-Induced N-methyleneamines as Initiators in the Syn thesis of Secondary Amine-Terminated Polymers” Macromolecular Rapid Communications 2006, 27, 1578-1583.
Eric S. Tillman; Amanda C. Roof*; Steven M. Palmer*; Beth Ann Zarko*; Caton C. Goodman; Alissa M. Roland* “Synthesis of Chromophore-labeled Polymers and their Molecular Weight Determination Using UV-Vis Spectroscopy” Journal of Chemical Education 2006, 83, 1215-1217.
Amanda C. Roof* ; Eric S.; Tillman, Raleigh E. Malik*; Alissa M. Roland*; Daniel J. Miller*; Louis R. Sarry* “Mechanistic Investigation of 9-Bromoanthracene Photodimers as Initiators in Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization” Polymer 2006, 47, 3325-3335.
J. L. Jamison, L. Davenport and B. W. Williams, "Solvatochromism in the aromatic ketone benzo[b]fluorenone", Chem. Phys. Lett. 422 (2006) 30-35.
M.C. Kohler*, R. A. Stockland Jr., and N. P. Rath, "Steric and Electronic Effects on Arylphosphonate Elimination from Organopalladium Complexes", Organometallics 2006, 25, 5746-5756.
R. A. Stockland Jr., M. C. Kohler*, I. A. Guzei*, M. E. Kastner, J. A. Bawiec, III, R. B. Hochberg*, and D. C. Labaree, "Organometallic Complexes Containing 17-Ethynyl-17b-hydroxyandrost-4-en-3-one and Related Ethynyl Steroids" Organometallics 2006, 25, 2475-2485.
R. A. Stockland Jr., A. J. Lipman*, J. A. Bawiec, P. E. Morrison*, I. A. Guzei*, P. M. Findeis, J. F. Tamblin, "Remarkable tolerance of ethynyl steroids to air and water in hydrophosphinylation reactions: Reaction scope and limitations. J. Organomet. Chem. 2006, 691, 4042.
Eckenroad, K.W.; Thompson*, L.E.; Strein, T.G.; Rovnyak, D. "Proton NMR assignments for R,S-1,1-binapthyl (BN) and R,S-1,1-binaphthyl-2,2-diyl hydrogen phosphate (BNDHP) interacting with bile salt micelles" Magnetic Resonance in Chemistry, 2006, V45, 72-75.
Karen J. Castle, Katherine M. Kleissas*, Justin M. Rhinehart, Eunsook S. Hwang, and James A. Dodd, “Vibrational Relaxation of CO2(n2) by Atomic Oxygen” Journal of Geophysical Research, V111, A09303, (2006). doi:10.1029/2006JA011736.
Charles H. Clapp, Matthew Strulson, Pamela C. Rodriguez, Richmond Lo*, and Mark J. Novak “Oxygenation of Monounsaturated Fatty Acids by Soybean Lipoxygenase-1: Evidence for Transient Hydroperoxide Formation”, Biochemistry , 45, 15884-15892 (2006).
Visible Chemistry Faculty Professional Service
Professor Strein is speaking in and co-organizing (with Cynthia Larive of UC Riverside) a symposium entitled,"Spectroscopic Insights to Separation Processes" at PittCon '07 in Chicago, Illinois on February 28, 2007.
Professor Castle is currently serving (2006-2007) as the chair of the Susquehanna Valley Section of the American Chemical Society.
Prof. Casteel is currently serving (2006-2007) as Councilor to the Susquehanna Valley Section of the American Chemical Society
Prof. Strein served as Program Co-chair for the 2006 Middle Atlantic Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Hershey, PA.
Prof’s Williams, Stockland, Tillman, McGuire Strein, Rovnyak, and Kastner served as technical session chairs at the 2006 Middle Atlantic Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Hershey, PA.
Awards and Honors
Spring, 2008: Bryan Bzdek, a senior chemistry major from Wayne, NJ received a student travel award from the Clay Mineral Society to present his work at the spring 2008 ACS National Meeting in New Orleans. Bryan's presentation was recognized as a "Top Poster" bye the Geochemistry Division.
Two chemistry students win national awards:
Brit Merola, a senior Chemistry major from Great Meadows, NJ received funding through the ACS Women Chemists Committee (WCC) to present her work entitled "Temperature effects on the diffuse reflectance spectra of nontronite clays" at the 2006 Fall ACS National Meeting in San Francisco. Brit works with Prof. McGuire.
Adam Catherman, a Junior Cheistry major for Sellinsgrove, PA received funding through the American Chemical Society (ACS) Analytical Division to present his work at PittCon’07 in Chicago, Ill in February of 2007. Adam works with Prof. Strein.
Grants and Funding
Karen Castle, National Science Foundation - Research at Undergraduate Institutions through the CEDAR Program, Aeronomy Division (2007-2010),"Quenching of vibrationally-excited ozone by atomic oxygen", $167,760.
*Five professors awarded grants in spring/summer 2007 to support their research
*Eric Tillman (PI), National Science Foundation - Research at Undergraduate Institutions, (2007-2010) "Synthesis of amine-terminated polymers using Lewis Acid-Induced N-methyleneamines as cationic initiators", $135,023.
*Molly McGuire (PI), Erin Jablonski (Co-PI, Chem. Eng.), Timothy Raymond (Co-PI, Chem. Eng.), National Science Foundation - Major Research Instrumentation, (2007-2010) "Acquisition of an Atomic Force Microscope to Enhance Interdisciplinary Research at Bucknell University", $180,673
*David Rovnyak (PI) and Timothy Strein (co-PI), (2007-2010) ACS-Petroleum Research Fund, "Examining Hydrodynamic and solubilization properties of micelles formed by chiral amphiphiles", $55,000
*Karen Castle, James A. Dodd, (2007-2010) NASA Geospace Science Program,"Temperature dependent CO2-O vibrational energy transfer". $208,067
*Timothy Strein, National Institutes of Health - Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA), (2007-2010), "Bioanalytical CE: Mixing, reacting, separating, and stacking", $218,899
Eric S. Tillman: (2005) Cottrell College Science Award, Research Corporation, "Anthracene photodimers in atom transfer radical polymerizations". $41,566
David Rovnyak: (2005) Cottrell College Science Award, Research Corporation, "Towards new relationships between metal coordination geometry and protein function in unusual zinc-binding cytoplasmic domains" $44,836
Presentations
Recent Presentations (2006-2008) by Bucknell Faculty and Undergraduate Students*.
Karen Castle, "Greenhouse cooling?: Using earth's upper atmosphere to track climate change", Susquehanna Valley Section of the American Chemical Society Annual Education Awards Banquet, May 2008.
Karen Castle, "Laser Spectroscopic Studies of 'Greenhouse Cooling' in the Upper Atmosphere", at Bloomsburg University. February 8, 2007.
David Rovnyak, "Improving Control over MQ Coherence Transfer in Quadrupolar Nuclei: Theory and Applications", NMR of Metals in Biological Systems and Materials, University of Delaware, June 9, 2007.
Eric S. Tillman, "Synthesis of Functionalized Polymers Using Radical and Cationic Initiating Systems", at Colgate University. November 14, 2006.
David Rovnyak, "Progress and New NMR Methodology for Studying Unusual Zinc-Binding Domains", at Middlebury College, September 22, 2006.
Jayne Kubat*, "Seeing Double with NMR : Accelerated Acquisition of Residual Dipolar Coupling Spectra", at Harvard Medical School Department Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, August, 2006.
