College of Science » Chemistry-Seminars

Chemistry Presentation at the University of Utah
with Tyler Ball, Cornell

TBBC 4630
4th floor Thatcher
In-Person Seminar

Title: Radical Polymerization as a Route to Advanced Functional Materials

Abstract:
Direct initiation of controlled radical polymerization from the C–H bonds of polymer surfaces is a useful strategy for imparting improved or novel properties to a material in the form of polymer brushes. The functionalization of nylon surfaces with well-defined polymer brushes would enable access to functional materials for advanced biomedical and industrial applications. To this end, we developed a surface-initiated hydrogen atom transfer reversible addition–fragmentation chain-transfer (SI HAT-RAFT) polymerization to directly graft from nylon surfaces under mild conditions and explored the utility of our method for modifying surface properties by monitoring changes in hydrophilicity and protein adsorption. Furthermore, we explore the effect of oxygen on SI HAT-RAFT polymerization; using a visible-light excited thioxanthone derivative as a HAT mediator under blue light, we can polymerize in the presence of oxygen to achieve efficient grafting. We envision that further optimization of an oxygen-tolerant SI HAT-RAFT method will enable access to  surface-grafted materials on a commercially-relevant scale. 

Inorganic/Material Chemistry Seminar at the University of Utah
with Jakoah Brgoch, University of Houston

TBBC 4630
4th floor - Thatcher
In-person seminar

Title: Designing Superhard Materials Through Chemistry and Machine Learning 

Abstract:
 Superhard materials, defined by a Vickers hardness exceeding 40 GPa, are essential for advanced manufacturing and energy technologies. However, discovering compounds that combine exceptional hardness with resistance to thermal softening and oxidation remains a major challenge in materials chemistry. Traditional design rules offer limited quantitative guidance, while computational approaches struggle to predict hardness under varying loads and operating conditions. This talk describes how machine learning, solid-state synthesis, and characterization can establish predictive relationships among composition, structure, and mechanical response. An ensemble model trained on experimental measurements predicts load-dependent hardness, with experimental validation across a range of compounds, including a structurally complex, disordered metal borosilicide. Building on this work, the talk examines strategies for predicting hardness at elevated temperatures and the onset of oxidation, addressing the combination of properties required for demanding industrial applications. These efforts demonstrate how chemical insight and predictive modeling can jointly guide materials discovery. The talk concludes with a brief outlook on extending this approach to borides and related intermetallics, exploring how their chemistry combined with new data-driven synthesis strategies can enable the discovery of new permanent magnets. 

Bio:
Prof. Jakoah Brgoch is the Eby Nell McElrath Professor at the University of Houston, with joint appointments in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. He is also a Principal Investigator in the Texas Center for Superconductivity and the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Data Science Institute. 

He completed his Ph.D. at Iowa State University and Ames National Laboratory with Prof. Gordie Miller, and conducted postdoctoral research at UC Santa Barbara with Prof. Ram Seshadri. At UH, Prof. Brgoch leads a multidisciplinary research group focused on solid-state chemistry, materials science, computation, and data science. His team develops functional inorganic materials through an integrated approach combining synthesis, advanced characterization, high-throughput computation, and machine learning, with projects spanning persistent luminescence, magnetic and superhard materials, and stability under extreme conditions. He has authored more than 135 publications and received recognition including an NSF CAREER Award and a Sloan Research Fellowship. Prof. Brgoch serves as an Associate Editor of Chemistry of Materials, on the advisory board of Journal of Physics: Materials, and was an IAS Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the University of Birmingham in the UK. 

Chemistry Seminar at the University of Utah
with Ming-Yu Ngai, Purdue University

TBBC 4630
4th floor - Thatcher
In-person seminar

Title: Excited-State Catalysis in Organic Synthesis

Abstract:
The development of efficient strategies for the synthesis and diversification of complex
molecules remains a central challenge in organic chemistry. The Ngai laboratory seeks to address this
challenge by developing new approaches to build and modify molecules, with the long-term vision of
turning light into medicine. Our research focuses on the use of visible-light-driven excited-state catalysis
to transiently reprogram molecular reactivity and enable transformations that are difficult to achieve
under conventional ground-state conditions. By combining photochemistry, radical reactivity, and
transition-metal catalysis, we aim to establish general platforms for selective bond construction and
late-stage functionalization of structurally complex molecules. These efforts include the development
of new catalytic strategies for site-selective modification, carbon–heteroatom bond formation, and the
introduction of functional groups relevant to medicinal, agrochemical, and materials chemistry. This
seminar will highlight recent advances from our laboratory illustrating how excited-state catalysis can
enable new strategies for molecular functionalization and provide streamlined access to bioactive
molecular architectures.

Bio:
Prof. Ming-Yu Ngai was born in Fujian, China, and grew up in Hong Kong. He received his B.Sc. from the University of Hong Kong in 2003 and his Ph.D. in 2008 under the supervision of Professor Michael Krische at the University of Texas at Austin. He conducted postdoctoral research as a Croucher Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University with Professor Barry Trost and at Harvard University with Professor Tobias Ritter. Prof. Ngai joined the Department of Chemistry at the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 2013, was promoted to Associate Professor in 2019, and moved to Purdue University as Professor of Chemistry in 2023. The Ngai laboratory develops catalytic platforms for the efficient and selective construction and modification of organic molecules. By combining experimental and computational studies to elucidate reaction mechanisms and reactivity principles, his group designs new catalytic systems and applies them to challenges in organic synthesis, bioorganic chemistry, and medicinal chemistry. His work has been supported and recognized by a number of honors, including the NIH Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA), the NSF CAREER Award, the ACS Young Academic Investigator Award, a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)Fellowship, and the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation

Physical/ Analytical Chemistry Seminar
with Martin Edwards, University of Arkansas

TBBC 4630
4th floor Thatcher
In-Person Seminar

Title: TBA
by Martin Edwards

Abstract: TBA

TFR Chemistry Seminar
with Ming Hammond, University of Utah

TBBC 4630
4th floor Thatcher
In-Person Seminar

Title: TBA
by Ming Hammond, University of Utah

Abstract: TBA

Martin Chalfie, University Professor and former chair of the Department of Biological Sciences at Columbia University. Full bio: https://chalfielab.biology.columbia.edu/people/martin-chalfie

In 1939, the first director of the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study, Abraham Flexner, wrote an article in Harper's Magazine titled "The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge." Flexner questioned whether our idea of usefulness had become too narrow for the wide-ranging, unpredictable nature of human curiosity, arguing that real discovery happens when scientists are free to explore without needing to justify usefulness in advance. Several Nobel Prizes have gone to discoveries that emerged sideways from what researchers originally set out to study. Chalfie will argue that "useless knowledge" is as necessary today as ever for improving human health and well-being, and will offer thoughts on how we can create space for the unexpected discoveries that drive future scientific breakthroughs.

TFR Chemistry Seminar
with Ryan Looper, University of Utah

TBBC 4630
4th floor Thatcher
In-Person Seminar

Title: TBA
by Ryan Looper, University of Utah

Abstract: TBA

Physical/ Analytical Chemistry Seminar
with Naihao Chiang, University of Houston

TBBC 4630
4th floor Thatcher
In-Person Seminar

Title: TBA
by Naihao Chiang

Abstract: TBA

TBBC 4630
4th floor - Thatcher
In-person seminar

Title: Rethinking Plastics: Molecular Strategies for Sustainable Polymers
 
Abstract:
Modern society relies on polymers more than ever, but their production and disposal come at an environmental cost. In this lecture, I will share our work to improve polymer circularity by designing materials for mechanical recycling, creating systems for chemical recycling, and developing sustainable pathways to biodegradable plastics.

Bio:
Geoffrey W. Coates received a B.A. degree in Chemistry from Wabash College in 1989, a Ph.D. in organic chemistry with Robert Waymouth at Stanford University in 1994, and was an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow with Robert Grubbs at the California Institute of Technology. He joined the Cornell University faculty in 1997, where he is now the Tisch University Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology.  
 
The research focus of the Coates Group is the development of new catalysts for the synthesis of macromolecules and small molecules. Professor Coates' research concentrates on developing new methods for reacting commodity feedstocks in unprecedented ways. His current research centers on the development of homogeneous catalysts for olefin polymerization, heterocycle carbonylation, epoxide homo- and copolymerization, the utilization of carbon dioxide in polymer synthesis, and new polymers for energy conversion and storage.
 
Professor Coates has been awarded the A. C. Cope Scholar Award, the ACS Award in Affordable Green Chemistry, the ACS Award for Polymer Chemistry, the ACS Hach Award for Entrepreneurial Success, the ACS Applied Polymer Science Award, and the Carl S. Marvel Creative Polymer Chemistry Award. In 2011 he was inducted into the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and was elected to the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Inventors in 2017. He was awarded the Eni Award in 2022 and the National Academy of Sciences Award for the Industrial Application of Science in 2023. He is the scientific cofounder of Novomer, Ecolectro, and Intermix Performance Materials, and is an Associate Editor of JACS.

TFR Chemistry Seminar
with Aurora Clark, University of Utah

TBBC 4630
4th floor Thatcher
In-Person Seminar

Title: TBA
by Aurora Clark, University of Utah

Abstract: TBA

TBBC 4630
4th floor Thatcher
In-Person Seminar

Title: Spectroscopy and Scattering Experiments on Flat Liquid Jets

Abstract:
The dynamics of photoexcited solute molecules and the properties of liquid interfaces are studied by carrying out spectroscopy and scattering experiments on flat liquid water jets. In one set of experiments, solute dynamics are probed using time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy in which molecules are photoexcited with a femtosecond UV pulse and photoionized with a time-delayed femtosecond XUV pulse (at 21.7 eV). The time-dependent photoelectron spectra provide a unique probe of the relaxation of photoexcited neutral and anionic species in aqueous solution. Results will be presented for several negative ions including phenolate,1 bromophenolate, 2 and nitrophenolate. These experiments probe the competition among the various relaxation pathways including internal conversion, dissociation, and electron ejection.
In complementary experiments, the liquid interface is explored in molecular beam scattering experiments from flat liquid jets of cold salty water (-50 °C, 8 m LiBr). In contrast to cylindrical jets, flat jets provide a large target area and well-defined surface normal, both of which are highly advantageous for scattering experiments. Product angular and translational energy distributions for rare gas and molecular scatterers will be presented.3, 4 The competition between impulsive scattering (IS) and thermal desorption is measured, and the energy loss in the IS channel is characterized using a soft-sphere model. Results are sensitive to both the scatterer identity and its collision energy. Possible effects of surface roughness on the product angular distributions will be discussed.

[1] Kang, D. H.; Basu, J.; Haldar, N.; Koga, M.; Neumark, D. M. Photo-relaxation dynamics of phenolate anions by extreme ultraviolet time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy in liquid jets. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2026, 28, 7754-7765.|
[2] Kang, D. H.; Basu, J.; Haldar, N.; Neumark, D. M. Time-resolved extreme ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy of 4-bromophenotate anions in a liquid jet. Faraday Disc. 2026, DOI: 10.1039/d1036fd00059b.
[3] Yang, W.; Foreman, M. M.; Ly, T. C.; Wilson, K. R.; Neumark, D. M. Molecular beam scattering of neon from flat jets of cold salty water. Chem. Sci. 2025, 16, 11608-11618.
[4] Foreman, M. M.; Yang, W. L.; Ly, T. C.; Wilson, K. R.; Neumark, D. M. Selectivity in gas-liquid interactions: Molecular beam scattering of CD4 and ND3 from an aqueous flat liquid jet. J. Chem. Phys. 2026, 164, 014707.

Parry Lectureship Seminar at the University of Utah
with David Cahen, Weizmann Institute

TBBC 4630
4th floor - Thatcher
In-person seminar

Title: TBD

Abstract: TBD

Biological Chemistry Seminar at the University of Utah
with Danzhou Yang, Purdue University

TBBC 4630
4th floor - Thatcher
In-person seminar

Title: TBD

Abstract: TBD

Biological Chemistry Seminar at the University of Utah
with Kristin Koutmou, University of Michigan

TBBC 4630
4th floor - Thatcher
In-person seminar

Title: TBD

Abstract: TBD