College of Science » Chemistry-Seminars

Organic Chemistry Seminar at the University of Utah
with Matt Sigman, University of Utah

TBBC 4630
4th floor Thatcher
In-person seminar

Developing Data Science Tools for Synthetic Chemists
by Matt Sigman, University of Utah

Host: Cindy Burrows

Physical Chemistry Seminar at the University of Utah
with Michael Wasielewski, Northwestern University

TBBC 4630
4th floor Thatcher
In-Person Seminar

Chirality-Induced Spin Selectivity in Electron Donor-Acceptor Systems
by Michael Wasielewski, Northwestern University

Abstract:  The role of chirality in determining the spin dynamics of photoinduced electron transfer in donor-acceptor molecules leading to radical pairs that can function as spin qubit pairs remains an open question. While chirality-induced spin selectivity (CISS) has been demonstrated in molecules bound to metal or semiconductor substrates, until now there was no experimental information about whether the intrinsic spin-orbit coupling of the substrate influences the spin dynamics within the molecules themselves. Here we use time-resolved electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy to show that CISS strongly influences the spin dynamics of isolated covalent donor-chiral bridge-acceptor (D-Bc-A) molecules in which selective photoexcitation of D or A is followed by rapid, sequential electron transfer events to yield D•+-Bc-A•-. Exploiting this phenomenon affords the possibility of using chiral molecular building blocks to control electron spin states in quantum information applications.

Bio: Michael R. Wasielewski is the Clare Hamilton Hall Professor of Chemistry and Applied Physics at Northwestern University. He is also Director of the Institute for Quantum Information Research and Engineering (INQUIRE) and Director of the Center for Molecular Quantum Transduction (CMQT), a US-DOE Energy Frontier Research Center at Northwestern. He received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Chicago and was a postdoctoral fellow at Columbia University. His research has resulted in over 850 publications and focuses on light-driven processes in molecules and materials, artificial photosynthesis, molecular electronics, quantum information science, ultrafast optical spectroscopy, and time-resolved electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy.

He is member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and is the recipient of numerous awards including the Porter Medal for Photochemistry; the American Chemical Society Josef Michl Award in Photochemistry, James Flack Norris Award in Physical Organic Chemistry, and Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award; the Royal Society of Chemistry Faraday Lectureship Prize, Physical Organic Chemistry Award, and Environment Prize; the Bruker Prize in EPR Spectroscopy; the International EPR Society Medal in Chemistry; the Chemical Pioneer Award of the American Institute of Chemists; and the Humboldt Research Award.

Host: Connor Bischak
 

Materials Chemistry Seminar at the University of Utah
with Libai Huang, Purdue University 

TBBC 4630
4th floor Thatcher
In-Person Seminar

Imaging Exciton Transport and Quantum Interactions with Ultrafast Microscopy
by Libai Huang, Purdue University

Abstract: At the most fundamental level, transport of energy carriers (such as electrons and excitons) in the solid state is determined by their wavefunctions and the interactions with the lattices and the environment. Wave properties of these particles have profound consequences in their transport. The key difficulties in probing transport in the quantum regime in real materials lie in the fast (picosecond or shorter) dephasing processes and the nanoscale localization lengths. Thus, to image the motion of excitons in their natural (quantum) time and length scales, experimental approaches combining spatial and temporal resolutions are necessary.

To address this challenge, my research group has developed the combined use of optical microscopy and ultrafast spectroscopy tools to image transport of excitons from the nanoscale to the mesoscale and over a wide range of temperatures. In my talk, I will discuss our recent progress on imaging environment-assisted quantum exciton transport in perovskite quantum dot superlattices, coherent suppression of exciton-exciton annihilation in molecular aggregates, and quantum phase transition of moiré excitons. These results provide fundamental understandings of how excitons migrate in materials and how these processes can be manipulated quantum mechanically. The unique ability to measure and control coherent pathways are critical for both solar energy and quantum information applications.

Bio: Libai Huang is the Tarpo Professor of Chemistry at Purdue University and Director of the U.S. DOE Energy Frontier Research Center “Quantum Photonics Integrated Design Center (QuPIDC),” where her group develops ultrafast microscopy and spectroscopy to visualize quantum transport and many-body phenomena, spanning exciton dynamics, superradiance, and strong light–matter interactions—in 2D materials, perovskite nanocrystal assemblies, and molecular emitters. She serves as an Executive Editor of The Journal of Physical Chemistry. Before joining Purdue, Huang was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Argonne National Laboratory; she earned her Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Rochester and B.S. from Peking University.

Host: Luisa Whittaker-Brooks

Chemistry Seminar at the University of Utah
with Tucker Carrington, Queen's University 

Exceptionally accurate ro-vibrational energy levels and tunnelling splittings of water dimer
by Tucker Carrington, Queen's University 

Abstract: We have used (contracted) basis functions that incorporate coupling between inter-molecular coordinates and coupling between intra-molecular coordinates and an iterative eigensolver to compute many energy levels of water dimer (a 12-D problem). The water monomers are completely flexible. We solve the full problem in a basis of products of intramolecular and inter-molecular functions. Intra-molecular coordinates specify the shape of the monomers and intermolecular coordinates specify the relative orientation of the two monomers and distance between them. We are able, for the first time, to compute many monomer-excited states water dimer. To solve the intra-molecular and inter-molecular problems we use the Lanczos algorithm, exploiting the product structure of the primitive basis. We calculate the potential matrix for the full problem without storing the potential on a full-dimensional grid. This is done by storing an intermediate matrix, called the F matrix and parallelizing the calculation. We use a new super accurate potential energy surface computed by S. Yang and D. Zhang, who fit a two-body interaction term with a large number of high-level ab initio points. Agreement with experimental spectra is extremely good. For (H2O)2 the best experiments probe the intermolecular levels and the root means square error (RMSE) with respect to experimental levels is 0.29 cm−1 ; for (D2O)2 the best experiments probe the intra-molecular levels and the RMSE with respect to 22 of 24 intra-molecular (D2O)2 levels is 0.17 cm−1 . The accuracy of our calculation makes it possible to re-assign several experimental bands.

Host: Ryan Steele

Organic Chemistry Seminar at the University of Utah
with Shannon Stahl, University of Wisconsin-Madison

TBBC 4630 (4th floor Thatcher)

Title: TBA
by Shannon Stahl, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Abstract: TBA

Host: Chem SAC 

Analytical Chemistry Seminar at the University of Utah
with Ann Wuttig, University of Chicago

In-person seminar
4630 TBBC
4th floor Thatcher

Electrocatalytic Synthesis with Interfacial Control
by Ann Wuttig, University of Chicago

Abstract: Chemical synthesis driven by electricity offers a scalable, decentralized, and energy-efficient route to furnish value-added products – from fuels to complex molecules. Maximizing reaction efficiency and durability requires immobilized catalytic active sites on electrodes, resulting in dispersed and non-uniform sites. This heterogeneity challenges iterative optimization of reactivity through traditional catalyst modifications, which rely on uniform, singular active sites. This lecture will focus on our research developing synthetic tools and concepts to predictively control interfacial structures at heterogeneous and reusable electrodes at the molecular level. Surface-sensitive techniques and mechanisms will be highlighted throughout the talk. Applications of our interfacial designs in enabling selective chemical syntheses and durable energy conversion systems will be discussed.

Bio: Anna Wuttig is a Neubauer Family Assistant Professor in the Chemistry Department at the University of Chicago. She joined the faculty in July 2021. She holds a A.B. in Chemistry from Princeton University and a Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry from MIT. She was an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow at UC Berkeley. Her research group develops electricity-driven chemical reactions to synthesize products across the chemical value chain by drawing on physical and synthetic inorganic and organic tools to advance the underlying science gating chemical reactivity at electrified interfaces.

Host: Long Luo/Qilei Zhu

Organic Seminar at the University of Utah
with David Nagib, Ohio State University 

TBBC 4630
4th floor Thatcher
In-person seminar

Harnessing Radical and Carbene Polarity in Organic Synthesis
by David Nagib, Ohio State University

Abstract: Radical and carbene chemistry can afford opposite or orthogonal reactivity to classic two-electron pathways. By developing radical chaperone strategies that merge open (1e-) and closed shell (2e-) processes, we have harnessed this complementary reactivity (and polarity) to impart new types of chemo-, regio-, and stereo- selectivity for remote, double, or reversed C-H and C-O functionalizations of alcohols, amines, and carbonyls. These carbene and radical chaperone strategies are continually being developed to streamline the synthesis of complex, medicinally relevant molecules and heterocycles. This seminar will highlight our newest, most exciting chemistry and the mosaic of champions behind these discoveries.

Host: Qilei Zhu

Physical Chemistry Seminar at the University of Utah
with Robert Baker, Ohio State University

TBBC 4630
4th floor Thatcher
In person seminar

Elucidating Charge, Spin, and Solvation Dynamics at Catalytic Interfaces
by Robert Baker, Ohio State University

Abstract: At the heart of many energy conversion and information processing technologies is the need to control charge and spin transport in systems that are far from equilibrium. This can never be accomplished without the ability to probe these dynamics on the relevant scales of time and space. High harmonic generation enables the production of extreme ultraviolet (XUV) light with femtosecond to attosecond pulse durations. Like X-ray absorption, XUV spectroscopy is element specific, providing chemical details such as oxidation state, spin state, and coordination environment of individual elements in complex materials. To extend this technique to study electron dynamics at surfaces and interfaces, we have pioneered XUV transient reflection to serve as a surface sensitive analog of XUV transient absorption. This method now enables direct observation of charge and spin transport at surfaces with nanometer surface sensitivity, femtosecond time resolution, and unprecedented chemical state specificity. As an example, this talk will describe ultrafast XUV measurements of yttrium iron garnet (Y3Fe5O12), which reveal how spin polarized electron transport increases water splitting efficiency by more than an order of magnitude compared to widely studied hematite (α-Fe2O3) and how this technique is currently being employed to understand ultrafast coupling of charge, spin, and lattice degrees of freedom to elucidate the mechanism of chiral induced spin selectivity (CISS). In addition to ultrafast XUV spectroscopy, we utilize sum frequency generation vibrational spectroscopy to study interfacial electric fields and ion solvation at electrochemical interfaces. This talk will illustrate how together these experiments enable new understanding of the molecular features of interfaces that control important energy conversion reactions.

Bio: Robert Baker received his B.S. degree from Brigham Young University in 2007 and his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 2012 under the supervision of Gabor Somorjai. Following a postdoctoral fellowship with Stephen Leone, he joined The Ohio State University in 2014. His awards include the Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, Coblentz Award in Molecular Spectroscopy, Emerging Leader in Atomic Spectroscopy, Young Innovator Award in NanoEnergy, Journal of Physical Chemistry/PHYS Division Lectureship, DOE Early Career Award, and AFOSR Young Investigator Award. Baker was the John von Neumann Distinguished Fulbright Fellow to Hungary in 2023 where he performed research at the Extreme Light Infrastructure Attosecond Light Pulse Source. He is the founding director of the NSF National eXtreme Ultrafast Science (NeXUS) Facility. His research focuses on developing spectroscopic tools to probe charge, spin, and solvent dynamics at catalytic interfaces. In addition to research, he is enthusiastic about teaching and mentoring the next generation of scientific leaders.

Host: Luisa Whittaker-Brooks

Organic Chemistry Seminar at the University of Utah
with Andrew McNally, Colorado State University

In-person seminar
4630 TBBC 
4th floor Thatcher

Title: TBA
with Andrew McNally, Colorado State University 

Abstract: TBA

Host: Qilei Zhu

Organic Chemistry Seminar at the University of Utah
with Guangbin Dong, University of Chicago

TBBC 4630
4th floor Thatcher 
In-person seminar

Title: TBA
by Guangbin Dong, University of Chicago

Abstract: TBA

Host: Qilei Zhu

Organic Chemistry Seminar at the University of Utah
with Jun Ohata, North Carolina State University

4630 TBBC
4th floor Thatcher
In-Person Seminar

Title: TBA
by Jun Ohata, North Carolina State University

Abstract: TBA

Host: Andrew Roberts

Organic Chemistry Seminar at the University of Utah
with Monica McCallum, U Penn

TBBC 4630
4th floor Thatcher
In-Person Seminar

Title: TBA
by Monica McCallum, U Penn

Abstract: TBA

Host: Andrew Roberts

Materials Chemistry Seminar at the University of Utah
with Natalie Stingelin, Georgia Tech

TBBC 4630
4th floor Thatcher

Title: TBA
by Natalie Stingelin, Georgia Tech

Abstract: TBA

Host: Connor Bischak

Organic Chemistry Seminar at the University of Utah
with Chris Newton, University of Georgia

In person seminar 
TBBC 4630
4th floor Thatcher

Title: TBA
by Christ Newton, University of Georgia

Abstract: TBA

Host: Andrew Roberts

Organic Chemistry Seminar at the University of Utah
with Kevin Moeller, Washington University in St. Louis

TBBC 4630
4th floor Thatcher
In-person seminar

Title: TBA
by Kevin Moeller, Washington University in St. Louis

Abstract: TBA

Host: Qilei Zhu

Physical Chemistry Seminar at the University of Utah
with Megan Jackson, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

TBBC 4630
4th floor Thatcher
In-person seminar

Title: TBA
by Megan Jackson, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Abstract: TBA

Host: MingLee Tang and Long Luo

Stang-Burrows-Sessler Lectureship at the University of Utah
with Hanadi Sleiman, McGill University

TBBC 4630
4th floor Thatcher
In-person seminar

Title: TBA
by Hanadi Sleiman, McGill University

Abstract: TBA

Host: Qilei Zhu

Physical Chemistry Seminar at the University of Utah
with Ken Hanson, Florida State University 

TBBC 4630 
4th floor Thatcher
In-Person Seminar

Title: TBA
by Ken Hanson, Florida State University

Abstract: TBA

Host: MingLee Tang