Tag Archives: organic and polymer chemistry

Expertise and Skills:
• Organic synthesis: Multi-step syntheses of heterocyclic and heteroaromatic compounds using air, temperature and moisture sensitive materials on 0.1 – 100 g scale, Schlenk apparatus and anaerobic glove boxes. See attached document, 15 05 26 Reaction_Summary_Heirtzler.pdf.
• Coordination Chemistry: Synthesis of metalloorganic complexes of Cu(I), Ag(I), Co(II), Ru(II) and Zn(II).
• Purification: Column chromatography, distillation and recrystallization.
• Characterization: Familiar with Varian/Agilent NMR spectrometers, fluorescence spectrometers, GC-MS and HPLC.
• Databases: SciFinder, Reaxys and Web of Science.
• Software: MS Office, ChemDraw, iNMR, GraphicConverter and EndNote.
• Management: Six years’ experience in directing own research group.
• Authorship: Track record of creating and writing successful funding proposals, research publications and industrial research reports.
• Foreign languages: Semi-fluent German speaker, basic communication skills in French.
Experience:
• Dec. 2014 – April 2015: Independent Consultant/Research Scientist (Organic Chemistry), Capacitor Sciences, Inc., Menlo Park, California USA.
o Design, synthesis and documentation of organic materials for molecular capacitors with new start-up company. Results: designed three perylene diimide-type candidate structures and synthesized three members of one such family; set up and organized preparative Chemistry laboratory without assistance and “from scratch”.
• Jan. 2009 – Aug. 2011 and June 2014 – Oct. 2014: Independent, Volunteer Scientist, Rutgers Univ. Camden, New Jersey, USA.
o Synthesisis of liquid crystalline, hybrid organic-inorganic and frequency-doubling materials. Results: (1) discovery of a novel, very potent, supramolecular frequency-doubling transition metal complex; (2) two peer-reviewed publications.
• Aug. 2011 – May 2014: Research Director and Assistant Professor, Univ. Alaska Fairbanks, USA.
o Design and synthesis of organic materials for supramolecular coordination complexes. Results: (1) developed synthetic route to an absolutely chiral organic ligand for absolutely chiral coordination complexes with transition metal salts; (2) trained one PhD-level graduate student and four undergraduate students in the research lab.
• Jan. 2009- Jan. 2011: Part-time Visiting Scientist, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton New York, USA.
o UV-NIR analysis of chemically doped semiconducting polymers. Results: authored internal progress report.
• Aug. 2005 – Sept. 2007: Research Associate, Univ. Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
o (1) Synthesis of Sterically Demanding Sulfininimines and their Cluster Complexes with Transition Metals; (2) Synthesis of Hydrocarbon-soluble Heterobicyclic Compounds for Formation of Hexameric Rosette Nanotubes. Results: (1) one research poster presented at conference; (2) Nanotubes containing C18-alkoxy chains prepared and characterized using electron microscopy; (3) co-author on one peer-reviewed research paper.
• Aug. 2004 – Aug. 2005: Research Assistant Professor, Univ. Nevada, Reno, Nevada, USA.
o Design and Synthesis of a Three-fold Asymmetric Molecular Rotor. Result: Promising structure for molecular rotor defined and synthesis thereof partially accomplished.
• Aug. 1999 – Sept. 2003: Research Director and Lecturer in Organic Chemistry, Univ. Kent, Canterbury, Kent, UK.
o (1) Research synthesis of lipophillic quinoxaline/pyridine hybrid compounds and their dimetallic complexes; (2) preparation of funding proposals to support research efforts; (3) mentoring of graduate students and undergraduates in research laboratory; Results: (1) Lipophillic complexes of four different compounds prepared and characterized; (2) three different funding proposals prepared, of which two were funded; (3) two graduate students mentored until completion of their degrees and approximately eight undergraduates mentored until completion of their research projects; (4) six peer-reviewed research papers published.
• Aug. 1995 – Aug. 1999: Independent Researcher, Univ. Basel, Basel City, Switzerland.
o Research synthesis of pyrazine/pyridine hybrid ligands for supramolecular transition metal complexes. Results: (1) 10 such derivatives were prepared and spectroscopically characterized, as were the metallosupramolecular complexes of 4 of them; (2) 8 peer-reviewed research papers published.
• Sept. 1993- Aug. 1995: Post-doctoral Researcher and Teaching Assistant, Univ. Basel, Basel City, Switzerland.
o Synthesis of Unsymmetrically substituted 2,2′:6′,2″:6″,2″‘-Quaterpyridine derivatives and the stereoselective self-assembly of their helical, dimeric coordination complexes. Results: (1) 9 such derivatives were prepared and spectroscopically characterized, as were their metallosupramolecular complexes; (2) 3 peer-reviewed research papers published.
Education:
• Dr. rer. Nat. in Organic Chemistry (equivalent to American PhD degree), Institute for Organic Chemistry, Technical Univ. Braunschweig, Lower Saxony/FRG. Thesis director: Prof. Dr. H. Hopf (Thesis title: Design, Preparation and Use of Bis-[2.2.2]paracyclophanes for Bis-pi-Complexation of Labile Metal Atoms).
• M. Sc. Organic Chemistry, Dept. of Chemistry, Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, Michigan/USA. Thesis director: Prof. P. J. Wagner (Thesis title: Photochemistry of Acylphenyl Olefinic Esters).
• B. Sc. Chemistry, McGill Univ., Montreal, PQ/Canada.
Awards/Honors:
• Recipient of “Treubel Fonds” Fellowship. Two-year salary for independent chemistry researcher active at the Univ. Basel, with a total value of ca. SFr. 108,300 ($ 82,000).
Publications and Presentations:
• A full list of 30 peer-reviewed publications, poster presentations, and electronic reprints is available upon request.
• A list of 17 oral presentations held in the US and Europe is available upon request.
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