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Department of Chemistry at Texas A&M University
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Dr. Brandon Rotavera (Georgia) will present a seminar “Chemical Kinetics of Cyclic Ethers in Combustion”. on Tuesday, November 25 in CHEM 2104 at 11:30 AM. Please join us!
seminar flyer with ATM logo Accurate description of the chemical kinetics of cyclic ethers is critical to addressing mechanism truncation error. The presentation discusses ongoing efforts to produce high-fidelity sub-mechanisms for cyclic ethers isomers relevant to low-temperature combustion. The approach involves isomer-resolved speciation measurements from gas-phase oxidation experiments in a jet-stirred reactor coupled with high-level quantum-chemical computation of rate coefficients and thermochemical properties of species. Alkyl-substituted cyclic ethers including alkyloxiranes and alkyloxetanes are isomer-specific proxies for reaction mechanisms of carbon-centered hydroperoxyalkyl radicals (Q̇OOH). Subsequent bimolecular reactions of cyclic ethers include H-abstraction, which creates strained, carbon-centered radicals that may form peroxy radicals following O2-addition or may proceed via non-Boltzmann-type reactions wherein rovibrationally excited radicals undergo prompt ring-opening prior to collisional stabilization. In addition, stereochemical effects, namely the position of the substituents relative to the plane of the ether group, creates stereoisomer-specific reaction pathways; some involving chain-branching via formation and decomposition of organic acids (e.g. performic acid) and some involving the formation of metastable dicarbonyls (e.g. 2,4-pentanedione) conventionally ascribed to decomposition of ketohydroperoxides from Q̇OOH + O2. Maroon sidebar with a headshot of Dr. Rotavera has a biography: Dr. Brandon Rotavera is a Professor at the University of Georgia, with joint appointments in the Department of Chemistry and the College of Engineering. Prior to arriving at Georgia, he held a Postdoctoral Appointee at Sandia National Laboratories after completing a Ph.D. from Texas A&M University in 2012. Dr. Rotavera is a recipient of the NSF CAREER award, the Irvin Glassman Award (Combustion Institute), and the Fred C. Davison Scholar Award (UGA).
November 24, 2025 at 4:08 PM
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Dr. Jennifer Schomaker (Wisconsin-Madison) will present her seminar “Taming nitrene reactivity with silver catalysts” on Thursday, November 20 in CHEM 2104 at 11:30 AM. We hope you will join us !
Seminar flyer with ATM logo Abstract text: Over 80% of pharmaceuticals on the market contain at least one carbon-nitrogen (C–N) bond, as do many agrochemicals and bioactive natural products. Thus, methods to directly introduce nitrogen into simple precursors in an efficient, selective manner are of interest. The prevalence of C–H bonds make them ideal for direct functionalization to value-upgraded compounds; however, it can be challenging to target one specific C–H bond. Our group harnesses unusual features of silver(I) salts supported by diverse N-dentate ligands to catalyze selective nitrene transfer (NT) reactions that convert C–H bonds to C–N bonds in a tunable manner. Selected design principles and computational insights that underpin our ability to predictably tune the chemo-, site-, and stereoselectivity of silver-catalyzed NT will be presented, along with synthetic applications. Flyer has a maroon sidebar with picture of Dr. Schomaker and the following biographical text: Professor Schomaker began her research career at Dow Chemical in Organic Chemicals and Polymers, later moving to Agricultural Chemicals Process Research. She obtained her Ph.D. with Professor Babak Borhan at Michigan State University, working on ring expansions and completing the total syntheses of haterumalides A and C. She then moved to UC-Berkeley as an NIH postdoctoral fellow with Professors Robert Bergman and Dean Toste, where she worked on alkene functionalization promoted by cobalt dinitrosyl complexes. She began her independent career at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2009, where she now serves as the Edward and Nancy Fody Professor of Chemistry.
November 19, 2025 at 3:02 PM
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Dr. Jessica Lamb (Minnesota) will present her seminar “Harnessing the potential of main-chain dipoles in polymers: New frontiers for physical organic chemistry” this Thursday, November 13th in CHEM 2104 at 11:30 AM. Join us!
Seminar flyer with ATM logo Abstract text: The core of physical organic chemistry is the relation of an organic (macro)molecule’s chemical structure to its reactivity/properties. This simple concept is a powerful tool to understand fundamental mechanisms, solve problems, improve sustainability, and establish design principles across a wide variety of fields. The Lamb group takes a physical organic approach to problems at the interface of polymer science and catalysis to transform how materials are made and un-made. Much of our work has been on polyoxazolidinones (POxa), which are an emerging polyurethane subclass for high-performance thermoplastic/electronic applications that have high thermal stability due to the five-membered heterocycles incorporated into the polymer backbone. We address many synthetic limitations of POxa and systematically investigate their structure-property relationships, particularly the effect of the strong. Picture of Dr. Lamb in front of greenery heads a maroon sidebar with the following biography: Jessica Lamb is an Assistant Professor and McKnight Land-Grant Professor at the University of Minnesota, where her group works at the interface of physical organic, catalysis, and polymer chemistry. Jessica has earned the AAAS Marion Milligan Mason Award, 3M Non-Tenured Faculty Award, the ACS Division of Professional Relations (PROF) Leadership Development Award, and was an ACS Division of Organic Chemistry Young Investigator. Before starting her independent career, Jessica was an NIH postdoctoral fellow at MIT with Jeremiah Johnson and an NSF graduate research fellow at Cornell University with Geoffrey Coates.
November 12, 2025 at 4:22 PM
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Dr. Mei Shen is (UIUC) will give a seminar entitled, "Real-Time Neural Dynamics Across Scales: From Single Cells to the Mouse Brain" on Tuesday, November 11 in CHEM 2104 at 11:30 AM. Join us!
Nanoscale in-vivo studies on the signaling of a broad range of neurotransmitters are essential to understand brain functions and diseases. In this talk, I will first describe our efforts in the development and creation of versatile electroanalytical liquid-liquid junction probes to enable the detection of redox-inactive transmitters. By using the liquid/liquid approach, we circumvent the challenges in the measurement of non-redox-active neurotransmitters using nano-electroanalytical methods. In addition, I will share our recent efforts in developing dual-channel nano-carbon-liquid/liquid junction electrodes for multi-modal analysis of redox-active and non-redox-active analytes. Then I will present our studies on high spatiotemporal bioanalysis using model living organisms. We employed scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) to position our nanoprobes accurately with nm spatial resolution. Our results show that our nanoprobes, with sizes as small as 15 nm in radius, can detect and quantify the acetylcholine neurotransmission in real time, at a high spatiotemporal resolution, with a high signal-to-noise ratio, and in biologically relevant fluids. The nano/micro-electroanalytical platform we developed enables a variety of new measurements on signaling dynamics across a diverse range of length scales, i.e., at single cells, at single synapses, in living mice brains, and will create exciting opportunities in studying transmission from various neuronal models and in understanding neurological disorders. Mei Shen is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaignand a Chan-Zuckerberg Biohub Chicago Investigator. Dr. Shen completed her Ph.D. at UT Austin ar postdoc at University of Pittsburgh. Her lab develops nanoscopic and microscopic electrochemical platforms to study the rapid signaling dynamics of neurochemicals. Current diseases of interest in Shen lab include cancer and neurodegeneration (e.g., Alzheimer’s disease).
November 7, 2025 at 8:54 PM
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Incoming Hagler Fellow Dr. Alison Butler (UC Santa Barbara) will present a seminar, “Siderophores in Stereo: The Control of Chirality in Siderophore Biosynthesis and Microbial Iron Acquisition“, on Wednesday, November 12 at 11:30 AM in CHEM 2104. Join us!
Seminar flyer with ATM logo. Abstract text: Many microorganisms acquire iron using siderophore ligands with catecholate, hydroxamate, α-hydroxycarboxylate, and diazeniumdiolate coordinating groups. Through mining microbial genomes, specific classes of siderophores can be identified based on the Fe(III)-binding groups. In the large class of peptidic siderophores, b-hydroxyaspartate is often present as an Fe(III)-binding ligand. Biosynthesis of b-hydroxyaspartate is intriguing in regards to the stereoselective control of hydroxylation catalyzed by non heme Fe enzymes. The origin of the b-hydroxyaspartate diastereomers in these siderophores is revealed in the microbial genomes. A new class of tris catechol siderophores in marine and pathogenic microbes is based on a variation of enterobactin, adding a combinatoric suite of D- and L-cationic amino acids. Variation in amino acid chirality directs stereochemistry at the Fe(III) site, which in turn profoundly affects microbial growth. Most recently a new class of siderophores containing a Fe(III)-binding diazeniumdiolate ligand has been discovered. The biosynthesis of the amino acid graminine, which harbors the diazeniumdiolate, is catalyzed by other iron enzymes. While microbial genome mining encompasses microbes from all environments, marine microbes are found to be prominent in our investigations into the discovery, biosynthesis and reactivity of new b-hydroxyaspartate, triscatecholate, and diazeniumdiolate siderophores. These and further developments on the bioinorganic chemistry of these siderophores will be presented. Flyer includes a maroon sidebar with biographical information, headed by a headshot of Dr. Butler. Condensed biography: Alison Butler is a Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UCSB. Dr. Butler earned a PhD in Chemistry at UCSD and worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at UCLA and Caltech. Her research interests are in Bioinorganic- and Metallobio-chemistry.
November 7, 2025 at 8:47 PM
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Join us today, November 4, at 11:30 am in CHEM 2104 for the Physical Student-Invited Speaker Dr. Leah Dodson's talk titled Quantum Identity Crisis of Molecular Hydrogen: Cryogenic Spectroscopy in Confinement.
Abstract: Although H2 is the simplest molecule in the universe, it can still be confounding. In its ground vibrational state, H2 exists in two distinct nuclear-spin isomeric forms: ortho-H2, with parallel nuclear spins and para-H2, antiparallel. These chemically identical species differ in symmetry, energy, and reactivity – the basis of a long-standing quantum identity crisis. I will present our recent work to detect and study ortho- and para-H2 in solid cryogenic environments using quantum-state-resolved IR spectroscopy. Embedding H2 in inert crystalline lattices cooled below 20K overcomes the limitations imposed by its lack of a permanent dipole and exploits subtle perturbations induced by the surroundings to reveal nuclear-spin-specific signatures. At the core of this work is our laboratory instrument that couples a closed-cycle helium cryostat with a commercial FTIR spectrometer, enabling direct IR measurements of optically thin solids and porous materials (such as COFs, MOFs, and zeolites) at cryogenic temperatures. These experiments lay the groundwork for use of surface interactions and paramagnetic dopants to catalyze ortho-para conversion, with implications for quantum control, energy storage, and modeling of interstellar chemistry. Biography: Leah Dodson, Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry at the University of Maryland, obtained her PhD from Caltech in 2016. After an NIST NRC postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Colorado, she started her independent career at UMD in 2019. Her group studies the reactivity, spectroscopy, and dynamics of exotic chemical systems at low temperatures inspired by discoveries in astrochemistry, as well as atmospheric and energy sciences. Her research is supported by the NSF, the ACS Petroleum Research Fund, NASA, a U.S.-Israel Binational Science Foundation Start-Up award (in collaboration with Prof. Yuval Shagam), and a DOE Early Career award.
November 4, 2025 at 3:42 PM
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Dr. Christopher Newton (University of Georgia) will present a seminar on “Design and Application of New Pericyclic Strategies”, on Thursday, November 6th at 11:30 A.M. in CHEM 2104. Join us!
Seminar flyer with abstract and ATM log and picture of Dr. Newton in a maroon sidebar with his biography. Abstract Text: The overarching theme of our research program concerns the development of new and general pericyclic strategies that enable efficient access to complex cyclic frameworks of biological importance. A hallmark of our approach is the design of atypical cycloaddition reaction partners that are at a high oxidation level (i.e., large degree of heteroatom incorporation and/or unsaturation) in order to confer unique reactivity, while also minimizing the need for redox manipulations post cycloaddition. A significant challenge within this area is the development of methods that remain operationally friendly, for highly unsaturated heteroatom-rich molecules often exhibit challenging stability profiles. Generally speaking, our approaches leverage fundamental structure and reactivity studies to inform the optimization of our proposed reaction partners in order to gain kinetic stability without sacrificing desired reactivity. Once we have developed a new methodology, our focus pivots toward applications in target-oriented synthesis, typically merging our abiotic pericyclic methodologies with bioinspired cascades. Biography Text: Chris was born and raised in New Zealand, obtaining a BSc (Hons) from Victoria University of Wellington. He conducted his PhD at the Australian National University under the supervision of Professor Michael Sherburn, focusing on the application of cross-conjugated hydrocarbons in total synthesis. Following graduation, Chris conducted postdoctoral studies in the group of Professor Nicolai Cramer (EPFL, Switzerland), working in the areas of enantioselective CH functionalization and biomimetic natural product synthesis. Chris returned to Australia as a DECRA Fellow at the University of Adelaide, before moving to the University of Georgia (USA) in 2021 to start as an Assistant Professor.
October 27, 2025 at 2:08 PM
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Dr. Martin Tomanik (NYU) will present a seminar, Radical-Triggered Functional Group Translocation and Total Synthesis of Talaromyolide D, on Wednesday, October 22 at 11:30 AM in 2104 CHEM. Join us!
Seminar flyer with ATM logo, abstract, and biography in a maroon sidebar headed by a picture of Prof. Tomanik in front of some trees. Abstract text: Within the realm of precise chemoselective manipulations, site-selective functional group translocation via C–H functionalization presents an exciting opportunity to unlock noncanonical synthetic disconnections. I will highlight the development of a novel radical-triggered annulative alkene transposition cascade that enables the modular preparation of valuable spirocyclic ethers from simple starting materials. In the second part, I will discuss our synthetic strategy toward the highly oxidized and bioactive meroterpenoid natural product, talaromyolide D. Our approach leverages efficient C–H disconnection logic to elaborate the polycyclic core of the target, along with several highly diastereoselective transformations, including an electrocatalytic sp²–sp³ cross-coupling. Biography text: Martin was born in the Czech Republic and attended Dartmouth College for his undergraduate studies. In 2016, he began his doctoral studies at Yale University under the mentorship of Prof. Seth Herzon, focusing on natural product total synthesis. In the summer of 2021, Martin moved to San Diego to pursue postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Prof. Jin-Quan Yu at The Scripps Research Institute. In 2023, he joined the faculty at New York University as an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry, where his lab’s research focuses on the synthesis of complex bioactive natural products and the development of new synthetic methods leveraging C–H functionalization chemistry.
October 21, 2025 at 3:38 PM
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One more sleep until the Chemistry Open House!
tamuchemistry.bsky.social Department of Chemistry at Texas A&M University @tamuchemistry.bsky.social · Oct 1
The Chemistry Open House will be on Saturday, October 18, 2025! Check out the dazzling chemistry demos and exciting activities from 10AM - 3PM at the ILSQ building
@tamu.bsky.social The event is FREE. Mark your calendar and join us! @tamuartsci.bsky.social
Chemistry Open House poster with the theme The Hidden Life of Spices. Pictures of spices are shown, along with two pictures from previous Open Houses showing a demonstration involving fire and children engaged in hands-on activities.
October 17, 2025 at 6:55 PM
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APPLY NOW: Texas A&M University Chemistry Ph.D. Program!

-Priority deadline is December 1
-No application fees for domestic students

Learn more and apply: artsci.tamu.edu/chemistry/ac...
Three researchers wearing lab coats, safety glasses, and gloves in a laboratory examining a sample in a test tube with the caption Texas A&M PH.D. Chemistry Program Apply Today!
October 15, 2025 at 8:09 PM
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Dr. Aaron Tondreau (Los Alamos) will give a seminar "The Soft Side of Gallium: Mild Methods of Metal Oxidation" at 11:30 AM on Wednesday, Oct 22 in 2104 CHEM. Join us!
Seminar flyer with ATM Logo Abstract Text: Gallium(III) chloride (GaCl3) has proven effective for the oxidation of lanthanide (Ln) and actinide (An) metals, which offers a mild anhydrous metallurgical processing technology. We have explored the chemistry between GaCl3 and many of the f-block elements to explore the useability of this reactivity in applications such as element separations. Additional reactivity of (Ln/An)-gallate products has been pursued, and characterization of the products has been achieved. The results arising from reactions in various carrier matrices, as well as comparisons between products from lanthanide and actinide reactivity will be presented. The differences in physical properties dependent on metal identity that affect the kinetics of reactivity will be presented along with product characterization and potential future applications of this chemistry. Picture of Dr. Tondreau in front of a tree with biography in maroon sidebar. Biography Text: Aaron Tondreau graduated from Cornell University in 2011, earning his PhD performing base-metal catalysis under the mentorship of Paul Chirik. Following this, he served as a postdoctoral fellow under Dr. Hansjorg Grützmacher at the ETH in Zürich, Switzerland, in collaboration with the BASF and their Project Jonas program. Upon returning to the US, Dr. Tondreau joined the group of Jim Boncella at Los Alamos National Laboratory with both Seaborg and Director’s postdoctoral fellowships. He is currently serving as a technical staff scientist in Chemistry Division.
October 13, 2025 at 5:08 PM
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TODAY! Dr. Chi Ting (Brandeis University), will present his seminar, Chemical and Biocatalytic Synthesis of Amino-Acid Derived Natural Products" on Monday, October 13, at 11:30 AM in 2104 CHEM. Join us!
Seminar flyer with ATM logo Abstract Text: Amino acid-derived natural products are ubiquitous in nature and commonly possess therapeutic properties. In this presentation, the chemical and biocatalytic syntheses of amino acid-derived natural products will be discussed. First, a chemoenzymatic synthesis of 13-oxoverruculogen, an anticancer endoperoxide, is achieved using enzymatic C-H peroxidation and transition metal catalyzed C-C bond activation reactions. Central to the synthesis involves the use of a substrate analog for enzymatic endoperoxidation to accomplish the synthesis of 13-oxoverruculogen. The second part of this presentation describes the chemical synthesis of ribosomally-synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides (RiPPs). Enteropeptin A is an antimicrobial RiPP natural product with undefined stereochemical configuration at its thioaminoketal stereocenter. The total synthesis of this compound and its congeners resulted in their structural elucidation and the determination of the stereochemical configuration of the enteropeptins. Picture of Dr. TIng in a laboratory accompanied by a biography in a maroon sidebar. Biography text: Chi Ting earned his B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2012, where he conducted undergraduate research under Professor Steven Zimmerman. He completed his Ph.D. in Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, in 2017, working with Professor Tom Maimone on the total synthesis of complex natural products. Following his doctoral studies, he returned to the University of Illinois for postdoctoral research in biochemistry with Professor Wilfred van der Donk, focusing on the biosynthesis of amino acid-derived natural products. In 2020, Chi joined Brandeis University as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry.
October 13, 2025 at 2:53 PM
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Dr. Yitong Dong (Oklahoma) will present his seminar, "Towards Non-blinking and Photostable Perovskite Quantum Light Sources", on Tuesday, October 21, at 11:30 am in CHEM 2104. Join us!
seminar flyer with ATM logo and headshot of Dr. Dong against a white background. Abstract text: Perovskite quantum dots (QDs) are highly valued as single-photon sources because of their unique bright exciton ground state and simple synthesis. So far, the limited photostability of individual perovskite QDs remains a challenge for their use in quantum light sources, despite improvements in increasing the binding strength of surface ligands. Here, we show that crystallized, solid-state ligands with strong intermolecular interactions can achieve near-epitaxial passivation and greatly reduce the surface energy of perovskite QDs. Individual CsPbBr3 QDs embedded in molecular crystals demonstrate nearly non-blinking single-photon emission with a purity of 98%. Moreover, these QDs stay stable after 12 hours of continuous operation and continue to show almost non-blinking behavior under saturated excitation levels. The remarkable stability of individual QDs, combined with precise control during synthesis, allows for detailed studies of their structural and optical properties. Biography Text: Dr. Yitong Dong earned his PhD in 2018 from Dr. Dong Hee Son’s group at Texas A&M University. He then joined Dr. Edward H. Sargent’s group as a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Toronto. In 2021, he moved to the University of Oklahoma to launch his independent career. His research group focuses on developing scalable quantum light sources based on colloidal quantum dots and understanding the nanocrystal growth mechanism. He has published over 50 peer- reviewed papers and received the U.S. Department of Energy Early Career Research Program Award in 2023.
October 9, 2025 at 7:42 PM
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Dr. Fuwu Zhang (Miami) will present his seminar "Functional Nanomaterials Designed for Advanced Therapeutic Delivery" on October 23, 2025 at 11:30 AM in 2104 CHEM. Join us!
Seminar flyer with ATM log Abstract text: Many therapeutic agents including small molecular drugs, nucleic acids, and proteins have limited efficacy and may cause serious side effects due to unsatisfactory pharmacokinetics and biodistribution, as well as other unfavorable physiochemical properties. To address these challenges, we leverage cutting-edge organic and polymer syntheses to create functional nanomaterials to deliver these therapeutic agents to their targeted tissues, aiming to improve the current disease treatments. This seminar will explore the rational design, synthesis, and biomedical application of well-defined polymeric nanomaterials engineered to enhance therapeutic delivery. Emphasis will be placed on two complementary strategies for constructing nanotherapeutics with tunable and stimuli- responsive drug release. These approaches enable triggered drug release at targeted tissues and cells, offering improved pharmacokinetics and enhanced therapeutic efficacy. A picture of Dr. Zhang is shown in front of a brick wall with his biography in a sidebar. Biography text: Fuwu Zhang received his Ph.D. degree in polymer chemistry from Texas A&M University In 2015. After completing his postdoctoral training at National Institutes of Health and Texas A&M University, he began his independent career as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the University of Miami in 2020. Currently, his research focuses on the translation of organic and polymer chemistry to functional responsive nanomaterials for advanced disease treatment. Dr. Zhang has published over 90 peer-reviewed articles, and he received the 2023 NSF CAREER award and 2024 NIH MIRA award, 2025 UM Dean’s Excellence Award, Provosts’ Research Award, and 2025 ASEMFL Rising Star. He has also been recognized as an emerging investigator by the journals of JMCB, Nanoscale, and Biomaterials Science.
October 8, 2025 at 9:26 PM
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Dr. Eric Schelter (UPenn) will give his seminar on "Engaging 4f-orbitals in the Chemistry of the Rare Earths for Fun and Profit" on October 9 at 11:30 AM in 2104 CHEM as the Abraham Clearfield Student Invited Speaker in Inorganic Chemistry. Join Us!
Abstract: The role of the partially filled 4f shell in metal complexes of the rare earths is typically considered to be non-bonding. Further, the degenerate set of 4f electrons confers unique, atomistic electronic- and magnetic-properties to complexes of the elements. In recent years, my research group has been working to expand the capabilities of lanthanide elements through fundamental studies of such complexes and their electronic structures. We have demonstrated that studies of cerium complexes, in terms of electronic structure, properties, and reactivity, are fruitful for discovery of both fundamental aspects of f- element chemistry and new reactivity modalities based on 4f-orbital participation. Recent results will be presented on our studies of organometallic complexes of cerium(IV) and related tetravalent metals showing unique participation of 4f-orbitals in bonding and reactivity, detected by monitoring an unusual single-crystal-to-single-crystal transformation. We have posited that 4f-orbital engagement can also alter reactivity of lanthanide complexes with properly designed ligand frameworks and reaction manifolds through excited states. Our efforts toward these goals, for the purposes of selective, inter-rare earth reactive separations, will also be discussed. Bio: Professor Eric Schelter is currently the Hirschmann- Makineni Professor of Chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania. He earned his B.S. in 1999 from Michigan Technological University and his Ph.D. in 2004 from Texas A&M University with Professor Kim Dunbar. He then spent time as Glenn T. Seaborg Postdoctoral Fellow, the Director’s Postdoctoral Fellow, and Frederick Reines Postdoctoral Fellow in Experimental Sciences at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He Joined the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania in 2009. Current projects in Professor Schelter’s research group are focused on the chemistries and electronic structure effects of the lanthanides, uranium and main group elements.
October 8, 2025 at 9:15 PM
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The Texas A&M Chemistry Department is excited to announce our Virtual Open House for prospective graduate students happening on October 16, 2025.
Register for the event using the the link below. Registrants will receive information about the event by email.
Https://form.jotform.com/252464559095063
Virtual Open House Flyer with collage of pictures from the Chemistry Department at TAMU, showing students in the laboratory, classroom, and on campus. Join Us Live! Q&A Session for Prospective PhD Students October 16 7-9 PM Central Learn about The Chemistry PhD program The Application Process Degree Timeline & Milestones Graduate Student Life Living in College Station, TX Deadline for Registration October 14, 2025
October 8, 2025 at 5:15 PM
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The Department of Chemistry at Texas A&M and the Hagler Institute for Advanced Study is proud to offer the Chancellor’s National Academy STEM Ph.D. Fellowship Program for outstanding students working in STEM fields.
To learn more or to apply by January 19, visit hias.tamu.edu/stem-fellowship.
Flyer for Chancellor’s National Academy STEM Ph.D. Fellowship Benefits: • A stipend of $40,000 annually plus tuition and fees for up to four years of graduate study and research. • An opportunity to engage with a Texas A&M University faculty member who is an elected member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine or a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. • This combination of resources and stellar mentorship makes this a career-defining opportunity. Requirements: • A bachelor’s degree in a science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) field no later than August 2026. • A cumulative undergraduate grade point average in a STEM bachelor’s program of study greater than or equal to 3.9 on a 4.0 scale. • Admission to a STEM doctoral program at Texas A&M University to begin in the fall of 2026. • U.S. resident, U.S. permanent resident or eligible noncitizen. Includes aerial picture of Texas A&M campus, along with logs for the Hagler Institute for Advanced Study and the Texas A&M University System
October 8, 2025 at 5:05 PM
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Dr. Cody Ross Pitts (UC Davis) will present an Organic Division seminar titled: “Strain-Release Pentafluorosulfanylation: Strange Molecules Doing Stranger Things” on Thursday, October 16 at 11:30 AM in 2104 CHEM. Join us!
Seminar Flyer with ATM log Abstract Text: This presentation details recent progress in our laboratory toward the synthesis and evaluation of historically underemployed fluorinated functional groups that have been made more accessible using the TCICA/KF approach to oxidative fluorination. A major theme will be our recent merging of SF5 radical chemistry with strain-release functionalization of [1.1.1]propellane, [1.1.0]bicyclobutanes, and [1.1.0]azabicyclobutanes. Structural consequences of making these SF5-based "hybrid bioisosteres" and preliminary mechanistic insight will be discussed. Aside from being a topic of fundamental interest, we believe this work affords an unusual and subtle type of flexibility in molecular design that could prove useful in increasing availability of building blocks containing C(sp3)–SF5 and heteroatom–SF5 bonds to medicinal chemists, agrochemists, and in the materials community. Biography accompanied by a picture of Prof. Pitts in front of some greenery Cody Ross Pitts earned his B.S. in Chemistry with minors in Physics and Musical Theatre from Monmouth University in 2010. He completed his Ph.D. in Chemistry in 2017 at Johns Hopkins University under Prof. Thomas Lectka, focusing on synthetic and physical organic chemistry, including radical fluorination chemistry and the first spectroscopic observation of a stable fluoronium ion in solution. He pursued postdoctoral research on inorganic fluorine chemistry with Prof. Antonio Togni at ETH Zürich (2017–2019) and in total synthesis with Prof. Phil S. Baran at The Scripps Research Institute (2019–2021). In 2021, he joined UC Davis, establishing a research program in reagent design, method development, mechanistic studies, and organic synthesis.
October 7, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Reposted by Department of Chemistry at Texas A&M University
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Join us on Saturday, October 18, for emerging science experiences! @tamu.bsky.social @tamuartsci.bsky.social
tamuchemistry.bsky.social Department of Chemistry at Texas A&M University @tamuchemistry.bsky.social · Oct 1
The Chemistry Open House will be on Saturday, October 18, 2025! Check out the dazzling chemistry demos and exciting activities from 10AM - 3PM at the ILSQ building
@tamu.bsky.social The event is FREE. Mark your calendar and join us! @tamuartsci.bsky.social
Chemistry Open House poster with the theme The Hidden Life of Spices. Pictures of spices are shown, along with two pictures from previous Open Houses showing a demonstration involving fire and children engaged in hands-on activities.
October 2, 2025 at 6:48 AM
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Happening today!
tamuchemistry.bsky.social Department of Chemistry at Texas A&M University @tamuchemistry.bsky.social · Sep 26
Prof. Jaclyn Winter (Utah) will be visiting Texas A&M for a Student-Invited Speaker seminar on Monday, October 6 at 11:30 AM in 2104 CHEM. The talk is entitled Surviving the Elements: Harnessing Great Salt Lake Microorganisms for Natural Product Discovery. Join us!
Seminar flyer with ATM logo. Abstract text: Natural products are specialized small molecules that display remarkable chemical diversity, drive key biological processes, and form the basis of many important medicines. Research in the Winter lab explores how bacteria and fungi produce these molecules, with goals of isolating bioactive compounds, uncovering their biosynthetic pathways, and understanding their ecological roles. Microorganisms from extreme environments are particularly promising for drug discovery, as they often encode novel chemistry. Our current work focuses on the completely underexplored hypersaline microbes of Utah’s Great Salt Lake, an environment with salinities five to ten times that of seawater and elevated levels of toxic heavy metals. I will highlight our genomic and chemical approaches to identify biologically active compounds, as well as emerging insights into microbial adaptations, biosynthetic novelty, and environmental applications. Side bar has a biography and a picture of Dr. Winter. Biography text: Dr. Winter is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and the Co- Director of the triple “I” (Inflammation, Immunology, and Infectious Disease) Initiative at the University of Utah. She obtained her Ph.D. in Marine Natural Product Biosynthesis from Scripps Institution of Oceanography and carried out postdoctoral training at the HKI in Germany and at UCLA. In 2015, she started her independent career in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Utah and runs an interdisciplinary research program focused on natural product biosynthesis and the bioengineering of natural product pathways, with a particular emphasis on using microorganisms isolated from extreme environments as resources for natural product discovery and development.
October 6, 2025 at 3:39 PM
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The Chemistry Open House will be on Saturday, October 18, 2025! Check out the dazzling chemistry demos and exciting activities from 10AM - 3PM at the ILSQ building
@tamu.bsky.social The event is FREE. Mark your calendar and join us! @tamuartsci.bsky.social
Chemistry Open House poster with the theme The Hidden Life of Spices. Pictures of spices are shown, along with two pictures from previous Open Houses showing a demonstration involving fire and children engaged in hands-on activities.
October 1, 2025 at 8:17 PM
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Prof. Chi Ting (www.cptinglab.org/chi-ting, Brandeis University) will present a seminar "Chemical and
Biocatalytic Synthesis of Amino-Acid Derived Natural Products" on October 13, 2025 at 11:30 AM in 2104 CHEM. Join us!
seminar flyer with TM Logo and a picture of Prof. Ting with in a laboratory. Abstract text: Amino acid-derived natural products are ubiquitous in nature and commonly possess therapeutic properties. In this presentation, the chemical and biocatalytic syntheses of amino acid-derived natural products will be discussed. First, a chemoenzymatic synthesis of 13-oxoverruculogen, an anticancer endoperoxide, is achieved using enzymatic C-H peroxidation and transition metal catalyzed C-C bond activation reactions. Central to the synthesis involves the use of a substrate analog for enzymatic endoperoxidation to accomplish the synthesis of 13-oxoverruculogen. The second part of this presentation describes the chemical synthesis of ribosomally-synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides (RiPPs). Enteropeptin A is an antimicrobial RiPP natural product with undefined stereochemical configuration at its thioaminoketal stereocenter. The total synthesis of this compound and its congeners resulted in their structural elucidation and the determination of the stereochemical configuration of the enteropeptins. Biography text: Chi Ting earned his B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2012, where he conducted undergraduate research under Professor Steven Zimmerman. He completed his Ph.D. in Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, in 2017, working with Professor Tom Maimone on the total synthesis of complex natural products. Following his doctoral studies, he returned to the University of Illinois for postdoctoral research in biochemistry with Professor Wilfred van der Donk, focusing on the biosynthesis of amino acid-derived natural products. In 2020, Chi joined Brandeis University as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry.
September 30, 2025 at 2:12 PM
tamuchemistry.bsky.social
Dr. Martin Zanni (Wisconsin-Madison) will be presenting seminars in the Frontiers in Chemical Research Lecture Series starting Monday, Sept. 29 through Wednesday, Oct. 1 with a focus on Ultrafast 2D Spectroscopy. All lectures will be at 11:30 AM in 2104 CHEM.
Frontiers in Chemical Research Flyer with ATM logo; picture and biography of the speaker; and seminar schedule Seminar schedule Monday, September 29, 2025 “Fundamentals of Ultrafast 2D Spectroscopy and Examples of How it Might be Used in Your Research” Tuesday, September 30, 2025 “Are Exciton Dynamics in Thin Films the Same as Those in Devices? New Insights in Next Generation Photovoltaics Using Photocurrent Detected 2D White-Light Spectroscopy” Wednesday, October 1, 2025 “Cats but Not Rats? Humans but Not Hamsters? An Oligomer Structure that May Explain Type 2 Diabetes” Speaker biography: Martin T. Zanni is the F. Fleming Crim Professor and Meloche-Bascom Professor of Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He received his PhD from the University of California-Berkeley, working with Dan Neumark, and was an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania with Robin Hochstrasser. He is one of the early pioneers of 2D IR spectroscopy and has made technological innovations that have broadened the capabilities and scope of multidimensional spectroscopies and microscopies. He utilizes these new techniques to study topics in biophysics, chemical physics, photovoltaics, and surfaces. He has received many national and international accolades for his research. Notably, he is the only person to have received the ACS Nobel Laureate Signature Award as both a student and a mentor and the first to receive the Craver, Coblentz, and Lippincott Awards. He founded PhaseTech Spectroscopy Inc., which is the first company to commercialize 2D IR and 2D Electronic spectroscopies. He was elected into the National Academy of Sciences in 2025.
September 26, 2025 at 8:23 PM
tamuchemistry.bsky.social
Prof. Jaclyn Winter (Utah) will be visiting Texas A&M for a Student-Invited Speaker seminar on Monday, October 6 at 11:30 AM in 2104 CHEM. The talk is entitled Surviving the Elements: Harnessing Great Salt Lake Microorganisms for Natural Product Discovery. Join us!
Seminar flyer with ATM logo. Abstract text: Natural products are specialized small molecules that display remarkable chemical diversity, drive key biological processes, and form the basis of many important medicines. Research in the Winter lab explores how bacteria and fungi produce these molecules, with goals of isolating bioactive compounds, uncovering their biosynthetic pathways, and understanding their ecological roles. Microorganisms from extreme environments are particularly promising for drug discovery, as they often encode novel chemistry. Our current work focuses on the completely underexplored hypersaline microbes of Utah’s Great Salt Lake, an environment with salinities five to ten times that of seawater and elevated levels of toxic heavy metals. I will highlight our genomic and chemical approaches to identify biologically active compounds, as well as emerging insights into microbial adaptations, biosynthetic novelty, and environmental applications. Side bar has a biography and a picture of Dr. Winter. Biography text: Dr. Winter is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and the Co- Director of the triple “I” (Inflammation, Immunology, and Infectious Disease) Initiative at the University of Utah. She obtained her Ph.D. in Marine Natural Product Biosynthesis from Scripps Institution of Oceanography and carried out postdoctoral training at the HKI in Germany and at UCLA. In 2015, she started her independent career in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Utah and runs an interdisciplinary research program focused on natural product biosynthesis and the bioengineering of natural product pathways, with a particular emphasis on using microorganisms isolated from extreme environments as resources for natural product discovery and development.
September 26, 2025 at 8:14 PM
tamuchemistry.bsky.social
Dr. Joseph Subotnik (Princeton) will present a physical division seminar on Tuesday, October 14th at 11:30 AM in 2014 CHEM entitled Phase Space Approaches to Electronic Structure: A New Paradigm For Magnetic Field Effects, Chiral Induced Spin Selectivity and Vibrational Circular Dichroism. Join us!
Seminar flyer with abstract text: The Born-Oppenheimer (BO) approximation is the cornerstone of chemistry, defining electronic structure relative to fixed nuclear coordinates. It relies on the large mass difference between electrons and nuclei, with nuclei moving much slower and appearing effectively frozen on the time scale of electronic fluctuations. Nevertheless, the BO approximation frequently breaks down, quite famously in photochemistry and/or electron transfer. Less well known is that even when a classical BO theory does not conserve momentum (linear or angular) even when no obvious breakdown occurs. In this talk, I will discuss this failure, introduce phase space approximations as a means to restore conservation, and propose a new paradigm for understanding how nuclear entanglement with electronic degrees of freedom may lead to chiral induced spin selectivity and other magnetic field effects. Biography text: Dr. Subotnik is a Professor of Chemistry at Princeton University. He earned a BA in physics from Harvard (2000) and a PhD in biophysics from Berkeley (2007), followed by a NSF postdoctoral fellowship in Israel (2007- 2010). His research focuses on developing tools to describe energy conversion—how electrons, photons and nuclei exchange energy and angular momentum— merging chemical physics with computational methods. He has made key contributions to semiclassical surface hopping, the computation of electron-phonon couplings, the theory of electronic friction at metal surfaces, and the theory of vibrational circular dichroism.
September 26, 2025 at 8:04 PM