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Brock University
St. Catharines, Ontario
http://www.brocku.ca/chemistry/
Graduate Opportunities
• MSc – Chemistry
• MSc – Chemical Biotechnology
• PhD – Chemistry
• PhD – Chemical Biotechnology
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Programme and Admission
Requirements
• Offer graduate programmes leading to a
Master of Science (MSc) and/or Doctor of
Philosophy (PhD) degree
• Require an Hons. BSc degree (≥70%
average)
– May be admitted to the programme with a
qualifying year if not all of the requirements
are met
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Programme and Admission
Requirements
• Applications can be made at any time
– Formal admission is generally September 1,
January 1, or May 1
• Applications require a recent transcript, an
Application Form, a Statement of Interest
form, and letters from three references
– Forms can be downloaded from the School of
Graduate Studies website
(www.brocku.ca/gradstudies/forms/)
4
Financial Support
• Graduate students receive a research assistantship
and the opportunity to teach in the undergraduate
laboratory programme
– Research assistantship is supplemented by supervisor’s
grants
– Applicants are encouraged to contact the potential
supervisor prior to submitting a formal application
• Brock graduate students are eligible for a host of
internal and external grants to supplement their
stipends
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The Brock Advantage
Major instrumentation, just as in much
larger universities…
NMR Spectroscopy
(300 MHz and 600 MHz magnets) 6
The Brock Advantage
Major instrumentation…
Mass spectrometry
(MALDI-TOF, EI, CI, ESI, FAB, GC-MS)
7
The Brock Advantage
Major instrumentation…
EPR
Spectroscopy
Gas
HPLC
Chromatography
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The Brock Advantage
… with a small school feel
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The Brock Advantage
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The Brock Advantage
• In the heart of wine
country
– Wines from many of the
finest wineries in the
country
– Research opportunities
with many local
wineries
– The most extensive
collaboration of this
type in Canada
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Niagara Regional Biosciences
Building
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It’s Not All Work
• A very social
department
– BBQs, Christmas parties,
etc.
– Even a Chemistry band!
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Research Interests
Chemistry and Biochemistry of Vitamin-E (Tocopherol),
Mechanism of Lipid Transfer Proteins
Jeffrey Atkinson, Brock University, Chemistry & Biotechnology
jatkin@brocku.ca
Background: HO
Synthesis and biological evaluation of different
forms of vitamin E O
Results:
Synthesis of deuterated forms of Vitamin E for a-Tocopherol,phenolic lipophilic antioxidant
biokinetic studies & membrane enzyme modulator
(CD3) D
Synthesis of fluorescent tocopherols for in vitro
HO D
and in vivo lipid transfer studies
Synthesis of tocopherol-based P450 inhibitors (D3C) O
Expression of native and mutant human (CD3)
tocopherol transfer proteins
HO
Protein structure and function (see Dr. Heather
Gordon)
O
Scientific Uniqueness: Fluorophore
Combination of organic synthesis, protein
chemistry, and molecular biology
First creation of molecular tools for analysis of Protein mediated
tocopherol transfer and membrane tocopherol transfer to
biochemistry by fluorescence and from biological and
Impact and Advantages: model membranes can
Rational molecular approach to vitamin E be followed by FRET &
biochemisty stopped flow
Strong collaborations with nutritional biochemists fluorescence
and health science researchers around the
world
Development of analytical
methods for environmental
and other samples. Gas
chromatography/mass
spectrometry and nuclear
magnetic resonance applied
to organometallic species and
to environmental problems.
Trace and ultra-trace Reductant
determination of elements in
complex matrices.
Applications of mass Sample
spectrometry in analytical
chemistry.
Argon
Sample
MSIS™
(Dual Mode Operation) 17
Computationally Directed Asymmetric Catalysis
Travis Dudding, Brock University, Chemistry & Biotechnology
tdudding@brocku.ca
Research Goals:
Research in the Dudding group focuses on the use of
computational theory to gain insight into the mechanistic
origins of stereoselectivity in catalytic asymmetric reactions.
The models derived from these studies are utilized to
guide the development of new stereoselective catalysts and
asymmetric reaction methodologies. Specific reactions
of interest are asymmetric Stetter and aza-Stetter reactions,
Brønsted acid catalyzed asymmetric procedures and
chiral nucleophilic catalyzed annulations.
Significance:
The advent of modern computational chemistry has had a
profound effect on chemists’ understanding of organic reaction
mechanisms. Through computation, chemists are now frequently
able to rationalize or predict the outcome of experiment with a
high level of certainty. In this respect a particularly useful
O
application of computation relates to the modeling of catalytic O
asymmetric methods with the obvious end goal being the use of
theory to design an optimal catalyst for a desired chiral chemical O
O
transformation. The emerging potential of in silico based design H
H
Methodology:
Use Monte Carlo simulations to sample the
complete conformational distribution of a
model antibody binding site.
Model system:
Abstracted loops
Objective: From crystal structure.
To characterize the conformational change
Monte Carlo simulations employ
random numbers. in the antibody binding site in the presence
and absence of a model antigen.
Results:
Intraloop interactions are more influential
than interloop interactions in determining
peptide loop shape.
Background
• The construction of new materials based on the association of N N
molecular building blocks is a burgeoning area of chemical research. M M
The injection of molecular properties (such as solubility, redox activity, N N
etc.) will endow traditional materials, like magnets, with unusual new
and exciting properties. M N N M
Research Goals N N
N N
1. Synthesis of new “electronically labile” materials: These materials N
feature dynamic molecular structures, and are capable of switching
between two or more different electronic states.
2. Preparation of new families of “single molecule magnets” (SMM’s):
SMM’s are discrete molecules that exhibit similar bulk magnetic N
properties to traditional magnets such as iron!
Methodology N N
N N
• We carry out traditional organic synthesis and coordination chemistry. M M
• Characterization of our molecules is accomplished using standard
methods. Heavy use is made of other exotic techniques, such as SQUID
magnetometry and EPR spectroscopy to probe electronic structures and
magnetic behaviours. N N
N
N
Co(CAT)(LL) N
N
Co(CAT)(LL)
"MAGNETIC" "NON-MAGNETIC"
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Development of Rigid Chiral N-Heterocyclic
Carbenes Derived from Phenanthrolines
Costa Metallinos, Brock University, Chemistry
metallic@brocku.ca
Background: N-Heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) with an
Ph Ph
imidazolidine framework can be classified as one i-Pr
of three general structural types: (a) N N Ar Ph
N N Ar N N Ph
Imidazolinylidenes (1) which have a saturated
backbone; (b) unsaturated imidazolylidenes (2), i-Pr
and (c) benzimidazolylidenes (3). There are
1 2 3
comparatively few reports of chiral
benzimidazolylidenes. This can be attributed in
part to limitations imposed by traditional
synthetic routes, which have restricted their NaBH3CN HC(OEt)3
structural diversification. 1 equiv HCl
N N NH HN N N
80 °C
Scientific Uniqueness: Previously we have described a 1,10-phenanthroline Cl
5 6
route to a rigid tetracyclic benzimidazolylidene 4
(7) derived from phenanthroline (4) (Metallinos
et al. Org. Lett. 2004, 6, 3641). The key step in N Cl
0.5 equiv Pd(OAc)2 N
the preparation of this ligand involved a Pd
convenient reduction of the pyridyl rings to make THF, reflux
N Cl N
octahydrophenanthroline (5). We have expanded
this methodology to prepare enantiomerically 7
pure rigid chiral benzimidazolium salt precursors
of benzimidazolylidenes (e.g. 8 and 9). Our
approach to the structural diversification of this H H
sub-class of NHCs holds promise for their future
applications in asymmetric synthesis. N N N N
BF4 H BF4 H
8 9
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Organometallic and Coordination Chemistry
Georgii Nikonov, Brock University, Chemistry
gnikonov@brocku.ca
Background
• Transition metal (TM) complexes substituted by main group element (MGE) ligands, i.e.
LnM-ERk, often exhibit unusual metal-ligand and ligand-ligand bonding;
• There is a continuing interest in complexes with multiple metal-ligand bonds (silylenes,
phosphinidenes, borylenes etc) and in coordination of multiple E=E bonds to metals
(complexes of disilenes, silenes, silaimines, diphosphenes etc);
• Much of current research is focused on studying nonclassical interligand interactions.
Research Goals
• To develop the chemistry of transition metal hydrides in new ligand environments; I HNR2
• Synthesis, structure and reactivity of TM hydrides and MGE complexes; SiMe2
• Study of nonclassical interligand interactions. Nb H
Methodology SiMe2
• New synthetic strategies to MGE and hydride complexes: I
– reactions of MGE halides with hydrides; R2 = HBut, Et2
– selective functionalization of E-H bonds in complexes;
– E-E coupling reactions on TM complexes;
• X-ray and neutron diffraction, NMR, IR, EPR, DFT calculations. M PMe3 M = Nb or Ta
Results RN PMe3
• Pioneering research on Interligand Hypervalent Interactions +
• New types of Si-H... M agostic complexes HSiC lRR'
• New approaches to diphosphene complexes
• One of the first σ-complexes of the Si-Si bond
Significance/Impact
• New synthetic methodologies
• New insight into the nature of M-L
and L-L bonding
23
Novel Hybrid Organic/Inorganic Molecular
Materials
Melanie Pilkington, Brock University, Chemistry
mpilkington@brocku.ca
Background:
Inorganic crystal engineering.
The preparation of magnetic, electronic and optical
materials from molecular building blocks.
Results:
Synthesis and characterisation of new
tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) building blocks. A New TTF Derivative with Four
Synthetic strategies for the preparation of Pyridine Binding Sites
functionalised phthalocyanines (Pcs).
Synthesis, characterisation and study of molecule-
based magnetic materials e.g. high spin clusters, 3-D
networks, 1-D coordination polymers and spin-
crossover compounds. A Novel Fully Conjugated Phenanthroline
Scientific Uniqueness: Appended Phthalocyanine.
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Carbohydrates, Nucleic Acids, and Bioconjugates
Hongbin (Tony) Yan, Brock University, Chemistry and Biotechnology
tyan@brocku.ca
R1O B
O
O B
O OEt
Background O O
O
• Oligonucleotide synthesis, siRNA synthesis O O
NC P
P NR 2 N
• Glycoconjugates and glycobiology X O B'
• Drug delivery O
Glycoliposome
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Organosilicon Chemistry and the Chemistry of
Silicone and Silicone-Modified Materials
Paul Zelisko, Brock University, Chemistry
pzelisko@brocku.ca
• Typically, dibutyltin dilaurate is employed as a catalyst to
bring about the hydrolysis, and subsequent condensation
of silicones to form cross-linked networks in the room
temperature vulcanization (RTV) process. However,
given the interest in silicones as biomaterials, the use of
potentially toxic tin compounds as catalysts can be limit
the use of silicones in such an application. 1.0
phenyltrimethoxysilane
systems; (2) to develop systems where enzymes can be
used to perform chemistry at, or near, silicon in place of 0.7
the more traditional, and somewhat more toxic, metal-
based catalyst systems; and to (3) explore applications 0.6
such as biomaterials, drug delivery devices, sealants,
coatings, and agriculture products to name but a few. 0.5
0.4
O
O 2
Si
3
Si
n O
2
Si
O
Si 1
O 0.3
Si 1 O
3 O
O
TES-PDMS
0.2
Cross-linking
enzyme 2 1 0.1
Spinning 0.0
tin side band
0 2 4 6 8 10
Time (hr)
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Biotechnology
www.brocku.ca/biotechnology/index.phtml
Biotechnology Faculty
Chemistry and Biochemistry of Vitamin-E (Tocopherol),
Mechanism of Lipid Transfer Proteins HO
Jeffery Atkinson O
jatkin@brocku.ca
a-Tocopherol,phenolic lipophilic antioxidant
& membrane enzyme modulator
Fungal Genetics
Alan Castle
acastle@brocku.ca
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Biotechnology Faculty
Plant Cell Factories and Metabolic Engineering for Manufacturing
of Natural Products
Vincenzo DeLuca
vdeluca@brocku.ca
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Biotechnology Faculty
Antibody binding site:
6 loops on -barrel framework
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For more information visit us at:
www.brocku.ca/chemistry
www.brocku.ca/gradstudies
www.brocku.ca/biotechnology