UCLA

NSF Center for Integrated Catalysis Webinar Series
2020-09-22 13:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
The NSF Center for Integrated Catalysis is delighted to announce that it will be hosting a monthly webinar series. The first day of this series will be held on Tuesday, September 22 at 1:00 PM. We are pleased to invite all students, postdocs, faculty, and staff. Register here to receive Zoom details!

Inter-departmental Chemistry Symposium between UCLA and University of Michigan
2020-09-25 13:00
Everyone is invited to this Inter-departmental Chemistry Symposium between UCLA and University of Michigan (UMich) hosted by CBGSA

The symposium will feature two 15-minute talks from UCLA graduate students, and one 30-minute talk from a UMich graduate student.
• Stasik Popov (UCLA, Nelson Lab) – “C–C Bond Forming Reactions of Vinyl Carbocations Paired with Weakly Coordinating Anions”
• Kierstyn Anderson (UCLA, Spokoyny Lab) – “Elucidating the photophysical properties of halogenated anti-B18H22”
• Hannah Vonesh (UMich, Schindler Lab) – “Interrupted Carbonyl-Olefin Metathesis of Cyclic, Aliphatic Ketones”
Click here to register:http://tiny.cc/UMICH-UCLA-symposium

See flyer linked below for full abstracts. Join us again on October 9, 2020 at 1 p.m. PST for another joint symposium between UCLA and UMich!
Questions? Contact CBGSA at cbgsaucla@gmail.com.

Twists and turns along the path of reactivity-driven methods development
2020-09-29 14:00
Abstract:
Carbocations are important reactive intermediates that are invoked in many chemical transformations. These species are usually of the tricoordinated variety. Conversely, dicoordinated carbocations are rarely relevant in practical chemical processes due to their high energy and energetically challenging formation. In this talk I will discuss our recent efforts to utilize phenyl and vinyl carbocations in C–H functionalization reactions. We will describe how these high-energy dicoordinated carbocations can be generated under mild conditions and utilized in selective C–C bond forming reactions. Moreover, we will discuss our efforts to understand the mechanism of these reactions through computational chemistry, kinetics, electron microscopy, and isotopic labeling studies.

First-year and Transfer Undergraduate Student Welcome
2020-09-30 10:00
The UCLA Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry invites all incoming first-years and transfer students to our New Undergraduate Student Welcome event on Wednesday, September 30, 2020 from 10:00 a.m.- 11:00 a.m. Students will have the opportunity to hear from faculty and current students on various topics including academics, undergraduate research, and student involvement. There will also be a Q&A session in the various Zoom panels.
The Zoom meeting details can be found below:
Meeting ID: 941 1584 1966
Passcode: [REDACTED]
https://ucla.zoom.us/j/94115841966?pwd=[REDACTED]
We look forward to seeing you then!
Nick Baerg, Tim Mahlanza, and Sarah Eguchi Low
ugrad@chem.ucla.edu

Spatiotemporal Control of Chemistry and Biology Enabled by Electrochemistry and Nanomaterials
2020-09-30 16:00
Abstract: Electrochemical nanomaterial has witnessed its extensive applications in catalysis, energy storage, and conversion. So what are the new frontiers for electrochemistry and nanomaterials? Can we discover new synergies of electrochemical nanomaterials with research disciplines that were not often considered before? Because electrochemical nanomaterials spatiotemporally transform chemical species and control their concentration profiles at a microscopic scale, we envision electrochemistry at nanoscale a viable tool to transduce electronic signals into non-equilibrium systems with spatiotemporal gradients of free energy µ(t,r) and entropy S(t,r). This talk will offer the research demonstrated so far in the Liu group that includes the spatiotemporal control in chemical catalysis and microbiology, given the ubiquity of non-equilibrium systems in chemistry and biology.

Introduction of Biochemistry Faculty to First Year Biochemistry Graduate Students
2020-10-02 15:30

228 Seminar: Prof. Justin Caram
2020-10-05 16:00
“On circumventing the limits of organic chromophore photophysics”

Midstream Presentation: Jiahui Lu
2020-10-06 16:00
Jiahui Lu
Eisenberg Group
“CryoEM structure of the LCD of hnRNPA2 and its conversion to pathogenic amyloid”

Chem 268: Jose Rodriguez
2020-10-09 15:30

Chem 228: Prof. Dr. Frank Wuerthner
2020-10-12 09:00
“Supramolecular Photosystems with Precise Spatial Organization of Dyes”

Chem 278: Prof. Hailiang Wang
2020-10-14 16:30
“Heterogenized Molecular Catalyst Materials for Electrochemical Carbon Dioxide Conversion”
Abstract: Sustainable energy utilization and carbon emission reduction are critical challenges for the world. Solving these challenges requires precise control of many important chemical reactions with sluggish kinetics and myriad possible reaction pathways and associated products. There is a critical need for selective, active, durable and low-cost catalysts. This talk presents our research efforts aimed at bridging the gap between homogenous catalysis and heterogeneous catalysis to realize materials with new or improved electrocatalytic properties for the carbon dioxide reduction reactions. We have developed heterogenized metal-complex electrocatalysts allowing for mechanism-based optimization at the molecular level. We have discovered interesting phenomena including ligand-mediated electron transfer, beyond two-electron reduction via a domino process, and reversible restructuring under reaction conditions. We have also designed reactors to enhance electrochemical performance, study surface/interface phenomena, and perform thermodynamically challenging reactions.

Chem 218 Student Exit Seminar: Chuanzhen Zhao
2020-10-15 12:00
“Implantable and Wearable Bioelectronics: Eavesdropping on Chemical Signaling”
Advisors: Prof. Paul Weiss and Prof. Anne Andrews

Exploring Fluoro: Five years of the Sletten Group
2020-10-15 14:00
Abstract: The Sletten Group works in three different areas which all encompass “fluoro” to control and detect chemistries in living systems. These include 1) fluorous nanoemulsions as versatile scaffolds for drug delivery, 2) fluoroarenes as chemical reporter groups for non-covalent bioorthogonal chemistry, and 3) fluorophores for the shortwave infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum for real-time multiplexed imaging. This talk will briefly highlight recent advances in fluorous nanoemulsions and fluoroarene chemical reporters before focusing on the development of bright fluorophore for the near and shortwave infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, which enable high-resolution, real-time, multicolor imaging in mice.

Chem 268: David Eisenberg
2020-10-16 15:30

Chem 228: Prof. Jay Foley
2020-10-19 16:00
“Refractions in the plastic pulse: Controlling light and heat with hybrid nanostructures”

NSF Center for Integrated Catalysis Webinar Series
2020-10-20 13:00
The NSF Center for Integrated Catalysis is delighted to announce that it will be hosting a monthly webinar series. The second day of this series will be held on Tuesday, October 20th at 1:00 PM. We are pleased to invite all students, postdocs, faculty, and staff.

Midstream Presentation: Zachary Edward Hemminger
2020-10-20 16:00
Zachary Edward Hemminger
Wollman Group
“Scaling up Spatial Transcriptomics using dredFISH”

Chem 278: Dr. Julia Stauber
2020-10-21 16:30
“An Organometallic Approach to the Assembly of Atomically Precise Nanomaterials”
Abstract: There is significant interest in the ability to build atomically precise nanocluster molecules with complex three-dimensional structures resembling the intricate molecular architectures found in natural systems. We have developed a platform to access a class of robust, well-defined, three-dimensional hybrid nanomolecules with high tunability using air-stable, organometallic gold(III) dodecaborate clusters. These clusters serve as templates for further diversification with a wide array of thiol-containing substrates including alkanes, arenes, alcohols, amines, peptides, and sugar molecules. The conjugation reactions proceed rapidly with high chemoselectivity to produce a library of nanocluster assemblies that exhibit high structural stability under biologically relevant conditions due to their full covalency. Glycosylated nanomolecules displayed increased binding affinity to target proteins when compared with the binding of the free sugar molecules, showcasing how this strategy allows for the generation of precise multivalency for molecular recognition.

Chem 218 Student Exit Seminar: Borna Zandkarimi
2020-10-22 12:00
“Rewriting the Rules of Heterogeneous Catalysis for Supported Subnanometer Metal Cluster Catalysts”
Advisor: Professor Anastassia Alexandrova

Boehringer-Ingelheim Seminar: New Reactions from the Process Development of a BACE-1 Inhibitor
2020-10-22 14:00
Abstract: The process development of a BACE-1 inhibitor is described. In order to address major safety and scalability limitations in the Discovery synthesis, two novel reactions were developed. The discovery, development, and scale-up of these reactions will be described. Several additional methodologies which emerged during process research will also be presented.

Boehringer-Ingelheim Seminar: Selective Catalytic Functionalization of C-H Bonds
2020-10-22 16:00
Abstract:The selective introduction of functional groups at the positions of typically unreactive C-H bonds has been a longstanding challenge in catalysis. To this end, our group has developed practical methods for the catalytic functionalization of C-H bonds with main group reagents.(1-4) These studies have led us to a general strategy of installing a single transient functional group to form a range of products from one C-H bond functionalization reaction. This research has led us to seek next-generation catalysts for the functionalization of C-H in complex molecules, new classes of reactions for functionalization of these bonds, and new strategies, such as the construction of artificial metallenzymes to control the site at which such reactions occur.
This lecture will present recent directions of research in our group toward discovering selective reactions of both small and complex molecules with large and small catalysts. The design and selection, as well as the intimate mechanism, of catalysts and catalytic reactions for selective functionalization processeswill be presented.

Chem 268: Guillaume Chanfreau and Cathy Clarke
2020-10-23 15:30

Chem 228: Prof. Christine Isborn
2020-10-26 16:00
“Simulating linear and nonlinear optical spectra for chromophores in the condensed phase”

Teaching opportunities after grad school in primarily undergraduate institutions
2020-10-27 12:00
Panelist:
Prof. Jennifer Casey
Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry
University of California, Los Angeles
&
Prof. Jay Foley
Dept. of Chemistry
William Paterson University
&
Prof. Jacob Olshansky
Dept. of Chemistry
Amherst College

Midstream Presentation: Evan Maltz
2020-10-27 16:00
Evan Maltz
Wollman Group
“Phenotypic Consequences of Gene Expression Variability”

Chem 278: Prof. Yuzhang Li
2020-10-28 16:30
“Imagining, Building, and Understanding the Next Generation Battery”
Abstract: Electrochemical energy conversion and storage is critical for vehicle electrification and storing clean energy from intermittent sources (i.e. wind, solar) on the grid. Towards these goals, my group pursues the broad spectrum of stages necessary for technological innovation: (1) developing new tools to discover fundamental understandings, (2) designing and synthesizing unique materials to address intrinsic failure modes, and (3) patenting the technology for real world applications. In this talk, I will first discuss a graphene cage design strategy to stabilize the silicon anode for high-energy Li-ion battery chemistries. Next, I will introduce the powerful cryogenic-electron microscopy technique that we have pioneered for atomic-resolution studies on sensitive and reactive battery materials. Using this technique, new discoveries at the nanoscale are correlated with macroscopic battery performance, further expanding our understanding of battery failure mechanisms and providing insight for future materials design.

Some Simple Concepts and Their Consequences in Covalent Mechanochemistry
2020-10-29 16:00
Abstract:The potential to use mechanochemistry, either in isolated polymers or in polymeric materials, to trigger a programmed, desirable covalent molecular response was first revealed only a decade or so ago. Since that time, covalent polymer mechanochemistry has undergone a renaissance in which it has been extensively explored by a number of research groups and for a variety of purposes including (but not limited to) biasing and probing reaction pathways, trapping transition states and intermediates, catalysis, release of small molecules and protons, stress reporting, stress strengthening, and soft devices. Increasingly creative mechanophore designs and new properties continue to emerge at an ever-accelerating pace.
The precision with which mechanophores can be predictively designed has increased as quantitative experimental and computational studies have provided insights into structure-activity relationships. Additional benefits will be realized as these quantitative relationships are mapped onto existing, intuitive physical organic frameworks. This talk will present quantitative studies of mechanochemical reactions and their mechanisms, highlighting opportunities for classical physical organic principles and the new chemistry empowered by mechanochemistry to enrich each other.

Chem 268: Margot Quinlan and Todd Yeates
2020-10-30 15:30

Midstream Presentation: Matthew Paul Agdanowski and Janine Fu
2020-11-03 16:00
Matthew Paul Agdanowski
Yeates Group
“The Development of an Imaging Scaffold for RNA Structural Analysis via Cryo-EM”
and
Janine Fu
Loo Group
“Targeting acyl-lysine modifications in the Rhodopseudomonas palustris proteome via diagnostic ions”

Chem 278: Dr. Jiao Deng
2020-11-04 16:30
“Ambient Electrochemical Functionalization of Methane with d0 early transition metal-oxo species”
Abstract: The abundant yet widely distributed methane (CH4) resources demands an efficient conversion of CH4 into liquid chemicals at ambient conditions with minimal infrastructure support. In the existing approaches of metal-catalyzed reactions and catalysis based on free-radical chain mechanism, the reactivities of the former metal species seem insufficient to achieve ambient activation of CH4 and the latter radical species are uneasy to be sustainably replenished. This talk will show that a controlled electrochemical generation of oxygen radicals on the ligands binding to d0 early transition metal centers is capable to address the above-mentioned challenge, given the electrochemical redox process provides a sustained method of replenishing radical species at ambient conditions without sacrificing their high reactivities. This proposed mechanism represents a new scalable approach that helps mitigate the flaring or direct emission of natural gas at remote locations.
