University Catalog 2024-2025

Chemistry

The Department of Chemistry offers programs of study leading to the Doctor of Philosophy and Master of Science degrees. These degrees are based on coursework and original research. Many research projects merge disciplines such as chemical/synthetic biology, biophysics/physics, computational science, informatics, photonics/photophysics and materials science with chemistry. General courses as well as advanced and special topics courses are offered.

Master's Degree Requirements

The Master of Science (M.S.) degree in chemistry is a research degree that requires six graduate courses, a minimum of 30 credit hours, and research leading to a thesis.

Doctoral Degree Requirements

In the doctoral program, emphasis is placed on original research and a comprehensive knowledge of one's chosen field.

Student Financial Support

Incoming graduate students are supported by departmental teaching assistantships. Outstanding applicants are eligible for supplemental fellowships during their first year of study. Research assistantships are normally available to second-, third-, and fourth-year students. The department also has fellowships for students interested in the area of electronic materials, biotechnology and pharmaceutical and synthetic organic chemistry, as well as travel funds to attend and deliver an oral presentation professional meeting(s).

Other Relevant Information

The Chemistry Department forms part of the College of Sciences. More than one dozen new faculty members have been added in the last ten years, thereby greatly enhancing opportunities for graduate research especially in cutting edge interdisciplinary programs.

Chemistry Program Website

Admission Requirements

Applicants should have an undergraduate degree in chemistry or in a closely related field with a strong chemistry background. A GPA of at least 3.0 in the sciences is needed for consideration. GRE General Test scores are not required. Admission decisions are made as completed applications are received. For most favorable consideration for the Fall term, all application materials should be received by January 15 (both domestic and international students).

Applicant Information

  • Delivery Method: On Campus
  • Entrance Exam: None
  • Interview Required:

Application Deadlines

  • Fall: January 15th (US and Intl)

Faculty

Full Professors

  • Felix Nicholas Castellano
  • Stefan Franzen
  • Reza Ghiladi
  • Edith Glazer
  • Christopher B. Gorman
  • Elon Ison
  • Elena Jakubikova
  • Jonathan S. Lindsey
  • Lucian Lucia
  • Paul Maggard
  • James D. Martin
  • David C. Muddiman
  • Alexander A. Nevzorov
  • Maria T. Oliver-Hoyo
  • Joshua Pierce
  • David A. Shultz
  • Alexej I. Smirnov
  • Leslie A. Sombers
  • Brian Space
  • Gavin John Williams

Associate Professors

  • Nelson R. Vinueza Benitez
  • Wei-Chen Chang
  • Ryan Chiechi
  • Vincent Lindsay
  • Thomas Makris
  • Caroline Proulx
  • Tatyana I. Smirnova
  • Thomas Theis
  • Yi Xiao

Assistant Professors

  • Oliver Baars
  • Yevgeny Brudno
  • Raja Ghosh
  • Milena Jovanovic
  • Xiaotong Li
  • Jun Ohata

Practice/Research/Teaching Professors

  • Jeremiah Feducia
  • Audrey Fikes
  • Daniel Fowler
  • David Heidary
  • Ana Ison
  • Kirsten Kramer
  • Naish Lalloo
  • Cassie Lilly
  • Marion Martin
  • Gregory S. McCarty
  • Lori Petrovich
  • Ghada Rabah
  • Kay Sandberg
  • Laura Sremaniak
  • Masahiko Taniguchi
  • Travis Varner
  • Maxim Voynov

Emeritus Faculty

  • Alton J. Banks
  • Robert D. Bereman
  • Charles Boss
  • Carl L. Bumgardner
  • Halbert H. Carmichael
  • Daniel L. Comins
  • Forrest W. Getzen
  • Forrest C. Hentz
  • Morteza Khaledi
  • S. Levine
  • Charles Moreland
  • Suzanne T. Purrington
  • William L. Switzer
  • William P. Tucker
  • Dennis W. Wertz
  • Myung H. Whangbo
  • Jerry L. Whitten

Adjunct Faculty

  • V. Bornemann

Courses

CH 563/CH 463  Molecular Origins of Life  (3 credit hours)  

Survey of the present state of understanding of the molecular mechanisms leading to the emergence of sustainable self-replicating systems in the prebiotic era on the early Earth, including historical context, experimental studies, and theoretical foundation. The course will include a focus on the fundamental chemistry of and mechanisms for the plausible prebiotic formation of diverse biomolecules (including amino acids, sugars, nucleotides, lipids, tetrapyrroles) and self-organizing chemistry leading to protocells, the proposed early progenitors of living cells. Credit will not be given for both CH 463 and CH 563.

Prerequisite: BCH 351 or BCH 451 or Permission of Instructor

Typically offered in Spring only

CH 572/BIT 572/BIO 572  Proteomics  (3 credit hours)  

Introduction and history of the field of proteomics followed by the principles and applications of proteomics technology to understand protein expression and protein post-transitional modifications. Laboratory sessions include growing yeast with stable-isotope labeled amino acids, protein purification, Western blots, protein identification and quantification, and protein bioinformatic analysis. This is a half-semester course.

Prerequisite: BIT 410 or BIT 510 or BCH 454 (or approval from the instructor)

Typically offered in Spring only

CH 601  Seminar  (1 credit hours)  

Review and discussion of scientific articles, progress reports on research and special problems of interest to chemists.

Prerequisite: Graduate standing in CH

Typically offered in Fall and Spring

CH 610  Special Topics In Chemistry  (1-6 credit hours)  

Detailed study of a particular problem or technique pertaining to chemistry.

Typically offered in Fall and Spring

CH 690  Master's Examination  (1-9 credit hours)  

For students in non-thesis master's programs who have completed all other requirements of the degree except preparing for and taking the final master's exam.

Prerequisite: Master's student

Typically offered in Fall only

CH 693  Master's Supervised Research  (1-9 credit hours)  

Instruction in research and research under the mentorship of a member of the Graduate Faculty.

Prerequisite: Master's student

Typically offered in Summer only

CH 695  Master's Thesis Research  (1-9 credit hours)  

Thesis research.

Prerequisite: Master's student

Typically offered in Fall, Spring, and Summer

CH 696  Summer Thesis Research  (1 credit hours)  

For graduate students whose programs of work specify no formal course work during a summer session and who will be devoting full time to thesis research.

Prerequisite: Master's student

Typically offered in Summer only

CH 699  Master's Thesis Preparation  (1-9 credit hours)  

For students who have completed all credit hour requirements and full-time enrollment for the master's degree and are writing and defending their thesis.

Prerequisite: Master's student

Typically offered in Fall, Spring, and Summer

CH 701  Advanced Inorganic Chemistry I: Structure and Bonding  (3 credit hours)  

Study of periodic table/trends, symmetry and molecular orbital theory of small molecules and extended structures, transition-metal coordination complexes, acid/base and redox reactivity of polyatomic ions, solid-state structures, and selected special topics.

Typically offered in Fall only

CH 703  Advanced Inorganic Chemistry II: Applications of Group Theory to Bonding and Spectroscopy  (3 credit hours)  

This course uses group theory as the basis for developing molecular orbital theory, vibrational spectroscopy, and electronic spectroscopy. Together, these methods are used to discuss topics of current research interest in inorganic chemistry.

Prerequisite: CH 701 or equivalent

Typically offered in Spring only

CH 705  Organometallic and Inorganic Reaction Mechanism  (3 credit hours)  

Coverage of concepts of bonding and structure of transition metal complexes with emphasis on the interaction of transition metal fragements with organic ligands; study of experimental methods of mechanistic study; treatment of inorganic and organometallic reactions including metal-mediated organic synthesis, metal-catalyzed polymer synthesis, and models of bioinorganic systems.

Prerequisite: Graduate standing

Typically offered in Spring only

CH 711  Advanced Analytical Chemistry I  (3 credit hours)  

First semester of two-semester integrated sequence covering advanced methods for extraction and interpretation of chemical information from electronic/optical signals in chemical analysis. Digital and analog electronics, signal acquisition and processing, chemometrics, and instrumentation.

Prerequisite: CH 433; CH 415

Typically offered in Fall only

CH 721  Advanced Organic Chemistry I  (3 credit hours)  

Introduction to physical organic chemistry. Topics include: bonding/introductory molecular orbital theory, reactive intermediates, aromaticity, pericyclic reactions, thermochemistry, linear free-energy relationships, kinetics, and transition-state theory. Topics and concepts are related to molecular reactivity and reaction mechanisms.

Prerequisite: CH 223 or CH 227 or CH 433 or CH 435

Typically offered in Fall only

CH 723  Advanced Organic Chemistry II  (3 credit hours)  

Introduction to acid-base theory and mechanistic organic chemistry as applied to synthetically useful organic reactions.

Prerequisite: CH 721

Typically offered in Spring only

CH 725  Physical Methods in Organic Chemistry  (3 credit hours)  

Application of physical methods to the solution of structural problems in organic chemistry. Methods discussed include electronic absorption spectroscopy, vibrational spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance, and mass spectrometry.

Prerequisite: (CH 223 or CH 227) and CH 433 or CH 435

Typically offered in Fall only

CH 727/BIO 727  Biological Mass Spectrometry  (3 credit hours)  

Fundamentals of mass spectrometry including topics such as: mass, isotopic distributions, resolving power, mass accuracy. Ionization source topics: electron impact, chemical ionization, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization, electrospray ionization and contemporary methods. Instrumentation and mass analyzers: quadrupole, time-of-flight, Fourier transform based mass analyzers; hybrid instruments such as a quadrupole orbitrap. Tandem mass spectrometry and dissociation. Applications: quantitation, small molecule analysis, and peptide sequencing.

Prerequisite: CH 223 or CH 227

Typically offered in Fall only

This course is offered alternate years

CH 730  Advanced Physical Chemistry  (3 credit hours)  

Survey of chemical thermodynamics and kinetics, with emphasis on reactions in liquid phase. Problem solving an important part of course. Designed for review and expansion on materials usually covered in a one-year undergraduate physical chemistry course.

Prerequisite: Graduate standing

Typically offered in Fall only

CH 732  Advanced Physical Chemistry in Biological Applications  (3 credit hours)  

Modern views on structure, function, and thermodynamic stability of biological macromolecules including proteins, nucleic acids, and biological membranes; theories and models of protein folding, high resolution experimental methods for structure determination of soluble and membrane proteins including solution and solid-state NMR spectroscopy.

Prerequisite: CH 431 or CH 433 or BCH 453 or equivalent

This course is offered every third semester

CH 734  Spectroscopic Methods in Chemical Biology  (3 credit hours)  

Physical principles underlying the experimental spectroscopic methods used to study structure and dynamics of biological macromolecules. Detailed discussion of experimental techniques include high-resolution solution Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Electron Paramagnetic Resonance in combination with spin labeling and spin trapping methods, and fluorescence spectroscopy, including single molecule methods and fluorescence microscopy. This course is offered every third semester from Spring 2010.

Prerequisite: CH 331 or CH 431, CH 433 or equivalent

This course is offered every third semester

CH 735  Magnetic Resonance in Chemistry  (3 credit hours)  

This course is focused on physical and quantum mechanical principles that make magnetic resonance the most important spectroscopic technique in chemistry. Detailed discussion of description of magnetic resonance phenomena and NMR and EPR experimental techniques covers both classical and quantum mechanical treatments. Students of diverse backgrounds will gain in-depth knowledge of modern magnetic resonance as applied to problems in chemistry, materials, and nano-science, and biophysics.

Prerequisite: CH 331 or CH 431, CH 433 or equivalent

This course is offered every third semester

CH 736  Chemical Spectroscopy  (3 credit hours)  

Introduction to rotational, vibrational and electronic molecular spectroscopy from a quantum mechanical viewpoint. Emphasis on the elucidation of structure, bonding and excited state properties of organic and inorganic molecules.

Prerequisite: CH 435

Typically offered in Spring only

This course is offered alternate years

CH 737  Quantum Chemistry  (3 credit hours)  

Elements of wave mechanics applied to stationary energy states and time-dependent phenomena. Applications of quantum theory to chemistry, particularly chemical bonds.

Prerequisite: MA 301, CH 435 or PY 407

Typically offered in Fall only

CH 743  Electrochemistry  (3 credit hours)  

Thermodynamics and kinetics of electrode reactions presented as well as experimental methods for studying them. Particular emphasis on measurement of standard potential and establishing number of electrons transferred. Applications of electrochemistry in production/storage of energy and in chemical analysis.

Prerequisite: CH 431 or CH 433

Typically offered in Spring only

This course is offered alternate years

CH 745  Chemical Separation  (3 credit hours)  

Basic principles of methods in chemical separation including gas chromatography, liquid chromatography, etc. Theory, instrumentation and applications of various chromatographic and electrophoretic techniques.

Prerequisite: Graduate Standing

Typically offered in Fall only

CH 755  Organic Reaction Mechanisms  (3 credit hours)  

Effects of structure and substituents on direction and rates of organic reactions; detailed analysis of organic reaction mechanisms and how they can be controlled; prediction of the product outcome in stereoselective reactions.

Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or by instructor permission

Typically offered in Fall only

CH 765  Chemistry of Materials  (3 credit hours)  

Detailed examination of the relationship between chemical structure and physical properties of materials with potential use in applications. Different classes of molecules and materials requirements for several applications will be emphasized.

Prerequisite: CH 201 or equivalent

Typically offered in Spring only

CH 770  Bioinorganic Chemistry  (3 credit hours)  

The interface between inorganic and biological chemistry will be explored, focusing on the catalytic processes in metalloenzymes, and with an emphasis on the diverse roles of transition metals in biology. The physical methods required for the study of bioinorganic systems will be introduced, with application toward determining enzymatic mechanisms. Selected topics will include heme chemistry, nitrogen fixation, C-H bond activation, electron transfer, oxygen transport, metal ion uptake and toxicity, drug activation and/or metabolism by metalloenzymes, and metallodrugs.

Prerequisite: CH 401

Typically offered in Spring only

This course is offered alternate even years

CH 772  Solid State Chemistry  (3 credit hours)  

Selected topics in solid-state chemistry including: extended symmetry, structure, bonding, characterizations, and special topics. Graduate standing in Chemistry required.

Prerequisite: CH 701 or equivalent

Typically offered in Spring only

CH 795  Special Topics in Chemistry  (1-6 credit hours)  

Typically offered in Fall and Spring

CH 801  Seminar  (1 credit hours)  

Review and discussion of scientific articles, progress reports on research and special problems of interest to chemists.

Prerequisite: Graduate standing in CH

Typically offered in Fall and Spring

CH 810  Special Topics In Chemistry  (1-6 credit hours)  

Detailed study of a particular problem or technique pertaining to chemistry.

Typically offered in Fall only

CH 890  Doctoral Preliminary Examination  (1-9 credit hours)  

For students who are preparing for and taking written and/or oral preliminary exams.

Prerequisite: Doctoral student

Typically offered in Fall only

CH 893  Doctoral Supervised Research  (1-9 credit hours)  

Instruction in research and research under the mentorship of a member of the Graduate Faculty.

Prerequisite: Doctoral student

Typically offered in Fall only

CH 895  Doctoral Dissertation Research  (1-9 credit hours)  

Dissertation research.

Prerequisite: Doctoral student

Typically offered in Fall, Spring, and Summer

CH 896  Summer Dissertation Research  (1 credit hours)  

For graduate students whose programs of work specify no formal course work during a summer session and who will be devoting full time to thesis research.

Prerequisite: Doctoral student

Typically offered in Summer only

CH 899  Doctoral Dissertation Preparation  (1-9 credit hours)  

For students who have completed all credit hour, full-time enrollment, preliminary examination, and residency requirements for the doctoral degree, and are writing and defending their dissertations.

Prerequisite: Doctoral student

Typically offered in Fall, Spring, and Summer