Chemical Science Blog

Chemical Science is delighted to announce that Professor James K. McCusker of Michigan State University has joined the journal as an Associate Editor. Jim is now handling submissions in the area of Physical Inorganic chemistry.

Biography
Jim McCusker was born in New Haven, Connecticut in 1965. After graduating from Bucknell University and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, he joined the University of North Carolina as an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow, where he worked with Professor Thomas J. Meyer from 1992-94. Following this he took up a position as Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley. In 2001 Jim moved his research group to Michigan State University, where he is currently Professor of Chemistry and Director of the Center of Research Excellence in Complex Materials (CORE-CM).

Research
The McCusker Group’s research revolves around the ultrafast excited-state dynamics of transition metal complexes – in particular as this relates to the development of solar energy conversion strategies – as well as the interplay between zero-field spin polarization and the physical and photophysical properties of molecular systems.

Jim on Chemical Science
We asked Jim to talk us through some of his favourite Chemical Science articles. He picked the following as his highlights:

Recent advances on ultrafast X-ray spectroscopy in the chemical sciences
L. X. Chen, X. Zhang and M. L. Shelby  
Chem. Sci., 2014, 5, 4136-4152, DOI: 10.1039/C4SC01333F, Minireview

Jim says, “This is a mini-review by Chen and co-workers. It’s a great example of one of the formats that Chem Sci has created that allows an expert in a certain area to present his/her perspective. In this case, Lin Chen, one of the world’s experts in the application of ultrafast x-ray science to chemical problems, does a great job in explaining the history of the methodology and what the information derived from these experiments can provide to chemists. In essence, Chen takes a fairly sophisticated physical chemistry/chemical physics technique and explains its relevance to the broader chemical community.”

Energy transfer mediated by asymmetric hydrogen-bonded interfaces
Elizabeth R. Young, Joel Rosenthal and Daniel G. Nocera  
Chem. Sci., 2012, 3, 455-459 , DOI: 10.1039/C1SC00596K, Edge Article

“A paper by our new Editor-in-Chief. This is a great example of how judicious use of molecular design can be used to illustrate and expand our understanding of fundamental chemical principals. In this case, the topic is proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET), a field that Nocera (along with my colleague at MSU, Robert Cukier) effectively defined and codified back in the 90s. This paper shows that the motion of protons in donor-acceptor systems can not only play a role in electron transfer (hence the term PCET), but can also be important in energy transfer. This effectively expands the scope of the PCET picture into a completely new realm of reactivity.”

Slow magnetization dynamics in a series of two-coordinate iron(II) complexes
Joseph M. Zadrozny, Mihail Atanasov, Aimee M. Bryan, Chun-Yi Lin, Brian D. Rekken, Philip P. Power, Frank Neese and Jeffrey R. Long  
Chem. Sci., 2013, 4, 125-138, DOI: 10.1039/C2SC20801F, Edge Article

“A paper by former Associate Editor Jeffrey Long, this represents a terrific confluence of synthesis, physical methods, and theory to demonstrate the applicability of an important physical concept in setting that would previously have been deemed unlikely at best. The present case deals with the rapidly developing area of single-molecule magnetism. Once thought to be relegated to large metal clusters, this paper shows how, by paying attention to the true underlying basis for the phenomenon, one can design molecules that exhibit the same effect in the simplest of coordination environments, namely a single-ion, two-coordinate complex.”

Vibrational coherence in the excited state dynamics of Cr(acac)₃: probing the reaction coordinate for ultrafast intersystem crossing
Joel N. Schrauben, Kevin L. Dillman, Warren F. Beck and James K. McCusker  
Chem. Sci., 2010, 1, 405-410, DOI: 10.1039/C0SC00262C, Edge Article

On choosing this Edge Article from an early issue of Chemical Science, Jim comments, “Okay, this is a bit self-serving in that it comes out of my group, but I’m actually quite proud of this paper. In chemistry we often talk about the “reaction coordinate” for a chemical process, be it a thermal reaction or a photo physical transformation, but what does that really mean? In this study, we were actually able to identify what this reaction coordinate is in the context of ultrafast excited-state dynamics. This paper was the first to document vibrational coherence associated with ligand-field electronic states. The underlying nature of the molecular motion responsible for this coherence was identified, and that information was used to synthetically modify the compound. The result was a > 10x modulation of the kinetics associated with the photo physics of this system, demonstrating for the first time that one could in fact use synthetic chemistry to effect significant changes in the photo-induced properties of molecules, even those occurring on sub-picosecond time scales.”

These articles are all free to access until 14^th May.

Jim is now accepting submissions to Chemical Science in the area of physical inorganic chemistry. Submit your high-impact research to his Editorial Office.

Chemical Science is pleased to welcome Christopher Hunter as Associate Editor for Physical Organic chemistry.  

Biography
Christopher Hunter is Herchel Smith Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Cambridge. Originally from New Zealand, he moved to Northern Ireland at the age of four and completed his early education there.  After receiving his undergraduate degree and PhD from Churchill College, Cambridge, he returned to his native New Zealand for a couple of years to lecture at the University of Otago. In 1991 he moved back to the UK, joining the University of Sheffield first as Lecturer and then as Professor, before taking up his current post at the University of Cambridge in September 2014.  

Research
The Hunter Group’s aim is to establish a reliable set of rules that can be used for the design of non-covalent systems. Their research focuses on four main areas of development:
1. Fundamental investigations of the nature of intermolecular interactions
2. Molecular design of functional assemblies
3. Development of new methods for studying solvation and co-operativity
4. Computer modelling of intermolecular interactions  

Awards
Chris’s recent awards include the RSC Physical Organic Chemistry Award (2011) and the RSC Tilden Prize (2009). In 2008 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.  

Publications
You can read some of the most recent work from the Hunter group in Chemical Science – click on the links below to get to the articles. All are either Open Access or free to access until 24th March: 

Open Access

Open Access

Open Access

Open Access

Open Access

A surface site interaction model for the properties of liquids at equilibrium
Christopher A. Hunter  
Chem. Sci., 2013, 4, 1687-1700
DOI: 10.1039/C3SC22124E, Edge Article
From themed collection Physical Chemistry  

van der Waals interactions in non-polar liquids
Christopher A. Hunter  
Chem. Sci., 2013, 4, 834-848
DOI: 10.1039/C2SC21666C, Edge Article
From themed collection Physical Chemistry  

Chris is now accepting submissions to Chemical Science in the area of physical organic chemistry.  Submit your high-impact research to his Editorial Office.  

Chemical Science is delighted to welcome Vy Dong of UC Irvine as Associate Editor in the area of Organic Chemistry.

Biography
Vy Dong grew up in Big Spring, Texas and Anaheim, California. After graduating from the University of California, Irvine, she joined David MacMillan‘s group at UC Berkeley, moving with his group to Caltech to complete her doctoral studies. She began her independent academic career at the University of Toronto in 2006, where she was promoted with tenure and named the Adrian Brook Professor. After six years in Canada, Vy returned to the United States to assume a professorship at her alma mater, UC Irvine.

In 2013 we interviewed Vy for Chemistry World – read the full interview to find out why Vy chose to pursue a career in chemistry, how she comes up with ideas for new projects, and what she loves about her job.

Research
Professor Dong’s research group at UC Irvine is interested in new reaction methods, enantioselective catalysis, and natural product synthesis. Specifically, the group looks at finding ways to directly convert carbon-hydrogen bonds into other functional groups, use carbon dioxide as a raw material, and make biologically active heterocycles.

Publications
We’ve made some of the Dong Research Group’s Chemical Science articles free to access until 18th March – click on the titles below to get to the articles*:

Open Access

β-hydroxy ketones prepared by regioselective hydroacylation
Stephen K. Murphy, Matthew M. Coulter and Vy M. Dong
Chem. Sci., 2012,3, 355-358, DOI: 10.1039/C1SC00634G, Edge Article

Ru-catalyzed activation of sp3 C–O bonds: O– to N-alkyl migratory rearrangement in pyridines and related heterocycles
Charles S. Yeung, Tom H. H. Hsieh and Vy M. Dong
Chem. Sci., 2011,2, 544-551, DOI: 10.1039/C0SC00498G, Edge Article

Nitrogen-directed ketone hydroacylation: Enantioselective synthesis of benzoxazecinones
Hasan A. Khan, Kevin G. M. Kou and Vy M. Dong
Chem. Sci., 2011,2, 407-410, DOI: 10.1039/C0SC00469C, Edge Article

Vy is now accepting submissions to Chemical Science in the area of organic chemistry. Submit your high-impact research to her Editorial Office.

*Access is free through a registered RSC account