Rebecca J. Rapf

  • PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY DIVISION

Thesis Title:

Aqueous Photochemistry of α-Keto Acids: Building Complexity at Molecular and Supramolecular Scales

Education Background:

Dartmouth College, AB, Chemistry, 2012

University of Colorado, Boulder, Ph.D., Chemistry, 2017

Publications:

  1. Rapf, R.J.; Perkins, R. J.; Dooley, M.R.; Kroll, Jay. A.; Carpenter, B. K.; Vaida, V.; Environmental Processing of Lipids Driven by Aqueous Photochemistry of α-Keto Acids, ACS Central Science, 2018, 10.1021/acscentsci.8b00124. link
  2. Rapf, R.J.; Dooley, M.R.; Kappes, K. ; Perkins, R. J.;  and Vaida, V.; pH Dependence of the Aqueous Photochemistry of α-Keto Acids, Journal of Physical Chemistry A, 2017, 121, 8368-8379. link
  3. Rapf, R.J.;  Perkins, R. J.; Carpenter, B. K., Vaida, V. Mechanistic Description of Photochemical Oligomer Formation from Aqueous Pyruvic Acid, Journal of Physical Chemistry A, 2017,121 (22), 4272–4282. link
  4. Rapf, R.J.;  Perkins, R. J.; Yang, H.; Miyake, G.M.; Carpenter, B. K., Vaida, V.  Photochemical Synthesis of Oligomeric Amphiphiles from Alkyl Oxoacids in Aqueous Environments, Journal of the American Chemical Society 2017, 139 (20), 6946–6959. link
  5. Rapf, R. J. and Vaida, V. Sunlight as an Energetic Driver in the Synthesis of Molecules Necessary for Life,  Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 2016, 18, 20067-20084.  link
  6. Renard, P.; Reed Harris, A. E.; Rapf, R. J.; Ravier, S.; Demelas, C.; Coulomb, B.; Quivet, E.; Vaida, V.; Monod, A., Aqueous Phase Oligomerization of Methyl Vinyl Ketone by Atmospheric Radical Reactions. Journal of Physical Chemistry C 2014, 118 (50), 29421-29430. link
  7. Griffith, E. C.; Rapf, R. J.; Shoemaker, R. K.; Carpenter, B. K.; Vaida, V., Photoinitiated Synthesis of Self-Assembled Vesicles. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2014, 136, 3784-3787. link
  8. Reed Harris, A. E.; Ervens, B.; Shoemaker, R. K.; Kroll, J. A.; Rapf, R. J.; Griffith, E. C.; Monod, A.; Vaida, V., Photochemical Kinetics of Pyruvic Acid in Aqueous Solution. Journal of Physical Chemistry A 2014, 118 (37), 8505-8516. link

News Articles:

Sun's UV Light Helped Spark Life Astrobiology Magazine

Awards:

  1.  Marion L. Sharrah Departmental Fellowship, Summer 2017
  2.  CIRES Graduate Student Research Award (Fellowship), 2016-2017 
  3.  NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship, 2013-2016
  4.  Physical Chemistry Graduate Teaching Excellence Award, 2015
  5.  General Chemistry Graduate Teaching Excellence Award, 2013