News

Nini Demetrashvili joins the Prokopchuk Group this Fall after completing her Chem/Biochem degree at San Diego State University. Welcome to the team!!

The Prokopchuk group warmly welcomes two undergrads to spend the summer doing research. Deuris Pena (left) is a Chemistry major attending from Bloomfield College as part of the Rutgers GS-N Summer Undergraduate Research Program. Christopher Elliott (right) is a Rutgers-Newark Chemistry major doing research as a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellow (SURF).

 

 

Cyclopentadienyl (Cp) is a classic ancillary ligand and usually remains chemically “innocent” during reactions when coordinated to transition metals. However, Cp can actually be used as a docking site for H⁺, H^–, or H• in proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) chemistry and catalysis. Demyan and Andy recently wrote a review in Nature Reviews Chemistry that chronicles this fascinating mode of reactivity. Congrats Andy!

Congratulations to Bhumika for receiving the 2023 Dean’s Dissertation Fellowship!!! The DF will enable her to fully focus on completing her research projects and thesis in the 2023-2024 academic year.

Lirong Lin, a 3rd year PhD candidate in the Prokopchuk group, received the 2022 Taylor-Torre award for her accomplishments in research, mentoring, and academics. Congratulations!!!

David Tresp, 3rd year PhD candidate in the Prokopchuk group, is off to Marburg, Germany for 2 months to start a collaborative project funded by the Rutgers Global Grants program. He will be studying the properties of redox-active Bi complexes for small molecule activation in the lab of Prof. Crispin Lichtenberg. Viel Glück!

 

The Prokopchuk group welcomes Viani Maxwell who joins us after completing her BS degree at Kean University.

We recently published a paper describing the first measurements of agostic Ni(C-H) bond strengths (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2022, 144, 12632). This exciting finding provides valuable information about designing more selective and efficient. C-H functionalization catalysts. Congrats Lirong!

Congratulations to Lirong, David, and Ageliki for recently passing their candidacy exams! Now it’s time to have a fun and productive summer.

The Prokopchuk group welcomes Sanju Kumari who joins us after completing her MS degree at IIT-Gandhinagar.