CHEM-NEWSNorth Dakota State University

Department of ChemistryVolume 4 Number 3 Winter 1997–98

NDSU Chem Clubrecognized by ACS

The American Chemical Society (ACS) StudentAffiliates chapter has selected NDSU’s Chem Club asan Honorable-Mention chapter. The club was chosen

based on the activities it conducted during the 1996-97academic year.

The ACS Student Affiliates (SA) program has a currentenrollment of more than 9,000 students, and offers them thesupport, privileges, and benefits of the largest scientificprofessional society in the world. Many students are affili-ated with 900 chapters at colleges and universities in theU.S. and Puerto Rico. Each chapter is required to submit anannual report of its activities. Based on the review of thesereports, chapters are selected by the Society Committee onEducation for recognition as Outstanding, Commendable, orHonorable-Mention chapters.

In addition to recognition by their peers and by ACS mem-bers, this award brings the Chem Club a note of accomplish-ment in Chemical and Engineering News, the ACS’s officialnational newsmagazine, and in in Chemistry, the StudentAffiliates magazine.

In other news, the Chem Club hosted 20 students fromDilworth-Glyndon-Felton (DGF) High School when theyvisited campus November 10. The high school students wereable to tour several chemistry labs, including Dunbar Hall’sNMR Lab. They also had a chance to visit with departmentchair Greg McCarthy, and talked with a former DGF student,Scott Payne, who received his master’s degree from NDSU’sDepartment of Chemistry several years ago.

Not only has the Chem Club been busy hosting students hereon campus, but members of the club have also taken trips toarea elementary schools. NDSU chemistry majors enter-tained students at Longfellow and Washington Schools withpresentations involving liquid nitrogen and dry ice, amongother solids-to-gases demonstrations. Continued on back page…

These trips to the elementary schools are an annual event,with the club members almost having as much fun as theyoung students they entertain.

Future plans for the Chem Club include attending thisspring’s ACS conference in Dallas and selling “NDSUChemistry” shirts. They originally came up with the shirt-selling idea after going to national meetings and seeing otherChem Clubs proclaiming their school’s names. Likewise,NDSU Chem Club members are eager to wear shirtsdisplaying their North Dakota tradition.

Mallik joins facultyDr. Sanku Mallik, a bio-organicchemist, has taken Lin Pu’s placeamong the department’s organicchemistry faculty.

Mallik received his bachelor’sdegree from the Indian Institute ofTechnology, Kharagpur, India, in1987. He then went to Case WesternReserve University in Cleveland,where he received his Ph.D. in1992. He held a postdoctoralposition at Cal Tech from 1992-94 before accepting aposition at UND in January 1995.

After coming to North Dakota from Cal Tech, Mallik hashigh regard for Midwest people. “I have found North Dakotapeople are friendly and helpful. We came from Los Angeles,and there’s a distinct difference.” However, he does admit tobeing somewhat homesick for California: “I miss the ocean.”

Mallik’s wife, Ipsita, is working toward her master’s degreein microbiology at UND. She will stay in Grand Forks for ashort time to finish some research and complete her thesis.

Dr. Sanku Mallik

2Chem-News Winter 1997–98

Chem-Newsis published by

Department of ChemistryNorth Dakota State University

PO Box 5516Fargo, ND 58105

EditorJill Retzer

To obtain a copy of this newsletter, or to submit

your comments, call (701)231-9405

Fax: (701)231-1057

e-mail: cmgc@plains.nodak.edu

© Copyright 1997

Faculty AdvisorDr. David Atwood

http://quantum.chem.ndsu.nodak.edu/ndsuchem/news.html

We would like to report that thenumber of Cook Groupmembers are slowly and

steadily increasing as the science we dois reaching new heights.

This fall, our lab was kept very busy bythe rotations of many new graduatestudents including Mei Liu, Tara Ternes,Scott Erickson and Pingrong Liu.

In September Dr. Cook attended thejoint North Dakota/South DakotaEPSCoR meeting in Brookings, SD,where he gave a presentation on recentresults from the group with Palladium-Catalyzed reactions. He also visited theUniversity of South Dakota to give apresentation in November, and metwith prospective students.

News from Dr. Cook’s Groupby Keith Pararajasignham

Research in the Cook Group is pro-ceeding at a good pace. We are crossingour fingers for the first paper (submittedrecently to Tetrahedron Letters), andare in the process of preparing a fewmore which should be sent out shortly.

After experiencing his first NorthDakota snowfall, Dr. P. Sathya Shanker,who has never witnessed snow before,finally agreed that it is not always easyto walk on icy sidewalks. Also, rumorhas it that Spencer Murray was recentlysighted in an Italian restaurant with hismom and dad. They are doing fine.

Recent departee, Dilinie Fernando issettling in at Washington State Univer-sity, and will soon be beginning herresearch in Professor Matteson’s lab.

majors through the Polymers andCoatings Department, more than half ofour freshman class has merit-basedfinancial assistance. (See page 6 forthese research fellows’ names.)

To the many donors to our scholarshipfunds, and to the P&C corporatescholarship sponsors, the Departmentof Chemistry and its students offer theirsincere thanks.

Morris builds new home

Chemistry Professor Emeritus MelvinMorris continues to tutor students on adaily basis, but he did take time out thissummer to oversee the construction ofhis new house.

After years of condominium living,Mel moved into his South Fargo homethis fall. The house is complemented bya big yard and a sun room, perfect for aretiree to enjoy the afternoon sunshine.(Now if only he would leave his NDSUoffice long enough to enjoy theafternoon sun!)

Chem NotesChem NotesA record number of grad students

The Chemistry Department recruitedthe largest graduate student class inmore than a decade, and was delightedto see so many of them perform well onthe ACS entrance exams.

The department continues to attract alarge number of post-doctoral applica-tions from around the country and theworld. Over the last year we averaged15 of these fellows in our groups.

Support for all of these students ismade possible by the record-level ofresearch activity in the Department ofChemistry: over $4M of multi-yearfunding in place with $2.25M expendedin FY96-97.

Undergraduate Fellows chosen

This fall, seven of the most talentedhigh school students in the areaaccepted our offers to become Under-graduate Faculty Research Fellows intheir freshman year.

Combined with our endowed scholar-ships and the corporate scholarshipsand fellowships offered to chemistry

Student assistants join office

The Chemistry Department has beenfortunate to obtain the services of

two student assistants who are instru-mental in helping with the dailyworkload of the Ladd 104 office.

Terri Aman and Lynne Kellar are oftenseen in the main office assisting facultyand staff with numerous activities.

Terri Aman Lynne Kellar

Terri, a freshman from Volga, SD, is apre-optometry major. Lynne has a BS inbusiness and has returned to NDSU toearn a degree in pharmacy. She isoriginally from Williston, ND.

Thanks to Chair Greg McCarthy for hiscontributions of departmental news.

3Chem-News Winter 1997–98

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The 2ndSmalley, Roesky, Seyferth to headline Fargo Conference

The organizing committee for The 2ndFargo Conference on Main GroupChemistry has invited three prestigiouschemists to present lectures at thisyear’s event. Plenary speakers are:Herbert Roesky (Göttingen Universität,Germany), Dietmar Seyferth (Massa-chusetts Institute of Technology), andRichard Smalley (Rice University).

Once again, the conference is sponsoredby NDSU’s Center for Main GroupChemistry (CMGC), and will be held atthe Fargo Holiday Inn June 4–6.

The first Fargo Conference on MainGroup Chemistry was held in 1996 atNDSU. The organizing committee isexpecting a good turnout for this year’sconference and predicts that attendancewill surpass that of 1996. Manychemists have expressed interest in theconference and are eager to attend.

The Scientific Program for theconference includes the followingtopics/sessions:

Bioinorganic

Catalysis

Industrial Applications

Intermetallics

Low-valent complexes and multiplebonding

Main group elements in organic chemistry

Materials chemistry

Novel compounds and novel properties

Reactions and mechanisms related tochemical vapor deposition

Structure-reactivity relationships

Registration information and programdetails can be found on the conferenceweb site:http://www.ndsu.nodak.edu/epscor/CMGC.html

If you are interested in receivingadditional information, contact:

8 6 7 15 16

Center for Main Group ChemistryDepartment of ChemistryNorth Dakota State UniversityPO Box 5516Fargo, ND 58105-5516Tel (701)231-9405 Fax (701)231-1057e-mail: cmgc@plains.nodak.edu

David Lemal - Dartmouth College, USA

John Nixon - Sussex University, UK

Chris Orvig - Univ. of British Columbia, Canada

G.K. Surya Prakash - Univ. of Southern Calif., USA

Colin Raston - Monash University, Australia

D. Max Roundhill - Texas Tech University, USA

Akira Sekiguchi - University of Tsukuba, Japan

Lawrence Sita - University of Chicago, USA

Masato Tanaka - National Institute of Materials andChemical Research, Japan

John Verkade - Iowa State University, USA

Richard Wells - Duke University, USA

Robert West - University of Wisconsin, USA

Arthur Ashe - University of Michigan, USA

Jerry Atwood - University of Missouri, USA

Andrew Barron - Rice University, USA

Walter Bauer - University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany

Penny Brothers - University of Auckland, New Zealand

Raymundo Cea-Olivares - Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico

Alan Cowley - University of Texas, USA

Darryl DesMarteau - Clemson University, USA

Matthias Driess - Universität Bochum, Germany

Roland Fischer - Ruprecht-Karls Universität, Germany

Peter Jutzi - der Universität Bielefeld, Germany

Richard Kemp - Union Carbide, USA

Risto Laitinen - University of Oulu, Finland

Herbert Roesky Dietmar SeyferthRichard Smalley

Invited Speakers

4Chem-News Winter 1997–98

Broberg Lecture features Stanford Professor

This spring’s scheduled Broberg Lecturer is Dr. BarryM. Trost, a professor at Stanford University. He willbe visiting NDSU April 20–22. His Monday evening

lecture will be open to the public, and he will give a secondpresentation Tuesday afternoon, which will be geared towarduniversity faculty and students. (See abstracts below.)

Trost, a native of Philadelphia, received his bachelor’sdegree in 1962 from the University of Pennsylvania andwent on to earn his doctorate in chemistry three years later atthe Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Trost then joinedthe faculty of the University of Wisconsin and subsequentlybecame the Vilas Research Professor in 1982.

He joined the faculty of Stanford University in 1987 andbecame the Tamaki Professor of Humanities and Sciences in1990. He has been a visiting professor of chemistry inGermany, Denmark, France, Italy and Spain.

During his illustrious career as a pioneering chemist, Trost’sdevelopment of efficient pathways for the synthesis of awide variety of complex molecules has won him interna-tional acclaim.

His early work with the isolation, structure determinationand synthesis of the insect juvenile hormone initiated theconcept of insect growth regulants as an alternative topesticides.

In ensuing years, his reactive pathways and methodologieshave been used for more than 110 syntheses of divergentmolecules, ranging from biological systems like antitumoragents to technological applications such as electricalconductors.

A major goal of his work is to enhance effectiveness,economy and practicality when creating the complexmolecules to meet the needs of modern society.

In recognition of hiscontributions, Trosthas received manyawards, includingthe ACS Award inPure Chemistry, theACS Award forCreative Work inSynthetic OrganicChemistry and theArthur C. CopeScholar Award.

He has publishedtwo books andwritten more than570 scientificarticles. He is a Fellow of the American Academy ofSciences and a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

Chemistry Imitating Natureor is it Vice Versa?

Dr. Barry M. Trost

April 20 • 8PM

Century Theater • Memorial Union

Much discussion revolved around the need to makescience more “interdisciplinary.” Such discussionignores the first question—what defines a discipline?The issue is poignantly illustrated by the evolving re-lationship between chemistry and biology. Somethoughts on the nature of this relationship and its im-pact on the future will be presented.

Dr. Barry M. Trost

Crafting Chiral Space for aCatalytic Synthetic Reaction

Dr. Barry M. Trost

April 21 • 3:30PM

FLC 122 • Memorial Union

Introducing asymmetry into organic structures repre-sents a continuing contemporary challenge. Rationallydevising catalytic systems to achieve such a result is amost significant goal. Asymmetric reactions involvingtransition metal catalysis have focused exclusively onreactions 1) in which the enantiodiscriminating eventof forming or breaking a bond occurs within the coor-dinations sphere of the metal and, thereby, proximal tothe asymmetric inducing groups and 2) in which onlyone type of bond is formed, i.e., C-H, C-O, or C-C.

Catalytic allylic alkylations differ in both respects. Bondbreakage or formation occurs outside the coordinationsphere of the metal and, therefore, distal to anyenantiodiscriminating groups. In addition, many differ-ent types of bonds can be formed—C-C, C-N, C-S,C-O, C-H, etc.

Efforts to define the requirements for asymmetric tran-sition metal complexes that can effect such reactionsgenerally, the types of catalytic processes in whichasymmetry can be introduced, and the applicability ofthese catalytic processes will be outlined.

5Chem-News Winter 1997–98

The McCarthy group has seen two newadditions since the last issue of ChemNews: Stephanie Lerach and MarissaWisdom. In that time, various membersof the group have attended twoconferences and will be attending athird in the near future.

Stephanie Lerach joined the group atthe beginning of the fall semester. Sheis a freshmanhere at NDSUand is doingresearch onquantitativeanalysis usingthe Rietveldmethod.Stephaniegraduatedfrom highschool this past spring in her hometownof Oakdale, MN. She currently lives oncampus and is enjoying the experience.

Stephanie is a chemistry major and isalso involved in the music department.She plays the flute in the marchingband and the concert band. In addition,she was one of the recipients of anUndergraduate Faculty ResearchFellowship from the university this falland is enjoying her research experiencethus far. Stephanie plans to attendmedical school after obtaining herdegree.

Marissa Wisdom also joined the groupthis fall. Marissa is a sophomorechemistry major from Washburn, ND,where she was valedictorian of her highschool graduating class. She wasinvolved in many extra-curricularactivities in high school and continuesthat trend here at SU. She is a member

of Phi EtaSigma andLibra Honorsocieties.Marissa planson attendingmedical schoolwhen shefinishes at SUand believesher chemistry

major will provide a solid backgroundfor research in the medical field.

Marissa currently lives off-campus andfinds the experience more enjoyablethan on-campus life. She is learning touse many of the instruments in theMCL. Marissa has been working onprojects that include the mineralogicalanalysis of clays and how power plantfly ashes behave after disposal inlandfills.

Four members of the groupjourneyed to the mountains inAugust, attending the DenverX-Ray Conference in Steam-boat Springs, Colorado. Dr.McCarthy arrived early tobegin practicing for theconference dinner. He was partof the entertainment, “ThePowdermen,” a barbershopquartet that has been perform-ing at many of the conferencedinners for the past 15 years.

Bryan Jarabek , Dean Grierand Ryan Winburn arrivedshortly after and spent their first day inColorado enjoying the beautifulcountry and rivers by going riverrafting. After that, it was all work(right!).

The group enjoyed many good presen-tations and were authors in two talks.The first presentation, authored byRyan, Dean and Dr. McCarthy andpresented by Ryan, was entitled“Quantitative XRD Analysis of CoalCombustion By-Products by theRietveld Method. I. Database.”

The second presentation involved theMcCarthy group, Dr. Boudjouk’s groupand a former member of the McCarthyGroup, Dr. Lindsay Keller. Bryan,Dean, Dr. McCarthy, Duane Simonsonand Dr. Boudjouk were contributors tothat presentation, entitled “CombinedHRTEM and XRD Studies ofNanocyrstalline Materials.”

The week was not all work, however;Bryan, Dean and Ryan enjoyed a hikeinto the mountains that seemed futile,

McCarthy Group adds two; travels to Colorado by Ryan Winburn

Stephanie Lerach

Marissa Wisdom

until they reached the end of the trail,where there was a glade with a water-fall. Dean can attest that the water wasa bit cold, but the hike was well worthit. Ryan even stopped complaining forabout five minutes.

Dean and Dr. McCarthy also attendedthe 1997 International Ash UtilizationSymposium in Kentucky in October.Dr. McCarthy gave a presentationentitled “Coal Combustion By-ProductDiagenesis.”

Dean enjoyed the trip so much hedecided to stay an extra day or three.Actually, the timing worked out suchthat Dean was able to combine twotrips in one, spending the extra timecollecting samples from a power plantdisposal site in Kentucky. Discussionsat the conference also led to a contactfor an additional coring site in theMidwest.

______________________________

The Materials Characterization LabHomepage is now online on the WorldWide Web. Visit them at this URL:http://qxrd.chem.ndsu.nodak.edu/. Itincludes a link to their CCB Analysispage (http://qxrd.chem.ndsu.nodak.edu/ccbs/), which contains the database ofcommon coal combustion by-productphases that the McCarthy lab encoun-ters. This database was discussed at theDenver X-Ray Conference (see above).As with most web sites, it is constantly“under construction.”

Bryan “Captain” Jarabek on a Colorado rafting trip

6Chem-News Winter 1997–98

Our Scholarship Recipients Say “Thanks.”Our student-scholars wish to offer many thanks to those who have contributed to the Chemistry Department scholar-ship and award endowments. Scholarship recipients received their awards at the College of Science and Mathematics’“Day to Celebrate Scholarship” banquet November 1. This year’s scholars are:

Richard Glenn Wedel ScholarshipHeather Nash (Benson, MN)

James and May Sugihara ScholarshipBrian Very (Bismarck, ND)Stephanie Lerach (Oakdale, MN)

Undergraduate Faculty Research FellowshipsMatthew Charles Kidd (Lisbon, ND)Brenna Morberg (Alvarado, MN)Rachel Peterson (White Bear Lake, MN)Stephanie Lerach (Oakdale, MN)Rebecca Wertish (Faribault, MN)Marissa Wisdom (Washburn, ND)Michelle Wiest (Mankato, MN)

Roy Milde FellowshipMichael Johnson (Manvel, ND).

Chemistry Department Honor ScholarshipRachel Peterson (White Bear Lake, MN)Todd Roper (Shakopee, MN)Joey Rexine (Fargo, ND)

Donald Bolin Memorial ScholarshipPatricia Schiltz (Hankinson, ND)Tad Steward (Williston, ND)Marissa Wisdom (Washburn, ND)

Lawrence Debing Memorial ScholarshipsRebecca Wertish (Faribault, MN)Nicole Howe (West Fargo, ND)

Ralph E. Dunbar Memorial ScholarshipsNicole Hovda (Ekelson, ND)Amy Garman (Williston, ND)Eric Ward (Williston, ND)Michelle Wiest (Mankato, MN)

Tallman Group continues corrosion researchby Dr. Dennis Tallman

Visit the corrosion group’s web site:

http://snt.pc.ndsu.nodak.edu/corrosion/corrosn.htm

The focus of the research in Dr.Dennis Tallman’s laboratorycontinues to be in the general

area of corrosion, with particularinterests in the detection and theinhibition of corrosion of coatedaluminum and steel.

The current research proceeds alongthree fronts: 1) mechanisms of coatingfailure and accelerated test methods forstudying failure; 2) investigations ofconducting polymer systems forcorrosion control; and 3) detectionstrategies for assessing under-coatingcorrosion.

Dr. Tallman and his group are part of aninterdisciplinary corrosion research

team co-directed by Dr. Tallman andDr. Gordon Bierwagen of the Polymersand Coatings (P&C) Department. Thisresearch team currently consists ofapproximately 20 members, includingfaculty, graduate students, undergradu-ate students and postdoctoral associatesfrom the Departments of Chemistry(Dr. Tallman’s group), P&C (Dr.Bierwagen’s and Dr. Marek Urban’sgroups) and Electrical Engineering (Dr.David Farden’s group).

The chemistry students involved in thisinterdisciplinary research programinclude undergraduate students JuleenBerg and Michelle Wiest, graduatestudents Guoliang Chen, Victoria

Johnston Gelling, Brent Reems andJie He, and postdoctoral associate Dr.Xiaofan Yang.

In August, Dr. Tallman presented apaper at the 6th International Sympo-sium on Electrochemical Methods inCorrosion Research held in Trento,Italy. He also returned to Australia inSeptember, where he presented atutorial session and also a researchpaper at the Workshop on CorrosionProtection using Conducting Polymers,hosted by University of Wollongong’sIntelligent Polymer Research Institute.Dr. Tallman is one of the organizers ofthe program for the next workshop,which will be held on the island ofMaui, January 1999.

7Chem-News Winter 1997–98

Sibi Group says goodbye to postdoc; welcomes new membersS. “Mouli” Chandramouli, a postdocwith the Sibi Group, has accepted aposition with Rhône-Poulenc-Rorer inCollegeville, Pennsylvania. Mouli, whohas been at NDSU since April 1996,will be doing process research for thepharmaceutical division of the company.

Mouli found out about the opening andresponded to an ad in C&E News. Afterreviewing 250 applicants, the companyinterviewed seven people, and thennarrowed their choices down to threecandidates. After a grueling interviewprocess and a phone call from Dr. Sibi,they offered Mouli the position.

While Mouli is“eager to startan industrialcareer,” he feelshe has had aproductive stayat NDSU andwill miss thefriends he hasmade here.“The only partof Fargo I will not miss is the winter.”

The remaining members of the SibiGroup are continuing their research andplanning for some exciting upcomingevents…

Postdocs

Postdoc John Shay and his wife, Cathy,are expecting twins the end of January.The babies seem to be developing onschedule, and the Shays are eagerlyanticipating the big arrival.

Olga Gerasimchuk, a part-time lecturerin general and inorganic chemistry, isalso spending some of her timeworking as a postdoc in the Sibi labdoing NMR research.

Gerasimchuk received both her BS andMS from Kiev State University in theUkraine. She did graduate study atBrigham Young University in Provo,Utah, and then went on to KansasUniversity in Lawrence where sheearned her Ph.D. in bioinorganicchemistry in June 1997.

She and her husband, Nick—apostdoctoral researcher in ProfessorKent Rodgers’ lab—are expecting ababy this summer. She plans to carry onwith her research in the Sibi lab andmay continue teaching general chemis-try labs in the future.

Another postdoc,Sauman Hajra,joined the grouprecently. Hajrareceived his BS andMS degrees fromCalcutta University,and earned his Ph.D.at the NationalChemical Laboratory, where he studied“designing photosystems to harvestphotons into electrons: one electron-reductive activations of carbonyls.”

In addition, Dr. Minoru Nagato, apostdoc from Japan, continues his workwith radical reactions.

Grad students

Grad student Mike Johnson is inter-viewing at Boehringer Ingelheim, apharmaceuticals company in Ridgefield,Connecticut, the end of January. Hehopes to earn his master’s degree andgraduate by the end of the summer.

Tara Ternes, who entered the group asan undergraduate researcher last year, isnow a first-year grad student. She hasapplied for an NSF fellowship andcontinues her research on radicalchemistry.

Grad student Justin Sausker also iscontinuing his research duties with thegroup—but more importantly— he’shoping the Packers win the Superbowl.

Two new graduate students joined thegroup recently as well. Mei Liu hasbeen working in the labsince summer, andPingrong Liu arrived inthe fall.

Mei received hermaster’s in biochem-istry at Eastern New

Mexico University, while Pingrongearned her BS at Fudan University inShanghai. She has also worked onpolymer projects at the ChenguangResearch Institute of Chemical Industry.

Undergraduates

Three undergraduate students are also apart of the Sibi research team. NicoleHowe, a McNair Scholar, is a graduateof West Fargo High School. She is ajunior chemistry major and worked inthe NDSU Zoology Department beforejoining the Sibi Group in January.

Freshman chemistry major Tad Stewartis working in the Sibi lab as part of theScience Bound and UndergraduateFellowship programs. He first becameinterested in chemistry when heparticipated in Governor’s School. Hissix-week introduction to chemistry wasspent in the USDA science crop labs atNDSU, where he focused on sugar beetresearch. Tad, who is originally fromWilliston, joined the group in the falland plans to continue his lab work thissummer.

Greg Bjorklund, a Fargo Shanleygraduate, is also an undergraduateresearcher in the lab. The freshmanbiology major started working in thelab during fall semester and has foundit “interesting and fun—it’s a goodexperience overall.”

Sibi Notes

In February, Dr. Sibi will embark on atwo-week tour of Japan where he willpresent a series of lectures.

A special grant is supporting his visit,which was initiated by ProfessorKanemasa from Kyushu University.While in Japan, Sibi will also go toKobe University, as well as give a talkat the University of Osaka’s Pharma-ceutical Sciences Department.

He hopes to visit a former colleagueand friend, Shinya Harusawa, while atOsaka University and is lookingforward to site-seeing and exploring thecity of Kyoto.

Dr. S. Chandramouli

Dr. Saumen Hajra

Pingrong Liu

8Chem-News Winter 1997–98

Updates from the Boudjouk Groupby Michael Remington

Dr. Boudjouk’s summer research group

Arrivals

The fall of 1997 has brought with itsome new faces in the Boudjouk group.

Dr. Smuruthi Kamepalli received herBS and MS from the University ofMadras in Madras, India, in 1991. Shewent on to obtain her Ph.D. under thedirection ofAlan Cowleyand RichardJones in 1996at the Univer-sity of Texas atAustin.

While in Texasshe worked onand completedher dissertation“Synthesis andStudy of Group 13 and Group 15Compounds.” Her research interestsinclude general synthetic organo-metallic chemistry as well as materialschemistry.

Smuruthi lives in Fargo with herhusband Dr. Ratna Babu Chinnam, anassistant professor of industrialengineering at NDSU. They have onedaughter, Janani, six months old.

Sarah Steffl, a second-year graduatestudent, has finally recovered from herknee injuries (knock on wood) and isback, ready to complete her MS degree.Sarah will be doing her thesis work inthe area of materials chemistry. Shecannot wait to prepare andpresent her second-year seminarnext semester (at least that iswhat she keeps saying).

A new Undergraduate FacultyResearch Fellow has also joinedthe group. Brenna Morberg, afreshman chemistry major, isstudying catalytic hydro-silylations under the supervisionof Moni Chauhan.

Smuruthi Kamepalli

Other News

Professor Boudjouk, Bhanu Chauhan,Seok Bong Choi, Kyu Kim, and MikeRemington attended the joint NorthDakota/South Dakota State EPSCoRConference Sept. 26-27 in Brookings.Choi, Kim, and Remington presentedposters at the conference.

The group has had some success thelast few months. Choi had a paperaccepted in JACS as a communicationbased on silole chemistry. Several othermanuscripts have been submitted toJACS, Chem. Comm., Inorg. Chem.,and Chem. Mater. based on the work ofKim, Choi, Remington, and alumniGreg Schmitz and Wayne Triebold.

Bhanu, Boudjouk, and Remington willsubmit their work on transition metalcatalyzed dehydrogenative oxidation ofcyclic siloxanes and poly(siloxanes) toJACS and Angew. Chem. Bhanu andBoudjouk are planning to patent part ofthis work with Dow Corning. Inaddition, their work on low-temperatureroutes to Group 14 semiconductingmaterials will be submitted to Chem.Mater. This work includes new routesto nanocrystalline SiC and Ge/Simaterials via transition metal mediatedreactions.

Kim recently returned from a three-week stay in South Korea, where hehad the opportunity to present his workat Kyonggi University in Suwon, aswell as visit family and friends.

Spring Seminar• S c h e d u l e •All departmental seminars are heldThursdays at 3:45, with refreshmentsat 3:30, in Dunbar 152, unless oth-erwise noted.

Feb 13 (Fri) Dr. Cindy BurrowsUniversity of Utah

Feb 26 Dr. David BensonUniversity of Kansas

Mar 5 Dr. Mark KurthUC - Davis

Mar 26 Dr. Ian DaviesMerck & Co., Inc.

Apr 3 (Fri) Dr. Eusebio Juaristi CosíoCentro de Investigación y deEstudios Avanzados del I.P.N

Apr 16 Dr. Howard MortonAbbott Laboratories

Apr 20-22 Dr. Barry TrostStanford University

**Broberg Lecture**

Apr 23 Dr. Silvia RoncoUniversity of South Dakota

Apr 29 (Wed) Dr. Nancy LevingerColorado State University

Apr 30 Dr. Josef B. SimeonssonUniversity of Iowa

May 7 Janusz PawliszynUniversity of Waterloo

___________________________

Find the most up-to-date seminarinformation on our web page:

http://quantum.chem.ndsu.nodak.edu/ndsuchem/seminars.html

9Chem-News Winter 1997–98

Napora attendsAtlanta convention

An NDSU chemistryresearcher traveled toAtlanta in August for the

Golden Key National HonorSociety’s International Convention.

Golden Key executive vicepresident Rob Napora, a student inDr. Michael Page’s TheoreticalChemistry lab, was sent to Atlantaalong with three other delegatesfrom NDSU: Troy Guenther,president, Chris Douglas, vicepresident of finance, and BonnieCooper, historian.

The convention included work-shops, panel presentations, keynotespeakers and social activities forthe members to attend.

At the awards luncheon, the SUchapter received a “Best NewChapter” award for the accomplish-ments of the chapter and its officersfor the 1996-97 school year. Onlythree of the 259 chapters of GoldenKey worldwide received thisaward.

The SU chapter of Golden Key waschartered on April 16, 1996. At thattime, it was the smallest organiza-tion on campus. Shortly thereafter,400 members were inducted tomake it one of the largest. SU’schapter has also been selected asthe location for the 1998 MountainWest Regional Conference to beheld March 27–29, 1998.

Golden Key does many serviceprojects for the communitythroughout the year. Last year SU’schapter helped with Bowl for Kids’Sake, ran Stress Free Zones duringfinals week, participated in acharity volleyball tournament andput in over 150 hours sandbagging.

—Portions of this article were takenfrom NDSU’s Spectrum

Atwood Group Newsby Amy (Singer) Garman

Jolin’s release from NDSU left me (oneof the few in the Atwood group thatconsiders English her first language) incharge of our column. Knowing thatDr. Atwood was too busy (I believehe’s been here two days this semester)and winning an Indian leg wrestlingcontest with Scott, I thankfullyaccepted the offer.

As the group said their good-byes toJolin Jegier and Mike Hill, we greetedthe addition of Drs. Shengming Liu andBiswajit Sannigrahi.

Liu joined our clan in the spring of ’97.His wife, Aihuw Yu, and daughter,Xiaotong Liu, remain in Langhou,China, but hope to join him soon. Liugraduated from the Langhou Instituteof Chemical Physics and worked for apetroleum company before coming toNorth Dakota.

Biswajit joins us after recently acquir-ing his Ph.D. from the NationalChemical Laboratory in India. He is thelone single person in the Atwood

group. (Ladies youcan reach him at555-2121.) Whenhe’s not striving toachieve greatnessin the lab, hespends his timereading, listeningto music andplaying sports.

The rest of the crew has been doingwell. Pingrong Wei is trying to achievethe world’s record for the most paperspublished in a year by any one man. I

Dr. Shengming Liu

believe he can doit with two in hispocket, two thathave beenaccepted and fourothers submitted. Dr. Atwood considershim to be the most important person inthe lab (and that includes Dr. Atwood!).

Miguel is settling in since he’s consid-ered an elder in the clan now. I wastaken under Miguel’s wing for a fewmonths—and upon my release, hisresearch seemed to improve. Coinci-dence, I think not. I’m just a bad-luckcharm. (However, one publication willcome from the work we did together.)Incidentally, I have the dubious honorof being the only undergraduate to bethe single co-author with Dr. Atwood.(Inorganic Chimica Acta, this year.) Heassures me that this is an honor.

Scott Peterson is working rarely andstudying often. Maintaining his 4.0while juggling 30 credits is finallytaking its toll on the boy. That dreadedB is lurking in the mist. I can’t wait totaunt him when it happens. I may neversee the day, but I look forward to it.

Dr. Atwood is catching kids when he’snot risking his life to make speakingengagements. The latest addition to hisfamily, Ashley, has kept him and Vickibusy since her arrival in June. Theirsoon-to-be-three-year-old, Alex, is nowcrazy for dinosaurs. He alternatesbetween being a tyranosaurus and anallosaurus. Both are fierce carnivors, ashe is apt to demonstrate for you.

Married life is treating me well. Westill don’t live together, so toleratingone another is easy. I am lookingforward to graduation in May soeventually we’ll get to live in the samecity. Unlike modern couples who livetogether, then get married, we’ve takenthe more conservative route and gotmarried with the hope of livingtogether.

—AG

Dr. Biswajit Sannigrahi

10Chem-News Winter 1997–98

Campiglia research operation up and running

Professor Andres Campiglia islooking forward to a productiveyear. His research team is

growing, and a new instrument hasarrived.

Graduate students Andrea Arruda, ErikHagestuen, and Adam Bystol havejoined Campiglia’s lab and willconcentrate their efforts on combiningSolid-Phase Extraction with RoomTemperature Phosphorimetry, adetection technique for the analysis oforganic compounds on solid substrates.Undergraduate Rachel Peterson is themost recent member of the CampigliaGroup, now at four students andcounting.

Andrea, who is from Campiglia’s homecountry, Brazil, received her master’sdegree in 1995. (Campiglia was heradvisor in his previous position at theUniversidade de Brasilia.) She came toNorth Dakota this summer and isworking toward her Ph.D. at NDSU.

Andrea is enjoying life in Fargo—everything except the snow and cold.In her free time, she enjoys exercisingand watching movies.

Erik spent the first three years of hisgraduate studies under the guidance ofDr. Greg Gillispie. Now in his fourthyear, he has joined the Campiglia Groupand looks forward to exploring a newavenue of research.

He received his BS degree at AugsburgCollege in 1994 and worked as ananalytical chemist at Twin City Testing,an environmental testing company inSt. Paul, before coming to NDSU forgraduate school.

The Aitkin, MN, native joined theCampiglia Group in August and hopesto complete his Ph.D. by summer 1999.Erik likes several outdoor activities andis enjoying the newly fallen snow forone of his favorites, snowmobiling.

Originally from Fargo, Adam is a first-year grad student who worked inindustry for two years before returningto the world of academia. He earned hisbachelor’s degree at St. Olaf Collegeand hopes to complete his graduatestudies at NDSU by 2002. Adam is anaccomplished drummer, and used toplay in a band in his spare time.

NDSU freshman Rachel Peterson is anUndergraduate Faculty Research Fel-low from White Bear Lake, MN. Shebegan working with the group inSeptember on the study of lumines-cence characteristics of compoundsabsorbed on paper substrates.

Rachel’s high school biochemistryclass, along with an AP (advanceplacement) biology course, originallysparked her interest in the sciences. Sheis now a chemistry major at NDSU. Inher spare time, Rachel enjoys playingpiano, reading, listening to music andspending time with friends. She hasalso found working in the Campiglialab a “valuable experience.”

In addition to the students, one of themost welcomed members of the groupis a spectrofluorimeter, which arrivedin September. The instrument iscapable of doing fluorescence andphosphorescence measurements infrozen matrices, liquid solutions, andsolid supports. With its help, the groupexpects to develop the full analyticalpotential of Solid-Phase Extraction/Room Temperature Phosphorimetry inseveral areas of interest.

Diamantis open “Seed Time & Harvest”

Chemistry staff member Bill Diamanti and his wife, Rita, haveopened Seed Time & Harvest, a gift store and coffee shop, inCasselton, North Dakota.

Among the store’s many items are educational toys such as chemistrysets, telescopes, art supplies, games, books and of course, coffee.

The “Seed Time & Harvest” name comes from a Biblical reference inwhich God promises seed time and harvest for his creation.

“The creation is a reflection of God himself,” says Bill. “We want togive kids opportunities to learn about the creation through fun things.”

In addition, toys, games and other educational materials of a religiousnature are also scattered throughout the store.

Rita “keeps shop” while Bill tends to his duties in the chemistrystockroom. The Diamantis live in Wheatland with their two children,Dina, 15, and Gregory, 6.

Just a Thought…

“At the end of your life

You won’t think about the

degrees you’ve earned,

the positions you’ve held,

or the wealth you’ve

accumulated.

What will really matters is

whom you loved and who

loved you.

The circle of love

is everything.”

11Chem-News Winter 1997–98

Associate Professor Orven Swenson

Swenson named associateprofessor of physics Former NDSU Chemistry Professor Lin Pu and his

research group moved to Charlottesville, Virginia, morethan four months ago; however, they still feel verystrongly attached to North Dakota. For example, oncewith a friend, Dr. Qiao-sheng Hu was complaining aboutunpleasant things he encountered in Virginia. His friend,who is from New York City, said “It is so nice here, whyare you complaining?” He didn’t know that Dr. Hu is fromFargo—where everything is nicer!

Two new people, Shawn R. Wyatt and Dr. Hong-Bing Yu,joined Dr. Pu’s research group at the University ofVirginia. Shawn is a first-year graduate student, while Dr.Yu is a post-doctoral fellow from Shanghai Institute ofOrganic Chemistry. Incidentally, Dr. Yu is married to Dr.Hu. Dr. Wei-sheng Huang’s wife and his son also joinedhim in Charlottesville last October. Grad students KwonMusick and Duane Simonson are working on theircandidacy exam right now. Former group memberDilrukshi Vitharana visited the group during the Thanks-giving holiday. She is currently working in Baltimore.

Dr. Pu took a one-month trip to Hong Kong and mainlandChina in December. He visited the Shanghai Institute ofOrganic Chemistry, Chengdu Institute of Organic Chemis-try, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology,and The Chinese University of Hong Kong. On this trip,besides giving lectures and attending a conference, he metmany friends, colleagues and had a lot of wonderfulChinese food. He also visited his family in SichuanProvince. Dr. Pu is now married, and his wife, Bei, is agraduate student in the Computer Science Department atUniversity of Virginia.

All of the people in Dr. Pu’s group really miss NorthDakota and they wish everyone in the chemistry depart-ment at NDSU a very Happy Tiger Year.

Pu Group says hello from Virginia

A member of Dr. Michael Page’s theoreticalresearch team, senior Rob Napora, has hadhis first paper published in the Journal ofPhysical Chemistry. It’s a joint theoretical andexperimental study of boron oxide cluster ions.Rob, a physics/mathematics major, hopes tofinish his undergraduate work by May and thenenter graduate school.

Not only has he been busy with work-relatedactivities, but Rob has also found some time to take a much-deserved trip. He traveled to Hawaii during Christmas to seesome friends. While there, he visited the U.S.S. ArizonaMemorial and did some scuba diving. He also brought backshell leis for everyone in the group.

In other news, graduate student Dave Thweatt has beendoing some calculations to help elucidate the competi-tion between concerted and stepwise mechanisms forthermal rearrangement from vinyl cyclopropane tocyclopentene. This problem has attracted the recentattention of several physical organic chemists as aprototype of this competition, and the research ispart of the group’s efforts.

Three undergraduates recently became members ofthe group. Matthew “Chuck” Kidd, a freshmanUndergraduate Research Fellow and chemistry/

computer science major from Lisbon, ND; Michael Kennedy,a freshman physics/mathematics major from Detroit Lakes,MN; and Steve Zerr, a senior from Bismarck, ND; joined thegroup this fall. The three students have been busy attendingtraining seminars on introductory quantum mechanics, aswell as learning how to perform ab initio calculations.

Dr. Orven Swenson, aresearch associate withProfessor Greg Gillispie’sgroup, has a new role asassociate professor forNDSU’s Department ofPhysics.

For the past five years,Swenson has worked inthe Gillispie lab, where hestarted the multi-photonionization detection oftrace molecules research.His work using lasers todo photo-ionization wasinstrumental in demon-strating a real-time, sensitive, atmospheric pressure detectorfor aromatics such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, andxylenes in field situations.

Swenson received both his BS and master’s degrees inphysics at NDSU in 1970 and 1971, respectively. In 1982,during his 21-year career in the Air Force, he earned hisPh.D. at the Air Force Institute of Technology in Dayton,Ohio.

“I taught at the Air Force Academy,” said Swenson, “andthat’s what I enjoy doing the most. That’s why I came backto NDSU.”

While he will now spend half of his time teaching physicsclasses like optical electronics, astronomy, and universityphysics (calculus-based physics), Swenson will continue hisenvironmental monitoring research work with Gillispie. Cur-rent plans are to set up a laser lab in the physics department.

Page Group NewsNapora publishes first paper

Mallik continued…

At UND, Mallik was well known for his excellence inteaching and his innovative use of the Internet for instruc-tional purposes. He recently received a prestigious NSFCAREER award and an NIH AREA award.

Now that he has completed the move from Grand Forks toFargo, Mallik is eager to begin his research. Graduatestudent Shuguang Sun has transferred from UND and isworking on molecular recognition of small molecules.

Bidhan Roy, a post doctoral researcher, also came to NDSUwith Mallik. Roy received his Ph.D. in polymer/organicchemistry from the Indian Institute of Technology,Kharagpur. He is working on synthesizing polymerizablelipids.

Research Interests:

Our research interest is on molecular recognition of mol-ecules with varying degrees of complexity. We are usingmetal-ligand interactions in conjunction with hydrogenbonding, ion pairing as the basis of the recognition process.

On small molecule recognition, we are involved in thedesign and synthesis of peptides with a pattern of interactinggroups. This pattern is then matched with a designedmolecule. We are interested in targeting various biologicallyrelevant peptides by this approach (amyloid peptide, respon-sible for Alzheimer's disease). We are also working onfabricating polymer-based receptors for these small peptides.

For a complex biomolecule (e.g., a protein), we are preparingliposomal receptors. These have the potential to be used intargeted drug delivery and imaging. We are also immobiliz-ing these liposomes on a gold plate and then to use them as asensor for a protein/whole virus.

—Submitted by Dr. Sanku Mallik

A Note from Dakota Technologies, Inc.Dakota Technologies, Inc. (DTI) and NDSU are the leadmembers of a team which has been selected by theStrategic Environmental Research and DevelopmentProgram (SERDP) for a $1.15 million dollar contract. Theaward will support the development and demonstration ofsensors that can detect chlorinated solvents as they existin the form of so-called Dense Non-Aqueous PhaseLiquids (DNAPLs). Better means to delineate subsurfaceDNAPLs, e.g., trichloroethylene and similar chlorinatedspecies widely used as industrial degreasers and drycleaning solvents, is probably the most pressing clean-upneed of the Department of Defense. DTI and NDSU willbe joined on the team by Geoprobe Systems (Salina, KS)and New Mexico State University.

The R&D will focus on two different strategies to detectgas phase chloride ions created from vapors of thechlorinated substances. Geoprobe Systems has patented amembrane interface which can efficiently transportvolatile organic compounds from the soil to the interior ofa small diameter direct push probe. The research team’sgoal is to measure the picoamp currents from the chemicalsensor placed “downhole” near the membrane. The sensorand its associated electronics must fit within the soilprobe’s narrow inside diameter (less than one inch). GregGillispie is principal investigator on the project, and thepreliminary studies at DTI were led by Dr. Mike Dvorak,formerly a postdoc in Gillispie’s group at NDSU. Dr.Orven Swenson and graduate student Chris Walls willhead up the NDSU effort.

SERDP, which was opened up to teams headed by non-government participants for the first time last year, isextremely competitive. The joint DTI/NDSU projectrepresents one of only seven awards made out of approxi-mately 300 applications from private industry and academia.

—Submitted by Dr. Greg Gillispie

North Dakota State UniversityDepartment of Chemistry104 Ladd HallFargo, ND 58105-5516

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