Research in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry utilizes state-of-the-art experimental techniques and theory to provide a framework for the study and understanding of chemical and biological systems. Research in the Department is supported by excellent NMR, mass-spectrometry, and X-ray facilities. Research groups in the Department are loosely organized into several areas:
The University of Colorado established a semi-independent Biochemistry Division within the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in 1986. Undergraduate and graduate teaching and research in the division span the fields of cellular and molecular biology to synthetic and biophysical chemistry. The research laboratories utilize state-of-the-art experimental techniques to study a wide range of chemical and biological systems. Specific areas of focus in the Biochemistry Division are: RNA structure and function, nucleic acid chemistry, protein structure and dynamics, signal transduction, proteomics, and X-ray and NMR structural biology.
Research within the inorganic chemistry division is focused on addressing important problems within the broad fields of organometallic, bioinorganic, and main-group chemistry. A few examples of ongoing research include: (i) the development and screening of new bimetallic catalysts for C-C bond forming reactions, (ii) the study of well-defined Mo and Re sulfido complexes as models of heterogeneous metal sulfide catalysts, (iii) the development of electrocatalytic CO2-sequestering systems, (iv) the study of synthetic transition metal complexes as functional and spectroscopic models of metalloprotein active sites, and (v) the development of main-group polymer precursors.
Graduate students are encouraged to become proficient in a diverse set of research techniques. These commonly include air-sensitive synthetic methods, NMR and EPR spectroscopy, and X-ray crystallography. For more detailed information about research in the inorganic division, please contact our division coordinator Professor John Hagadorn at John.Hagadorn@colorado.edu.
Organic chemistry research in the Department of Chemistry has a rich history in both physical organic chemistry and synthetic organic chemistry. Significant contributions to this history include pioneering physical organic chemistry research by Stanley Cristol, Charles DePuy, and John Meek, along with synthetic organic research led by Robert Shapiro, Joseph Park, and Gary Molander. Contemporary organic research reflects both the historical strengths of the Department, as well as defining new areas of research and investigation, including the development of new synthetic methods for the assembly of complex organic molecules, the preparation of polymers and other molecules of potential use in new materials applications, organometallic chemistry using both transition metals and main group elements, spectroscopy and reactions dynamics, bioorganic and bioinorganic chemistry including the study of drug mechanisms, and the total synthesis of complex natural products with interesting biological properties. More information can be found at the organic division Website.
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