Research

Research endeavors within the Department of Chemistry involve students at every stage of their career. Undergraduates are encouraged to participate in the laboratory from their first semester on campus. Graduate students, postdoctoral research associates, staff, and faculty members investigate topics ranging from medicinal chemistry to chaos theory.


State-of-the-art instruments and newly-renovated facilities provide an environment conducive to productivity and ingenuity. For additional information on research activities within the Department, see the highlights below and visit faculty member's individual websites.

 
Research Highlights

Ed Biehl, is developing new anti-psychotic and anti-cancer drugs. He was recently named one of nine Dreyfus Scholars in the U.S., recognizing outstanding undergraduate teaching and research.

John Buynak is developing antibiotics which are more effective than those presently used against penicillin-resistant organisms.

Dieter Cremer develops new quantum mechanical methods to study electron conduction in molecules to be used for computer transistors of the future. He also works on relativistic methods to describe transition metal complexes and super heavy atoms.

Werner Horsthemke is studying the formation of spatial patterns in oscillating reactions and the effects of random fluctuations on nonequilibrium systems.

Elfi Kraka is designing new anti cancer drug leads utilizing mother nature’s recipes, quantum chemical methods, and  high performance computers to facilitate the drug development process. Her work has been frequently mentioned in many media outlets.

Mike Lattman is synthesizing new "hypervalent" molecules with applications for advanced materials and catalysis.

Mark Schell specializes in theoretical and experimental chemical chaos.

David Son is synthesizing new multidentate ligands for supramolecular assembly, and investigating the syntheses and applications of novel organosilicon monomers, polymers, and dendrimers.

Brent Sumerlin prepares and investigates well-defined polymers with selected functionality, composition, and molecular architecture.

Nick Tsarevsky works on the synthesis of functional well-defined polymers and studies novel polymerization systems using bio-inspired monomers.

Patty Wisian-Neilson is developing inorganic polymers with potential applications as electronic or biomedical materials.
 

Faculty Spotlight

Professor John Maguire and an international team of scientists have succeeded in attaching metal carborane entities to Single Wall Carbon Nanotubes (SWCNT). The functionalized SWCNT were found to be soluble in water and to concentrate in EMT6 tumor cells (a mammary carcinoma) transplanted into the flank of young female BALB/c mice. These results have direct application to boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) in the treatment of cancer.

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