Green Chemistry @ MUN

Congratulations and thank you to everyone in the team: Kori Andrea (Vanier Scholar), Tyler Brown (NSERC USRA, 2016), Jennifer Murphy (NSERC CGS-D, and crystallographer), Dakshita Jagota (MUCEP, Winter 2018), Declan McKearney (Squid data collection, at SFU).

Our paper on some mu-oxo compounds of iron that can be formed during reactions of epoxides has been accepted for publication in the ACS journal Inorganic Chemistry. The formation of such compounds is important biologically as some Fe-containing metalloenzymes detoxify epoxides through deoxygenations such as this, and of course, this reaction is an important consideration for catalytic epoxide/carbon dioxide reactions that are of industrial relevance for the formation of polycarbonates and cyclic organic carbonates.

K. A. Andrea, T. R. Brown, J. N. Murphy, D. Jagota, D. McKearney, C. M. Kozak and F. M. Kerton, “Characterization of oxo-bridged iron amino-bis(phenolate) complexes formed intentionally or in situ: Mechanistic insight into epoxide deoxygenation during the coupling of CO₂ and epoxides”, Inorganic Chemistry, 2018, Accepted, http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.inorgchem.8b02109

In her post from last week, Ju talks about some of her ‘new’ experiences living in Newfoundland including fly-fishing, and also how she is tackling her glossophobia (fear of public speaking. Well done Ju!

In her post in late August, Courtney describes her summer travels including her time at the ACS Summer School on Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering in Golden, Colorado, and also the effort involved in writing her first paper (now submitted, so fingers crossed). Well done Courtney!

As many of our followers know, we will be moving to the enormous, state-of-the-art core science facility in 2020. Building is progressing well (see photo below) and you can follow this website for more updates: https://www.mun.ca/csf/

If you join our group in 2019, you will be in our current large, refurbished lab initially but will then move into the new building for the remainder of your studies.  If you have any questions, just get in touch!

Core Science Facility, September 2018. Our labs will be on the 3rd floor of the central pavilion

Two new papers from our group are now available – congratulations to Jue Gong (now at Western) on his RSC Advances article, and Kenson Ambrose and Tim Anderson on their review in Coordination Chemistry Reviews.

Prof. Chris Kozak had a busy day speaking with local media representatives about problems surrounding the city’s water supply to the west end. He appeared on the Morning Show on CBC Radio 1, Here and Now on CBC TV and the Early Edition of NTV news

Prof. Chris Kozak at the CBC Studios, St. John’s (Photo courtesy of @sjmorningshow on twitter)

Hopefully the city workers and engineers will be able to identify a solution to this problem soon.

Kori was recently interviewed in our lab about her research on plastics from carbon dioxide and the potential to make new materials that would biodegrade in the ocean (instead of polluting it).  You can listen to her via this link http://www.cbc.ca/listen/shows/the-broadcast/episode/15588109

Well done Kori – we are proud of you!

Today we took a group photo for our WISE students. Unfortunately, Courtney and Hart couldn’t be there….so we’ll take another one in September 🙂

Courtney Laprise had a wonderful time in Golden Colorado at the ACS Summer School on Green Chemistry and Sustainable Energy. Thank you to ACS PRF and all the tutors/organizers/lecturers/students for such an invaluable experience.

Hart Plommer, Dr. Kerton and Dr. Kozak attended the International Conference on Organometallic Chemistry 2018 in Florence, Italy, #ICOMC2018.  We had a great time presenting our work, meeting up with old friends, making new friends and seeing inspiring talks incl. a plenary by Prof. Ben Feringa (#Nobelprize) with outstanding alkyl lithium chemistry.  One of the benefits of our location on the far North-East coast of North America is that we have the shortest flights to Europe. St. John’s to London Heathrow is ~ 4 hours long….so very convenient for European conferences, travels and collaborations

The bottom set of photos are from the conference excursion into the Chianti region of Tuscany