The Thomas D. Walsh Graduate Research Fellowship, made possible by the generous support of Dr. Thomas D. Walsh, recognizes outstanding contributions by M.S. candidates to graduate research.  Returning graduate students are eligible for this prestigious award after their first year.  The Thomas D. Walsh Graduate Research Fellowship supports the winner with a research assistantship and tuition support through their second year.

During the last application cycle the graduate committee narrowed the applicant pool to three finalists:Jessica Hanley, Tiffany Meyers, Shawn Ridlen.  A brief biographical sketch and research abstract summarize each finalist’s strong application.  After a long deliberation the jury awarded the 2011/2012 Thomas D. Walsh Graduate Research Fellowship to Jessica M. Hanley.

Jessica M. Hanley graduated with her B.S. in Chemistry from Clemson University in May 2010 where she worked under the guidance of Dr. Rhett C. Smith on the synthesis of various pi-conjugated scaffold systems.  Jessica received an internship working for the Savannah River Nuclear Site and Electric Power Research Institute working on a project building calixacrown chelating molecules that are selective for ¹³⁷Cs and then attaching magnetic silicates to the organic molecule to remove the radioactive cesium from plant waste water.

Jessica began her work at UNC Charlotte under the supervision of Dr. Daniel Rabinovich in October of 2010, developing the synthesis and reactivity of a new mixed-donor ligand, the bis(pyridyl)mercaptoimidazole.  Several coordination complexes of the (2-py)2m ligand have already been prepared and fully characterized, including the complete series of group 12 metal compounds {(2-py)2m}MX2 (M = Zn, Cd, Hg; X = Cl, Br, I).  In addition, the analogous selone ligand (2-py)2se, which presents a rare [N2Se] donor set, has been synthesized and its reactivity is now being pursued.

One of the most attractive goals of this project is the preparation of synthetic analogues of methanobactin (mb), a small protein responsible for the uptake and delivery of copper(I) ions to various copper-dependent enzymes such as the particulate form of methane monooxygenase (pMMO).  The metal center in mb features a distorted tetrahedral copper(I) ion bound to two oxazolone nitrogen atoms and two thione sulfur-donor moieties, a coordination environment unprecedented in biological systems.  The copper(I) derivatives {(2-py)2m}CuX (X = Br, I) have already been isolated and their reactivity, particularly aimed at the installation of a second sulfur-donor group in order to mimic the desired [CuN2S2] core, is currently under investigation.  The biological activity of the new synthetic analogues of mb will be explored since it has been reported that the actual copper protein exhibits potent antibacterial properties against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria.

Tiffany Meyers completed her Bachelor’s of Science in Chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in May 2010. During her undergraduate research, she worked under the guidance of Dr. Markus Etzkorn on the synthesis of fluorinated molecular scaffolds, e.g., fluorinated molecular tweezers. Tiffany was the recipient of the highly competitive ACS Division of Fluorine Chemistry Moissan Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship.

Tiffany is pursuing a Master’s of Science degree in chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte since fall of 2010.  She is continuing her research in the Etzkorn laboratory, focusing on preparative organic chemistry, specifically methodology development in organofluorine chemistry and physicochemical investigations of fluorinated scaffolds.  In particular, novel routes to highly fluorinated naphthalene derivatives are investigated, as fluoroarenes are required building blocks for the construction of larger fluorinated tweezer scaffolds.  Furthermore, Tiffany is targeting suitable substrates for the generation of fluorinated isoindenones, i.e., fleeting intermediates of theoretical interest and potentially alternative precursors for the preparation of fluoroarenes.

Shawn Ridlen is a Master’s of Science Student in the Department of Chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.  Shawn is originally from Georgia and received his BS in Chemistry from the University of West Georgia in the spring of 2010 where he was awarded the Hope scholarship through all four years of study. While at UWG, Shawn worked under the guidance of Megumi Fujita on an undergraduate thesis entitled: Synthesis of a Preorganized Dinucleating Ligand: An indolo[2,3-a]carbazole Derivative

While at UNC Charlotte Shawn is the studying the “Synthesis and Characterization of Novel Multi-nuclear Charged Ruthenium Complexes” under the guidance of Dr. Jordan C. Poler. This project will fully characterize previously synthesized dinuclear Ru coordination complexes and study the effect that the overall charge state and enantiomeric purity has on the potential for charge separation and transfer.  Additionally, two novel tetranuclear Ru complexes will be synthesized and studied.  These complexes will advance the possibility for directed self-assembly of nanomaterials and facilitate their integration into energy production and/or energy storage devices.