Our group’s research focuses on inorganic and organic synthesis to develop chemical systems ranging from catalysis to porous frameworks to surface spectroscopy. We concentrate on four distinct areas of research, all of which are centered around the use of N-heterocyclic ligands for their distinctive properties. The first area is the development of macrocyclic tetra N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligands to stabilize metal ligand multiple bonds for nitrene group transfer reactions using first row transition metals. The second research direction is expanding these NHC ligands to f-block elements such as uranium. The third research area investigates semi-rigid di-triazole ligands for the development of new 1D Metal Organic Nanotubes (MONTs). Finally, we are developing a range of bifunctional NHC precursors to functionalize gold surfaces or nanoparticles for use in surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). In addition, we have established collaborations several UT colleagues Dr. Dadmun, Dr. Roy, Dr. Vogiatzis, Dr. Deborah Penchoff and Dr. Van de Moortel. We also work with external collaborators: the Camden group at University of Notre Dame, the Jensen group at Pennsylvania State University, the Gianneschi group at Northwestern University and the Arnold group at the University of Edinburgh (now UC Berkeley).
To characterize the broad spectrum of compounds and materials that we synthesize, we apply a wide variety of analytical techniques including nuclear magnetic resonance and other spectroscopies, mass spectrometry, porosity measurements, and X-ray diffraction, including both powder and single crystal.