OFF-CAMPUS STUDENT RESEARCH PRESENTATIONS
Introduction
Approximately every three years, you read an introduction to the Chemistry Department’s Annual Report that starts with some version of “This will be one of my last official duties as Chair….” Now it’s my turn! As one of my last official duties, I have the opportunity to fill you in on the accomplishments of the Chemistry Department over the 2011-2012 academic year, in addition to all of the individual accomplishments that you will read about in subsequent pages. And there have been many! First and foremost, we have welcomed a new tenure-track faculty member into our department, and we have been happy to watch as Matt Whited settled in to teaching and research in inorganic chemistry at Carleton even better than we had anticipated. He will be joined next year by another new tenure-track faculty member, Chris Calderone, who will be joining us and rounding out our biochemistry offerings. Chris comes to us from a tenure-track position in the Biology Department at Macalester College, and we are eager to welcome him to Carleton. This year also marks the final year for Michael Burand, Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry for the past five years, to teach in the department. We wish Michael well as he and his wife, Claire, head out to Corvallis, OR, where he will begin a position as Introductory Lab Coordinator at Oregon State University! If that didn’t keep us busy enough, we have been planning renovations of spaces in Mudd (the construction is beginning as I type this message), to accommodate new research labs and new offices. Members of our department were active in conceptualizing and writing the College’s recently funded grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, ably led by chemist Joe Chihade! Did you think I had forgotten the most important part of our department, the students? This year we are especially proud of our talented group of 22 members of the class of 2012, who have learned a lot, taught us much, and been a joy to work with. As they graduate, we are also excited to welcome 25 members of the class of 2014. We know that they will fit in well, as evidenced by this excellent and tasty project carried out (in the last week of classes, no less) by a group of sophomores (Kate Richards, Jessica Wu, Morgan Matzke, Elijah Mae Christensen, Scott Erickson, and Emily Kolenbrander):
Periodic Table of Cupcakes
Which element would you eat first, if you could?
With that, I wish you all a wonderful year.
Deborah Gross
Chair
Off-Campus Student Research Presentations
AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY NATIONAL MEETING
Kathryn Deeg
Alison Smyth
Diane Walters
AMERICAN SOCIETY OF BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
Katherine France
Erik Olson
KEYSTONE SYMPOSIA ON MITOCHONDRIAL DYNAMICS AND FUNCTION
Cody Finke
MIDWEST UNDERGRADUATE COMPUTATIONAL CHEMISTRY SYMPOSIUM
Kathryn Deeg
Diane Walters
MINNESOTA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE ANNUAL MEETING/WINCHELL UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM
Ryan Cammarota
Kathryn Deeg
Michael McClellan (’13)
Diane Walters
MINNESOTA REGIONAL BIOPHYSICS NETWORKING MEETING
Katherine France
NUTRITION AND HIV COLLABORATORS MEETING
Chelsea Modlin
Student Honors and Awards
AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY UNDERGRADUATE AWARD IN ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
Michael McClellan (’13)
AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY UNDERGRADUATE AWARD IN INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
Jonathan Raberg
AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF CHEMISTS AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN CHEMISTRY
Kenneth Lum
B.A. DEGREE CERTIFIED BY THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
Kenneth Lum, Jonathan Raberg
B.A. DEGREE WITH LATIN HONORS
Summa Cum Laude – Kathryn Deeg, Kenneth Lum, James Morrissey
Magna Cum Laude – Katherine Benson, Ryan Cammarota, Cody Finke, Katherine France, Brian Kempers, Ernesto Llano, Erik Olson, Jonathan Raberg, Sean Roberts, Alison Smyth, Diane Walters, Erika Warrick, Alfred Yeung
Cum Laude – Owen Demke, Chelsea Modlin, Puja Patel
WARREN L. BESON MEMORIAL AWARD
Ryan Cammarota
BISCOTTI AWARDS FOR OUTSTANDING SEMINAR ATTENDANCE
Kenneth Lum, Erik Olson, Diane Walters
CHARLES CARLIN PRIZE IN CHEMISTRY
Cody Finke, Diane Walters
CRC PRESS FRESHMAN CHEMISTRY ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
John Cannon (’15)
DANISH INSTITUTE FOR STUDY ABROAD INTERCULTURAL LEADERSHIP AWARDS
Kenichi Miyamoto (’13), Yimeng Zhou (’13)
DISTINCTION IN THE MAJOR
Kathryn Deeg, Cody Finke, Katherine France, Kenneth Lum, Jonathan Raberg, Sean Roberts, Alison Smyth
DISTINCTION ON THE SENIOR INTEGRATIVE EXERCISE
Kathryn Deeg, Owen Demke, Cody Finke, Katherine France, Kenneth Lum, Chelsea Modlin, Jonathan Raberg, Sean Roberts, Alison Smyth, Zheyue Yang (’13)
FRANZ EXNER AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN CHEMISTRY
James Morrissey, Sean Roberts
JAMES FINHOLT PRIZE IN INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
Erika Warrick
FULBRIGHT FELLOWSHIP
Kathryn Deeg
STEVEN P. GALOVICH PRIZE IN MATHEMATICS
Erika Warrick
BARRY M. GOLDWATER SCHOLARSHIP
Michael Cvitkovic (’13)
LAURENCE McKINLEY GOULD PRIZE IN NATURAL SCIENCE
Alfred Yeung
HONORS IN INDEPENDENT STUDY
Alfred Yeung
HYPERCUBE SCHOLAR FOR WORK ON COMPUTERS IN CHEMISTRY
Kathryn Deeg
JERRY MOHRIG PRIZE IN CHEMISTRY
Alison Smyth
MORTAR BOARD
Class of 2012 – Katherine France, James Morrissey, Sean Roberts, Erika Warrick
Class of 2013 – Meredith Borden, Allison Cardiel, Yimeng Zhou
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION GRADUATE FELLOWSHIPS
Benjamin Cotts (’11), Kathryn Deeg, Lindsey Madison (’10), Kevin Pollock (’10)
PHI BETA KAPPA
Kathryn Deeg, Cody Finke, Katherine France, Brian Kempers, Kenneth Lum, James Morrissey (elected in 2011 as a junior), Diane Walters
PHI BETA KAPPA PRIZE
Zheyue Yang (’13)
RICHARD RAMETTE TEACHING AWARDS
Kathryn Deeg, Kenneth Lum, Alfred Yeung
SIGMA XI
Katherine Benson, Kathryn Deeg, Owen Demke, Peter Dunn, Cody Finke, Katherine France, Brian Kempers, James Morrissey, Erik Olson, Sean Roberts, Alison Smyth, Diane Walters, Erika Warrick, Alfred Yeung
SAM ’75 AND MEG WOODSIDE ENDOWED FUND FOR CAREER EXPLORATION
Megan Narvey (’13), Hai Nguyen (’13)
WRITING PORTFOLIO RECOGNITION
Michael Cvitkovic (’13), Kenneth Lum
LAURENCE AND LUCILLE WU FAMILY ENDOWED FUND
Koua Her (’13)
Enrollments
FALL TERM
| 122, Introduction to Chemistry | 32 | Burand |
| 123, Principles of Chemistry | 41 | Drew |
| 230, Equilibrium and Analysis | 38 | Gross |
| 233-1, Organic Chemistry I | 22 | Alberg |
| 233-2, Organic Chemistry I | 45 | Hofmeister |
| 301, Chemical Kinetics Laboratory | 33 | Burand, Ferrett, Hollingsworth |
| 343, Chemical Thermodynamics | 37 | Kohen |
| 358, Organometallic Chemistry | 12 | Whited |
| 390, Independent Reading | 1 | Staff |
| 394, Student-Faculty Research | 16 | Staff |
| 400, Integrative Exercise | 1 | Staff |
WINTER TERM
| 113, Concepts of Chemistry | 16 | Cass |
| 123-1, Principles of Chemistry | 41 | Whited |
| 123-2, Principles of Chem. With Prob. Solving | 24 | Burand |
| 233, Organic Chemistry I | 49 | Alberg |
| 234, Organic Chemistry II | 38 | Chihade |
| 302, Quantum Spectroscopy Laboratory | 37 | Cass, Hollingsworth, Kohen |
| 338, Computers & Elects. in Chem. Instrumen. | 6 | Drew |
| 339, Survey of Instrum. for Chemical Analysis | 10 | Drew |
| 344, Quantum Chemistry | 36 | Hollingsworth |
| 391, Independent Study | 1 | Staff |
| 394, Student-Faculty Research | 10 | Staff |
| 400, Integrative Exercise | 22 | Staff |
SPRING TERM
| 123, Principles of Chemistry | 39 | Burand |
| 128, Principles of Environmental Chemistry | 31 | Hollingsworth |
| 230, Equilibrium and Analysis | 54 | Drew, Gross |
| 234, Organic Chemistry II | 50 | Alberg, Hofmeister |
| 292, Independent Research | 2 | Staff |
| 306, Spectroscopic Char. Chem. Compounds | 18 | Cass, Gross |
| 320, Biological Chemistry | 23 | Chihade |
| 321, Biological Chemistry Laboratory | 17 | Chihade |
| 345, Statistical Thermodynamics | 14 | Hollingsworth |
| 348, Introduction to Computational Chemistry | 11 | Kohen |
| 349, Computational Chemistry Laboratory | 11 | Kohen |
| 350, Chemical and Biosynthesis | 10 | Alberg |
| 351, Inorganic Chemistry | 20 | Whited |
| 352, Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory | 12 | Cass, Whited |
| 391, Independent Study | 2 | Staff |
| 394, Student-Faculty Research | 18 | Staff |
| 400, Integrative Exercise | 22 | Staff |
Faculty Bibliography
Publications:
Duyzend, M. H.; Clark, C. T.; Simmons, S. L.; Johnson, W. B.; Larson, A. M.; Leconte, A. M.; Wills, A. W.; Ginder-Vogel, M.; Wilhelm, A. K.; Czechowicz, J. A.; Alberg, D. G. “Synthesis and Evaluation of Substrate Analogue Inhibitors of Trypanothione Reductase,” J. Enzyme Inhib. Med. Chem. Early online publication: November 15, 2011 (doi:10.3109/14756366.2011.604319).
Pagels, J.; Dutcher, D. D.; Stolzenburg, M. R.; McMurry, P. H.; Gälli, M. E.; Gross, D. S. “Fine Particle Emissions from Solid Biofuel Combustion Studied with Single Particle Mass Spectrometry – Identification of Markers and Trends for Organics, Soot and Ash Components,” submitted to Journal of Geophysical Research – Atmospheres, June 2012.
de Foy, B.; Smyth, A. M.; Thompson, S. L.; Gross, D. S.; Olson, M. R.; Sager, N.; Schauer, J. J. “Sources of Nickel, Vanadium and Black Carbon in Aerosols in Milwaukee,” Atmospheric Environ. 2012, 59, 294-301.
Gross, D. S.; Van Ryswyk, H. “Examination and Manipulation of Protein Surface Charge in Solution with Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry,” submitted to J. Chem. Educ., June 2012.
Mohrig, J. R.; Beyer, B. G.; Fleischhacker, A. S.; Ruthenburg, A. J.; John, S. G.; Snyder, D. A.; Nyffeler, P. T.; Noll, R. J.; Penner, N. D.; Phillips, L. A.; Hurley, H. L. S.; Jacobs, J. S.; Treitel, C.; James, T. L.; Montgomery, M. P. “Does Activation of the Anti Proton, Rather than Concertedness, Determine the Stereochemistry of Base-Catalyzed 1,2-Elimination Reactions? Anti Stereospecificity in E1cB Eliminations of β-3-Trifluoromethylphenoxy Esters, Thioesters, and Ketones,” J. Org. Chem. 2012, 77, 2819-2828.
Roberts, S. T.; McAnally, R. E.; Mastron, J. N.; Webber, D. H.; Whited, M. T.; Brutchey, R. L.; Thompson, M. E.; Bradforth, S. E. “Efficient Singlet Fission Found in a Disordered Acene Film,” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2012, 134, 6388–6400.
Liu, Z.; Djurovich, P. I.; Whited, M. T.; Thompson, M. E. “Cu4I4 Clusters Supported by P^N-Type Ligands: New Structures with Tunable Emission Colors,” Inorg. Chem. 2012, 51, 230–236.
Whited, M. T.; Patel, N. M.; Roberts, S. T.; Allen, K.; Djurovich, P. I.; Bradforth, S. E.; Thompson, M. E. “Symmetry-Breaking Intramolecular Charge Transfer in the Excited State of meso-Linked BODIPY Dyads,” Chem. Commun. 2012, 284–286.
Schlenker, C. W.; Barlier, V. S.; Chin, S. W.; Whited, M. T.; McAnally, R. E.; Forrest, S. R.; Thompson, M. E. “Cascade Organic Solar Cells,” Chem. Mater. 2011, 23, 4132–4140.
Hanson, K.; Patel, N.; Whited, M. T.; Djurovich, P. I.; Thompson, M. E. “Substituted 1,3-Bis(imino)isoindole Diols: A New Class of Proton Transfer Dyes,” Org. Lett. 2011, 13, 1598–1601.
Forrest, S. R.; Zimmerman, J.; Yu, E.; Thompson, M. E.; Trin, C.; Whited, M. T.; Diev, V. V. “Photoactive Devices Including Porphyrinoids with Coordinating Additives,” PCT Int. Appl. WO2012051337, 04/19/2012.
Thompson, M. E.; Whited, M. T.; Djurovich, P. I. “Broadly Absorbing Metalloporphyrin-Based Multichromophoric Arrays for Triplet Harvesting,” PCT Int. Appl. WO2012034066, 03/15/2012.
Conference Presentations:
Chihade, Joseph*; Her, Koua; Bonin, Michael; Steinbach, Musetta; France, Katie “Human Mitochondrial Alanyl-tRNA Synthetase.” Poster presented at the International Symposium on Aminoacyl-tRNA Synthetases, Snowbird, UT, September 25-30, 2011.
Her, Koua; Steinbach, Musetta; France, Katie*; Olson, Erik*; Chihade, Joseph* “Biochemical Characterization of Pathogenic Mutations in Human Mitochondrial tRNAAla And Alanyl-tRNA Synthetase.” Talk and poster presented at the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, April 22-25, 2012.
Cammarota, R.*; Dunn, P.; Drew, S. M. “Synthesis and Characterization of Vapochromic Platinum(II) Extended Linear Chain Materials.” Poster presented at 24th Winchell Undergraduate Research Symposium, Minnesota Academy of Science Meeting, St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN, April 21, 2012.
McClellan, M. J.*; Smyth, A. M.; Gross, D. S. “Cyclodextrin-Containing Air Fresheners: A New Pathway for Inhaling Pollutants?” Poster and oral presentation at the Minnesota Academy of Sciences Meeting, Northfield, MN, April 2012.
Smyth, A. M.*; Thompson, S.; Gross, D. S.; Snyder, D. C.; Schauer, J. J.; de Foy, B. “Particle Sources in Milwaukee, WI Studied with Single-Particle Mass Spectrometry.” Poster presented at the American Chemical Society National Meeting, San Diego, CA, March 2012.
Smyth, A.; Thompson, S.; Gross, D. S.*; de Foy, B.; Snyder, D.; Schauer, J. “Characterization of Particle Emissions from Great Lakes Shipping.” Oral presentation at the American Society for Aerosol Research, Orlando, FL, October 2011.
Gross, D. S.*; Walser-Kuntz, D. “Particulate Matter and Asthma Triggers in Homes: A Combined Civic Engagement and Research Project for Undergraduate Students.” Oral presentation at the American Society for Aerosol Research, Orlando, FL, October 2011.
Gross, D. S.*; Walser-Kuntz, D. R.*; Willett, G.* “A Holistic Approach to Supporting Students in Math and Science Studies.” Workshop presented, March 2012, American Association of Colleges and Universities Student Success: Pushing Boundaries, Raising Bars Conference, Seattle, WA.
Mohrig, J. R. “Teaching Inquiry-Driven Organic Chemistry Labs.” Lecture at a cCWCS Workshop on Guided-Inquiry Organic Lab Pedagogy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, July 10-15, 2011.
Mohrig, J. R. “Negative Hyperconjugation – A Unifying Concept for the Anti Stereochemistry of 1,2-Elimination and Proton-Transfer Reactions.” Poster presented at the 34th Reaction Mechanisms Conference, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, June 19-22, 2012.
Gifts and Grants
Matt Whited received an Undergraduate New Investigator Award from the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund ($50k), for “Ambiphilic Scaffolds for Cooperative Metal–Ligand Activation of Small Molecules,” to fund his research during 2012–2013.
Trish Ferrett received a stipend of $2,000 from Carleton College for the Humanities Seminar, “Dimensions of Mind.”
Deborah Gross received a Carleton College Targeted Opportunity Grant from the Chang-Lan faculty development fund to support collaborative atmospheric chemistry research during her 2012-2013 sabbatical.
This was the final year of funding from Carleton’s 6th Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) award. The ~$1.4 million grant has funded a range of activities for faculty and students through Carleton’s Interdisciplinary Science and Math Initiative (CISMI), including student-faculty research, faculty and curriculum development, broadening access to science, and outreach. Joe Chihade has been CISMI director and HHMI program director for the past few years and coordinated the college’s application for a 7th HHMI grant, which was awarded this May. The new grant will fund curricular development emphasizing the connections between scientific disciplines and support students as they apply their scientific knowledge to research, teaching, and civic engagement.
In 2006 Jerry Mohrig made a donation to the college to establish the Jerry and Jean Mohrig Lectures in Chemistry. This endowed fund is intended to bring to campus renowned chemists as part of our comps program. This year’s lecture was given by Antoine van Oijen, Groningen University, The Netherlands.
A few years ago the estate of James D. Morrison gave $10,000 to support the annual Dr. James D. (’30) and Julia P. Morrison Lectureship. The lectureship was held this year by Cathy Murphy, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Deborah Gross, Steven Drew, Joe Chihade, Gretchen Hofmeister, and Dave Alberg received a National Science Foundation Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Grant: Acquisition of an LTQ-Velos-Pro for Research and Research Training in Chemistry and Biochemistry at Carleton College.
Steven Drew received a National Science Foundation Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Grant of $201,787 for the proposal “MRI Consortium: Acquisition of a Single-Crystal X-ray Diffractometer for a Regional PUI Molecular Structure Facility.” PI: Daron Janzen (St. Catherine University), co-PI’s: Ted Pappenfus (University of Minnesota, Morris), James Wollack (St. Catherine University), Alicia Peterson (College of St. Benedict).
The National Science Foundation Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Grant received by Steven Drew, Melissa Eblen-Zayas (Physics), and Cameron Davidson (Geology) continues. The $305,000 grant is for the proposal “Acquisition of an X-ray Diffractometer for Powder and Thin Film Materials Characterization.”
Matt Whited received a Cottrell College Science Award from the Research Corporation for Science Advancement ($52k, including partial matching funds from Carleton), for “Silylamides as Nitrene Delivery Agents for Late Transition Metals,” to fund his research during 2011–2013.
Seminars
Nicholas Reiter (’99), Northwestern University: Structure of the Ribonuclease P enzyme with transfer RNA (tRNA): A molecular fossil revealed!
Christopher Murray, University of Pennsylvania: Nanocrystal assembly: Multi-component superlattices and nanocrystal based devices
Carleton Chemistry Faculty and Academic Civic Engagement Staff: You Decided to Major in Chemistry – Now What? Volunteer Opportunities and Career/Grad School Information
Christopher Douglas, University of Minnesota: Building molecular complexity through catalytic processes involving carbon-carbon and carbon-oxygen bond activation
Carleton Science/Math Majors: Annual All-Science and Math Poster Session
Louise Charkoudian, Stanford University: Cracking the Polyketide Code: How Nature Controls the Synthesis of Structurally Complex Molecules
Christine Phillips-Piro, University of California, Berkeley: Bacterial Sensing of Nickel: A Molecular View
Emily Mundorff, Vassar College: Explorations in Substrate Space
Christina Vizcarra, University of California, Los Angeles: Functional studies of the actin regulators Cappuccino and Spire
Rebecca Taurog, The Scripps Research Institute: Multiscale Structural Studies of Viruses
Christopher Calderone, Macalester College: The Molecules of Iron Acquisition: It’s Hard Out Here for a Pathogen
Mark Deeg, Eli Lilly & Co.: The Chemistry of Diabetic Complications
Carleton Chemistry Faculty: Summer Research Recruiting
Michel Janssen, University of Minnesota: Einstein’s most revolutionary work: The young turk’s contributions to early quantum theory
Loren Williams, Georgia Institute of Technology: RNA: Still Folding after all these Years
Nicholas Ball, California Institute of Technology: Synthesizing Organofluorines: Harnessing the Power of Pd(IV)
Keith Kuwata, Macalester College: Computational Studies of Chemically Activated Species in the Troposphere
Christopher Larson (’89), Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America: Mitigating Cardiometabolic and Inflammatory Risk Factors for Chronic Diseases
Yolanda Vasquez, Harvard University: Two Short Stories in Nanomaterials: Synthesis and Bio-inspired Applications
Adrian Roitberg, University of Florida: Sometimes a pKa is not a pKa. Protein Simulations at constant pH.
Paul Chirik, Princeton University: Modern Alchemy: The Chemistry of Base Metal Catalysis
Antoine van Oijen, Groningen University: Under the hood: Single-molecule studies of DNA replication; The Jerry and Jean Mohrig Lecture
Cathy Murray, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign: Surface Bioengineering of Gold Nanorods; The James D. and Julia P. Morrison Lecture
Sarah Trimpin, Wayne State University: New Methods for Ionization in Mass Spectrometry and Applications
Amy Palmer, University of Colorado, Boulder: Fluorescent tools for live cell imaging: What can we monitor and what can we learn?
Lesley-Ann Giddings, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute: Alkaloid Biosynthesis in Madagascar Periwinkle
Senior Comps Talks:
Ryan Cammarota, Katie Deeg, Peter Dunn, Jon Raberg, Sean Roberts, Karen Robinson, Erika Warrick: Heavy Metal Sandwiches: Rocking Out at Room Temperature to Dinitrogen Functionalization
Cody Finke, Katie France, Brian Kempers, Ernesto Llano, Kenneth Lum, Eric Olson, Melody Zhou: DNA, I hear you’re single: How single-molecular techniques elucidate DNA replication
Owen Demke, Chelsea Modlin, James Morrissey, Puja Patel, Alison Smyth, Diane Walters, Alfred Yeung: Exploding Bacteria using Gold Nanorods