Filed under: Group News, Science, Students | Tags: chemistry, research, students
Good luck to Lisa, Marcus and Michelle with their presentations today!
Lisa N. Saunders (C. Kozak) “Synthesis and Reactivity of Amine-bis(phenolate) Complexes of Germanium and Tin”
Michelle E. Pratt (C. Kozak) “The Synthesis and Reactivity of Amine-bis(phenolate) Calcium and Magnesium Complexes”
Marcus W. Drover (F. Kerton) “From Bismuth(III) Boats to Lithium Ladders and Beyond: The Structural, Catalytic and Spectroscopic Features of Main-Group Clusters”
VT NMR of Li complex
Filed under: Group News, Science, Students | Tags: biorefinery, canada, chitosan, fishery, green chemistry, PhD student, renewable feedstock, waste
The first paper from Khaled’s PhD research has been accepted for publication by Green Chemistry.
It is called “Hydrolysis of Chitosan Into Levulinic Acid and 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural In Water Under Microwave Irradiation”
It describes our first efforts at converting biopolymers that can be obtained from fishery waste into potentially useful small molecules. This proof of concept will hopefully lead to these natural materials being used alongside agricultural and forestry wastes as the starting point for chemicals with a wide range of purposes including, fuels, agrochemicals, pharmaceuticals and plastics.
Some of the results were obtained in collaboration with Jessica Besaw (NSERC USRA 2010, Kerton group) who Khaled acted as mentor to. Congratulations Khaled and Jess!
Aminopolysaccharides (Chitin) are available in the shells of crustaceans (lobsters, crabs, shrimps). Khaled has shown that valuable 'Platform' chemicals can be made from them
Green Chem., DOI:10.1039/C2GC35048C
Chris and Fran were invited to participate in a departmental symposium and be the supporting act for Dr. Stephen Liddle (Nottingham University) who was giving his Royal Society of Chemistry Sir Edward Frankland Fellowship Award Lecture. Fran spoke about “Catalysis and Nanoparticle Formation Using Ionic Liquids” and Chris spoke about “Iron Complexes for C-C Cross-coupling Reactions”
They took the opportunity to do some sightseeing…..if you look carefully you might spot a photo of Fran giving her lecture!
Filed under: Group News
Chris was featured on the Faculty of Science news page for his Terra Nova Young Innovator Award. It is linked here.
Further to work being patented by their respective Universities and GreenCentre Canada, results on controlled radical polymerization using iron amine-phenolate complexes has been accepted for publication in Macromolecular Rapid Communications, DOI: 10.1002/marc.201100872 Congratulations to the Kozak (MUN) and Shaver (UPEI) groups.
Charlotte Willans (PhD with Dr. Kerton, 2004) has obtained exciting results in the field of chemotherapy. Her work on silver carbene complexes has been published in Dalton Transactions. It has been featured in the UK Newspaper “The Daily Mail” and she was interviewed on Radio 4 (National UK radio) this morning. Congratulations Charlotte!
Filed under: Group News
In late 2011 Dr. Chris Kozak received the Terra Nova Young Innovator Award, which is sponsored by Suncor Energy. The award provides Chris with a generous research grant to further pursue a project on the synthesis of polycarbonate plastics from CO2.
Zhenzhong’s (Kerton group) copper coordination chemistry paper “Coordination chemistry of α-ω-di(pyridyl-imine) ligands containing flexible linkers with copper(I)” has been accepted for publication in the European Journal of Inorganic Chemistry. Special thanks to Louise Dawe for the X-ray structural determination and Celine Schneider for solid-state NMR and diffusion studies.
Rebecca and Kamrul (Kozak group) and a suite of collaborators have had their iron coordination chemistry paper accepted by Dalton Transactions: “Magnetic, electrochemical and spectroscopic properties of iron(III) amine-bis(phenolate) halide complexes”
Congratulations to them all and here’s to many more excellent publications in 2012!
Filed under: Group News
Today (Dec. 21st) will be the last day in the department for Dr. Fran Kerton and Dr. Chris Kozak. They will be on sabbatical for 2012.
The profs will still be replying to e-mails – so please write if you have any questions and we will try to respond promptly.
Happy Christmas!
Zhenzhong defended his thesis on Monday, December 12. Thank you to Dr. Tom Baker (UOttawa), Dr. Erika Merschrod S. (MUN) and Dr. Louise Dawe (MUN) for examining his thesis, and Dr. Patrick Byrne for chairing the defence. Congratulations Zhenzhong!
This was followed by Kamrul’s thesis defence on Tuesday, December 13. Thank you to Dr. Audrey Moores (McGill), Dr. Karen Hattenhauer (MUN) and Dr. Dave Thompson (MUN) for examining his thesis, and Dr. Paul Gillard for chairing the defence. Congratulations Kamrul!
Dr. Zhenzhong Hu, examiners, supervisor and chair at the end of his defence
Happy supervisor and new PhD at the end of the defence
Thank you to Ruby and all in Grad Studies for the photos and organizing the defences.
In hommage to Zhenzhong’s (Dr. Hu’s) defence, here is a link to the BBC’s Dr Who website and a short intro/clip featuring the other Tom Baker:
Green Chemistry @ MUN 