TUFTS UNI VERSITY CHEMISTRY DEPARTMENTchem.tufts.edu/chem-notes/ChemNotes-W16.pdf · Education and Research The Tufts University Department of Chemistry continues its dual mission

Education and ResearchThe Tufts University Department of Chemistry continues its

dual mission of education and research

{ T U F T S U N I VE R S I T Y C H EM I S T R Y D E PA R TM EN T }

RESEARCHJoshua Kritzer

The last half-century has seen a revolu-tion in how we understand and treat dis-ease. The modern plan of attack is tounderstand disease at the molecular level,then judiciously target key proteins in thedisease process using small-moleculedrugs. However, most existing drugs tar-get only a few types of cellular proteinssuch as kinases and signaling receptors.There are many diseases that could bemore effectively treated by targeting other

proteins. Such diseases include diabetes,infectious disease, and many currentlyuntreatable cancers.The Kritzer lab uses peptides (small

chains of amino acids) to inhibit disease-associated proteins that would be diffi-cult or impossible to target usingtraditional approaches. These moleculesare an exciting and rapidly expandingarea of drug development because they

Chair’s CornerKrishna Kumar

Last year, the department cele-brated the 150th anniversary ofthe first chemistry course taughton campus. Today, the depart-ment is healthy as ever, and thestate of the department remainsstrong. The last five years haveseen rapid growth in facultynumbers. Dr. Yu-Shan Lin cameto us from Stanford University in2012, and the next year, Dr.Rebecca Scheck from Yale Uni-versity and Dr. Charles Macefrom Diagnostics for All, Inc.joined the ranks. The energy thatthese new colleagues havebrought to the department ispalpable in the laboratories, hall-ways and classrooms. Dr. DirenPamuk Turner, formerly a precep-tor at Harvard University, joinedus as Lecturer in Fall 2015.

David Walt was appointedUniversity Professor, a designa-tion currently held by only fourother Tufts University facultymembers. Congratulations tothe recently tenured facultymembers: Samuel Thomas(2014); Clay Bennett and JoshuaKritzer (2015). Many of theother faculty members havebeen honored with national andinternational awards.

The department planned,and has implemented signifi-cant changes in the Organic/Biochemistry curriculum thathas required restructuring ofGeneral Chemistry, OrganicChemistry and Biochemistry asthey are currently taught. Theseinitiatives speak to changes inthe MCAT exam mandated bythe AAMC and AMA, but were

DUAL MISSION

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2 0 1 6 • W I N T E R

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can target protein surfaces in ways smallmolecules rarely do. In one project, weare exploring novel approaches forscreening these compounds: we usegenetics to generate large libraries ofcyclic peptides in living yeast cells and toscreen them for those that target specificproteins or disease processes of interest.In this manner, yeast are recruited as avirtual army of medicinal chemists capa-ble of synthesizing and screening mil-lions of compounds in a single week.Discovering new bioactive peptides is

only the first step, however. In severalother projects, the Kritzer lab is exploringhow these powerful molecules can bemodified to promote greater utility astools for biology and chemistry. We are

2 T U F T S C H E M N O T E S winter 2016

Figure 1:

Many cellular proteins cannot be targeted by tra-ditional drug-like molecules, but can be targetedby peptides—if they can be locked into theirappropriate shapes. This figure shows the Kritzerlab’s strategy for blocking cellular proteins usingmodified peptides. For more details on this strat-egy, see Gavenonis et al., Nature Chemical Biology10, 716–722.

RESEARCH / KRITZERContinued from page 1

The Kritzer lab uses peptides to solve vital chemical and biomedical problems. Students aretrained in cross-disciplinary approaches includinggenetics, cell biology, organic synthesis, structural

biology and biophysical chemistry.

exploring how intramolecular cross-linkscan be used to tune the reactivity of pep-tide-metal complexes to enable their useas chiral catalysts for important organictransformations. We are also exploringhow larger peptides can be locked intotheir bioactive conformation via successiveapplication of covalent bonds as “staples.”These bonds must be carefully designed,but when applied effectively they canmake certain classes of peptides morepotent, more selective, and more cell-penetrant. This strategy is being appliedto inhibitors of diverse signaling proteinsinvolved in diabetes and human cancers.Through in-lab expertise and collabora-tions with biomedical scientists at TuftsUniversity School of Medicine and otherinstitutions in the area, the Kritzer labsimultaneously explores peptide structure,function, and anti-cancer activity. Thisrepresents a cross-disciplinary effort tobring these molecules to bear onintractable human diseases.

winter 2016 T U F T S C H E M N O T E S 3

RESEARCHYu-Shan Lin

Understanding how the primaryamino acid sequence encodes thethree-dimensional structure of a pep-tide or protein is a holy grail for manychemists and biologists. A major proj-ect in the Lin group aims at establish-ing and understanding such sequence-structure relationships of cyclic pep-tides using molecular dynamics simu-lations and enhanced samplingmethods (Figure 1A). Protein-proteininteractions (PPI) mediate numerousbiological functions and cyclic pep-tides are among the most promisingPPI modulators. This project is pro-viding the capability to reliably andefficiently predict the thermodynami-cally stable conformation any givencyclic peptide will adopt and therebygreatly improving our ability torationally design cyclic peptides thatare potent PPI modulators. A robustcapacity to target and disrupt any spe-cific PPI will facilitate diverse mecha-nistic studies and advance ourunderstanding of such importantmolecular interactions in biology.

In vivo, most proteins undergo co-/post-translational modificationsthat can affect both the folding andthe native states and functions ofproteins. One of the most commonmodifications is glycosylation. Gly-cans have crucial and diverse extrinsicbiological functions, including rolesas structural components, signaling

transducers, and mediators for pro-tein-protein interactions. Glycosyla-tion substantively alters the molecularproperties of proteins, but the likelyrole of glycosylation in protein fold-ing and stability is poorly under-stood—in part owing to the difficultyof preparing homogeneous samplesof glycoproteins. A second majorresearch project in the Lin group is

Understanding how proteins fold into native structures based on their primary sequences has longbeen a research focus for chemists and molecular dynamics simulations can provide atomistic-level information on protein structure and dynamics.

to understand the effects of co-/post-translational modifications on proteinfolding using structural bioinformaticsand molecular dynamics simulations. Ulti-mately, this understanding will permit theuse of specific amino acid-glycan interac-tions to design peptides with desiredstructures (Figure 1B). While simulations provide important

structural and dynamics insight at themolecular level, the correctness of thecomputational results relies on the simula-tion model used and the quantity of sam-pling. Therefore, it is essential to evaluatewhether simulations agree with experi-ment, especially during the developmentof new simulation methodology. The Lingroup verifies their simulation results bycomparing them to experimental measure-ments such as NMR chemical shifts anddipolar couplings, folding/ unfoldingkinetics, CD and vibrational spectroscopy.Their experimental collaborators here at

Tufts and at other universities furtherenable them to propose and verify theirtheoretical predictions.

Professor Yu-Shan Lin received her B.S.degree in Chemistry from National TaiwanUniversity in 2004. During her Ph.D. stud-ies at the University of Wisconsin – Madi-son she worked with Professor Jim Skinneron understanding the structure, dynamicsand vibrational spectroscopy of condensed-phase systems using molecular dynamics sim-ulations and electronic structure calculations.After receiving her Ph.D. in 2009, shemoved to Professor Vijay Pande’s lab atStanford University. There, she utilized dis-tributed computing and Markov state modelanalysis to characterize the effects of familialmutations on the structure of amyloid pep-tides in Alzheimer’s disease. Professor Linjoined the Department of Chemistry at TuftsUniversity in fall 2012.


RESEARCH / LINContinued from page 3

Figure 1:

(A) Molecular dynamics simulation of cyclo-(PGFVSA) using bias-exchange metadynamics.Conformational ensemble, depicted as a clustered density profile along the two largest prin-cipal components, representative structure from the most populated cluster compared to theNMR structure, and Ramachandran plots for each residue compared to the NMR values (reddots) are shown for the cyclic peptide. (B) Specific peptide-glycan interactions are used todesign a beta-hairpin glycopeptide (left) and an alpha-helical glycopeptide (right).


Doctoral Degrees AwardedMatthew Aernecke (David Walt)“Microsphere Array Based Vapor Sensing: NewCapabilities and Applications”

Ginevra Clark (Krishna Kumar)“Interactions of fluorinated amino acids in coiled coilsand beta-hairpins”

Ryan Hayman (David Walt)“Sensitive Detection of Nucleic Acids with Bead-basedMicroarrays”

Toni Lamoureaux (David Lee)“Activation of MEK1 through chemical methods—a redox trigger for evaluating the effects ofphosphorylation”

Deniz Yüksel (Krishna Kumar)“Molecular Trojan Horses: De Novo Protein Designand Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering”

Jeffrey Wikstrom (Elena Rybak-Akimova)“Biomimetic Dipicolylamine Nickel Complexes:Structure and Reactivity”

Master’s Degrees AwardedMaram Alyamani Michelle LeeJohnathon Brazell Jody MaisanoWen Guo Patricia Hredzak

Bachelor’s Degrees AwardedRuthba Anam Nina CastelnuovoRachel Anderson

Daniel Cook (Arthur Utz)“Development of a Custom-built Video-rateMultiphoton Laser Scanning Microscope for Dynamic Cancer Biology Studies”

John Eaton (Jonathan Kenny)“Chemometric Classification and Characterization ofShrimp through Multidimensional FluorescenceSpectroscopy”

Louise Galuski Alex Sun Phil HuhPrashanth Haran Jenny KaroKeith Hofmann

Michael Laha (E. Charles Sykes)“Ferroelectric Assembly of 2-chloroethyl ethyl sulfide on Au (111): A Scanning Tunneling MicroscopyStudy”

Jaewon Lee Hayley MarcusYilun Li Robert MateraBrett Lieblich

Kaitlin Minnehan (David Walt)“Development of a Low Cost Ligation-based SNPGenotyping Assay to Trace Maternal Ancestry inMitochondrial DNA”

Quincy Moore Sonia PeteckaAmy Ni Ryan PetersonKristin Olsson

Sarah Philips (David Walt)“Development of a Ligation-based Assay to GenotypeMitochondrial SNPS to Trace Maternal Ancestry Usinga Low-cost Readout”

Herbert Samuels Allison StevensTaha Shikari Rebecca ThrowerJennifer Shusterman Tjani WarrenAndy Siref Erica Weinberg

Student Awards and HonorsThe Benjamin G. Brown ScholarshipJenny M. Karo

The Alex Elias Memorial Prize ScholarshipDaniel C. Cook

The R. M. Karapetoff Cobb Chemistry FundDiana ye Luand Elizabeth V. Philbrick

The Durkee ScholarshipsDaniel C. Cook Kaitlin A. MinnehanJaewon Lee

The Margaret Durkee Angell and HenriettaBrown Durkee Scholarship FundYilun Li

The N. Hobbs Knight Prize Scholarship in Physics Keith D. Hofmann

The Max Tishler Prize ScholarshipSoshian Sarrafpour Yevgeniy V. Serebrenik

The William Frank Wyatt PrizeDane T. Lemberger

The Howard Sample Prize Scholarship in PhysicsDavis M. Vigneault

The Elizabeth Verveer Tishler Prize in Music PerformanceMatthew R. Davis

14th Annual Graduate Student ResearchSymposium 2nd Place: Heather L. Tierney, graduate student“Towards Functional NanoMechanics: The SingleMolecule Rotor”

Summa Cum Laude GraduatesNina Castelnuovo Yilun LiDaniel C. Cook Hayley MarcusJaewon Lee

Magna Cum Laude GraduatesKeith Hofmann Amy NiAlex Sun Phil Huh Sonia A. PeteckaJenny M. Karo Jennifer ShustermanKaitlin A. Minnehan

Cum Laude GraduatesRachel Anderson Quincy MooreJohn K. Eaton Jr. Sarah PhilipsPrashanth H. Haran Andy SirefRobert Matera Allison M. Stevens

Summer ScholarsJohn Eaton Soshian SarrafpourZachary Fang Timothy Straub

Faculty Awards and HonorsSamuel Kounaves2009 NASA Achievement Award “For outstandingperformance in the planning and execution of thescience for the Phoenix Mars mission”; 2009 NASAAchievement Award “For outstanding achievement inthe development and operation of the Phoenixspacecraft leading to the first landing in the Martianarctic”

Joshua KritzerSmith Family Award for Excellence in BiomedicalResearch, Smith Family Foundation

Elena Rybak-AkimovaPromoted to Professor

E. Charles SykesNational Science Foundation CAREER Award (2009);International Union of Pure and Applied ChemistryYoung Observer Award (2009)

Samuel Thomas2010 Synthesis/Synlett Journal Award

David Walt2010 ACS National Award for Creative Invention;Elected member of the National Academy ofEngineering; Elected Fellow of the American Institutefor Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE)

Semester Achievement AwardsFALL 2009 Faculty: Krishna Kumar

Staff: Sarah IacobucciTeaching Assistant: Christian Zeigler

SPRING 2010 Faculty: Joshua KritzerStaff: Michael LanzaTeaching Assistant: Michael Consoletti

Chemistry Degrees and AwardsPresented 2009–2010

Doctoral Degrees AwardedAshleigh E. Baber (E. Charles Sykes)“Nanoscale Studies of Molecules, Metals and Alloys”

Deno F. Del Sesto (Arthur Utz)“The Role of Thermally Excited Vibrations in Gas-Surface Reactions: Methane on Ni (111) and Ir (111)”

Erin V. Iski (E. Charles Sykes)“Assembly, Chirality, and Polymorphism of LargeMolecules on Metal Surfaces”

Olga Makhlynets (Elena Rybak-Akimova)“Aromatic Hydroxylation at a Non-Heme Iron Center:Insights into the Nature of the Metal-Based Oxidant”

Todd Pagano (Jonathan Kenny)“Fluorescence Studies of Inner Filter Effects, OxygenQuenching, and the Phenolic content of DissolvedOrganic Carbon”

Diren Pamuk (Krishna Kumar)“Design and Engineering of New Glucagon LikePeptide-1 Analogues”

Heather L. Tierney (E. Charles Sykes)“Understanding and Controlling Rotation at theSingle-Molecule Level”

Wanhua Ye (Elena Rybak-Akimova)“Iron (II) Aminopyridine Macrocycles in CatalyticOxidation: Structures, Reactivity, and MechanisticStudies of Reactive Intermediates”

Master’s Degrees AwardedThomas A. Considine (Albert Robbat)“On-Site Profiling and Speciation of Subsurface 1Pollutants at Hazardous Waste Sites”

Isaac Gooshaw Robert SchusterAlbert Kennedy Wanhua Ye

Bachelor’s Degrees AwardedLeonard AshuJulia CarlsonDouglas R. Cohen

Victoria Eastman (Samuel Thomas)“The Effect of Electron Withdrawing Groups onFunctional Conjugated Systems”

Zachary Fang Aleksandar MijailovicScott Fredrickson Andrew MorgenthalerMatthew Hibert Elizabeth PhilbrickSamuel Johnson Soshian SarrafpourDaniel Chang Kim Yevgeniy V. SerebrenikLouis Y. Lee Suzanne N. ShapiraDane Lemberger Karen ShmelevSteven Li Steven SmithKevan John Mamdouhi Adam G. SniderGregory Marecki Timothy J. StraubEric A. Mehta Davis M. VigneaultDavid S. Meyer May Kwang-Mei Wang

Student Awards and HonorsThe Audrey Butvay Gruss Science AwardElizabeth V. Philbrick, A’11

The Class of 1947 Victor Prather PrizeSoshian Sarrafpour, A’11 Suzanne N. Shapira, A’11

The R. M. Karapetoff Cobb Chemistry FundAnita Geevarghese, A’12 Mengfei Wu, A’12

The Durkee ScholarshipsSoshian Sarrafpour, A’11 Davis M. Vigneault, A’11Suzanne N. Shapira, A’11

The Margaret Durkee Angell and HenriettaBrown Durkee Scholarship FundElizabeth V. Philbrick, A’11

The Max Tishler Prize ScholarshipAdam L. Shepro, A’12 Mengfei Wu, A’12Zachary T. Solomon, A’12 Michael C. Yi, E’12

Summa Cum Laude GraduatesAleksandar Mijailovic Yevgeniy V. SerebrenikElizabeth Philbrick Davis M. VigneaultSoshian Sarrafpour

Magna Cum Laude GraduatesDouglas R. Cohen Suzanne N. ShapiraGregory Marecki

Cum Laude GraduatesJulia Carlson Andrew Morgenthaler Matthew Hibert Karen Shmelev Eric A. Mehta May Kwang-Mei Wang

Summer ScholarsMatthew Davis Eriene-Heidi SidhomChelsea Hogan Adam TrottaMichael Lacy

Faculty Awards and HonorsKrishna KumarAward for Excellence in the Chemical Sciences (2011),Indian Society of Chemists and Biologists

E. Charles SykesAwarded tenure and promoted to Associate Professor,University of Minnesota, Chemistry, Dow Lecturer,2011

Arthur UtzTisch Faculty Fellow

David Walt2010 University of Michigan Distinguished InnovatorLecturer; 2010 Stony Brook University DistinguishedAlumni Award

Semester Achievement AwardsFALL 2010 Faculty: Lynne Batchelder

Staff: Ashley BensTeaching Assistant: Robert Pawle

SPRING 2011 Faculty: Robert DewaldStaff: James MaddoxTeaching Assistant: Amanda Kowalsick



Doctoral Degrees AwardedVictoria Campbell (Arthur Utz)“State Resolved Measurements of SurfaceTemperature Dependence and Isotopically SelectiveReactivity of Methane on Ni (111)”

Yulia Ivanova (Krishna Kumar)“Exon-Coded Polypeptides as Primordial Enzymes”

Jennifer Rego (Hyunmin Yi)“Biologically Inspired Strategy for the Assembly ofViral Building Blocks with Controlled Dimensions”

Shannon Stroble (Samuel Kounaves)“Geochemical Analysis of Soils from ExtremeEnvironments on Earth and Mars”

Christian Zeigler (Albert Robbat)“A Complete Library of Retention Indices and MassSpectra of C1 to C4”

Zhao Liu (Krishna Kumar)“Modification of the Ganglioside GM1 to FacilitateImaging and Functional Studies”

Master’s Degrees AwardedAlison BrandeisMichael ConsolettiNkengafeh AsongShawn Kowal

Bachelor’s Degrees AwardedJocelyn Wai-Pui ChanKristen Anne Davenport

Matthew R. Davis (Joshua Kritzer)“Iterative Design of Cyclic and Bicyclic PeptideInhibitors of Matrix Metalloproteinases 9 and 2”

Sabrina Mara DorfmannColin William EtzelVictoria Oluwafunmito FashakinAnita GeevarghesePatric William GibbonsChelsea R. HoganElizabeth Grace IuppaLauren Morrell Kidd

Michael M. Lacy (David Walt)“Development of a DNA Assay Based on DigitalQuantification of Single Molecules by Total InternalReflection Fluorescence Microscopy”

Zachary Lee

Allister F. McGuire (E. Charles Sykes)“Hydrogen Bonding in Thioether Self-Assembly”

Carol MoraffEvan F. MurrayIsmael Felipe Rivera

Syena Sarrafpour (Samuel Thomas)“102 Mediated Amplified Biosensing with ConjugatedPolymers”

Rushabh Sharad ShahAdam L. SheproNitin ShrivastavaZachary T. SolomonChad Naoki TaniguchiJamie Lynn Thompson

Adam H. Trotta (Clay Bennett)“Partial Synthesis of the Tetrasaccharide Fragment ofArugomycin”

Marc Lawrence Turner

Frances C. Wilburn (David Walt)“Development of Novel Methods to CharacterizeRestriction Endonuclease Kinetics & Specificity”

Gianna L. WilkieMengfei Wu

Student Awards and HonorsThe R. M. Karapetoff Cobb Chemistry FundLianne T. Ho, A’13 Eriene-Heidi I. Sidhom, A’13

The Durkee ScholarshipsAnita Geevarghese, A’12 Adam H. Trotta, A’12Adam L. Shepro, A’12

The Margaret Durkee Angell and HenriettaBrown Durkee Scholarship FundMengfei Wu, A’12

The Max Tishler Prize ScholarshipDaniel I. Kulla, A’13 Eriene-Heidi I. Sidhom, A’13Alexander P. Sakers, A’13

The Etta and Harry Winokur Award forOutstanding Achievement in Artistic or Scholarly WorkZachary T. Solomon, A’12

The Resumed Education for Adult Learners PrizeScholarshipIsmael F. Rivera, A’12

The Laminan Prize in Romance LanguagesSabrina M. Dorfmann, A’12

Summa Cum Laude GraduatesAnita Geevarghese Jamie L. ThompsonRushabh Sharad Shah Adam H. TrottaAdam L. Shepro Mengfei Wu

Magna Cum Laude GraduatesKristen A. Davenport Syena SarrafpourMatthew R. Davis Zachary T. SolomonPatric Gibbons Marc L. TurnerMichael M. Lacy Gianna L. Wilkie

Cum Laude GraduatesSabrina Mara Dorfmann Chelsea R. HoganAllister F. McGuire Carol MoraffIsmael F. Rivera Nitin Shrivastava

Dewald Summer ScholarsEriene-Heidi Sidhom Jordan Sisel

Summer ScholarsMishan Blecher Jeremy Nowak

Faculty Awards and HonorsJonathan KennyTisch College Faculty Fellow

Mary Jane ShultzElected Fellow of the American Association for theAdvancement of Science

E. Charles SykesCamille Dreyfus Teacher ScholarAward, The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation

Semester Achievement AwardsFALL 2011 Faculty: E. Charles Sykes

Staff: Kaliopy KaliontzisTeaching Assistant: Taryn Palluccio

SPRING 2012 Faculty: Sergiy KryatovStaff: Kasey HartnettTeaching Assistant: Tao Xu




Chemistry Degrees and Awards

Doctoral Degrees AwardedGizem Akçay (Krishna Kumar)“Convergent Synthesis Approach for StereospecificPreparation of Fluorinated Carbohydrates inExploration of Cell Surface Receptor-LigandInteractions”

Nan Chen (Jonathan Kenny) “State-Resolved Reactivity and Bond-Selective Controlof Methane on Ni (111)”

April Jewell (E. Charles Sykes)“Atomic Diffusion and Molecular Self-assembly onMetal Surfaces”

Sreevidhya Tarakkad Krishnaji (David Kaplan) “Sequence-Structure-Property Relationships ofRecombinant Spider Silk Block Copolymers”

Subrahmanian Tarakkad Krishnaji (KrishnaKumar)“Novel Lipidated Compounds for Delivery andFunction”

Master’s Degrees AwardedKaitlyn FoldsJennifer Geldart FlashmanVictoria HansenWei-En LinCarolyn LipovskyMorgan MarxAaron PhillipsZhongyuan SunThy VuTao Xu

Bachelor’s Degrees AwardedAnkita Aga rwalMishan BlecherRobert Cerulli

Panharith Chumm (Peter A Bullock) “Development of a High-Throughput Assay for JC Virus Replication”

Derek DuPontRyan FlanaganKeerthana GnanapradeepanIan GrantGil HanLianne HoDaniel KullaEvan LinBryce MeyerEvan Murray

Jeremy Nowak (Arthur Utz)“Methane Activation on Model Catalysts and theEffects of Vibrational Excitation on MethaneReactivity”

Jonathan Poli

Alexander Sakers (David Walt) “Development of Droplet Microfluidics For Single CellGenetic Analysis”

Eriene-Heidi Sidhom (Krishna Kumar) “Synthesis of a Ganglioside GM1 Anchor forMembrane Tethered Ligands of G-Protein CoupledReceptors”

Jordan SiselChad TaniguchiChristopher TooleRaymond WangPianpian WuJohn Yu

Student Awards and HonorsThe Audrey Butvay Gruss Science AwardRobert Cerulli, A13

Constantine Ghikas Prize in Romance LanguagesIan Grant, A’13

The Durkee ScholarshipsBryce Meyer, A’13Jeremy Nowak, A’13Alexander Sakers, A’13Eriene-Heidi Sidhom, A’13

The Class of 1947 Victor Prather PrizeAlexander Sakers, A’13Eriene-Heidi Sidhom, A’13

The Margaret Durkee Angell and HenriettaDurkee Scholarship FundEriene-Heidi Sidhom, A’13

The R.M. Karapetoff Cobb Chemistry FundStacey Berkowitz, A’14Yu Li, A’14

The Max Tishler Prize ScholarshipJoshua Levy, A’14Yu Li, A’14Max Zhukovsky, A’14

Howard Sample Prize Scholarship in PhysicsJoshua Levy, A’14Yu Li, A’14

Summa Cum Laude GraduatesIan Grant Jeremy NowakLianne Ho Alexander SakersDaniel Kulla

Magna Cum Laude GraduatesRobert CerulliRyan FlanaganPianpian Wu

Cum Laude Graduates Mishan BlecherDerek DuPontKeethana GnanaradeepanJordan Sisel

Dewald Summer ScholarsDavid BassStacey Berkowitz

Summer ScholarsDoug DavisEdward RodionovSamuel Touchette

Faculty Awards and HonorsKrishna KumarElected Fellow of the American Association for theAdvancement of Science

E. Charles SykesAmerican Vacuum Society Peter Mark MemorialAward

Samuel Thomas3M Non-tenured Faculty Award

Semester Achievement AwardsFALL 2012 Faculty: Arthur Utz

Staff: Ashley BensTeaching Assistant: Carolyn Lipovsky

SPRING 2013 Faculty: Samuel ThomasStaff: David WilburTeaching Assistant: Alexandra (Sasha)

Zaitsev

Presented 2012–2013

Doctoral Degrees AwardedPatrick Bisson (Mary Jane Shultz)“Hydrogen Bonding in the Prism Face of Ice—A studyvia Sum Frequency Vibrational Spectroscopy”

Faith Dukes (Mary Jane Shultz)“Differing Photo-oxidation Mechanisms: ElectronTransfer in Titanium Dioxide vs. Modified TitaniumDioxide”

Patricia Gumbley (Samuel Thomas)“Photochemical Control of the Solubility andElectrostatic Properties of Polymer Materials”

Yongli Huang (Arthur Utz)“State-Resolved Measurements of CH4 and CHD3Dissociation on Ni (III)”

Timothy Lawton (E. Charles Sykes)“Structure Sensitive Chemistry: From Oxidation toSurface Explosions”

Kyle McElhoney (Samuel Kounaves)“Analysis of Martian Soil: Results and Future Directions”

Shuai Nie (David Walt)“Saliva Diagnostics for Respiratory Diseases Using anAutomated Integrated Platform”

Glen O’Neil (Samuel Kounaves)“Development of Carbon Nanomaterial-Based Sensorsfor Applications in a Microfluidic Total Analysis System”

Robert Pawle (Samuel Thomas)“Controlling the Photophysics, Photochemistry anSolid State Geometry of Organic Semiconductors withSide Chain-Main Chain Interactions”

Venkata Subrama Raman (Krishna Kumar)“Protein Design for Construction of TherapeuticPeptides”

Tuan Vu (Mary Jane Shultz)“Water-Guest Interactions Under Clathrate HydrateFormation Conditions: A Matrix-Isolation Approach”

Christina Zamora (Krishna Kumar)“What goes on must come off! Human sialidases asregulators of orthogonal glycobiology”

Master’s Degrees AwardedMathew Eshelman Michael MatteraAlbert Gjeluci Brian MernoffRui Liang

Bachelor’s Degrees AwardedSama Abdul-Aziz

Tabitha Amondi (Rebecca Scheck)“Mutations Investigation Experiment”

David Bass (Joshua Kritzer)“Production of Lipid homing pepducins”

Stacey Berkowitz Austin HsiehKevin Campbell Nicholas JonasJustin Chang Gregory JonesConnor Clairmont Young JooCourtney Connelly M Hasanul KaisarEdward De Leo Benjamin KimGarrett Friedman Jacob KlichsteinGregory Galanti Katherine LabellaKevin Gao

John Lawrence III (Charles Mace)“Building photoreactive poly(thiophene) semi-conductors using poly(electrolyte) multilayers andlayer-by-layer (LbL) assembly”

Joshua Levy Nathan LingafelterYu Li Andrei Minciunescu

Brian Pedro (David Walt)“Metabolic Signaling in Triple Negative Breast Cancer”

Aaron Penner John SlakeyEdward Rodionov Petar TodorovQiu Ruan

Samuel Touchette (Clay Bennett)“Directing Group Free Synthesis of the S. pneumoniaeSerotype 6B”

Benjamin Van Deusen Awesta YaqubiHarris Wild Max Zhukovsky

Student Awards and HonorsThe R.M. Karapetoff Cobb Chemistry FundJulia L. Goldberg, A’15 Sarah N. Innis-Gold, A’15Alice A. Haouzi, A’15

The Durkee ScholarshipsJoshua I. Levy, A’14 Austin Hseih,A’14

The Margaret Durkee Angell and HenriettaDurkee Scholarship FundTabitha Amondi, A’14

The Max Tishler Prize ScholarshipJulia L. Goldberg, A’15 Matthew J. Ryan, A’15

The Joseph and Sara Stone PrizeJohn Thomas Slakey, A’14

The Resumed Education for Adult Learners PrizeScholarshipNicholas Eric Jonas, A’14

The Donald A. Cowdery Memorial ScholarshipNicolas Eric Jonas, A’14

The Audrey Butvay Gruss Science AwardAlexandra Brumberg, A15

The Class of 1947 Victor Prather PrizeJoshua Levy, A’14

Summa Cum Laude GraduatesJoshua Levy

Magna Cum Laude GraduatesSama Abdul-Azia Nathan LingafelterConnor Clairmont Brian PedroCourtney Connelly Edward RodionovAustin Hsieh John SlakeyJohn Lawrence III Kevin Gao

Cum Laude GraduatesStacey Berkowitz Young JooKevin Campbell M Hasanul KaiserEdward De Leo Jacob KlicksteinGarrett Friedman Katherine Labella Gregory Galanti Yu LiNicholas Jonas Andrei MinciunescuGregory Jones

Dewald Summer ScholarFrancis Appeadu-Mensah

Summer ScholarsMichael Bird Matthew RyanCourtney Chiu

Faculty Awards and HonorsSamuel KounavesElected Fellow of the American Association for theAdvancement of Science; Promoted to Professor

Joshua KritzerTufts Undergraduate Initiative in Teaching Excellence(UNITE) Award

E. Charles SykesPromoted to Professor

Samuel W. ThomasTufts Teaching with Technology Award

David WaltAmerican Chemical Society Division of AnalyticalChemistry Spectrochemical Analysis Award 2013;Pittsburgh Analytical Chemistry Award 2013

Semester Achievement AwardsFALL 2013 Faculty: Joshua Kritzer

Staff: Larry AulenbackTeaching Assistant: Nicole Kfoury

SPRING 2014 Faculty: E. Charles SykesStaff: Karen O’HaganTeaching Assistant: Dina Lloyd





Doctoral Degrees AwardedPatrick M. Antle (Albert Robbat)“Improvements in the GC/MS Analysis of PolycyclicAromatics in Fossil Fuels: Sampling, Separation, andAssessment”

Brandi L. Carrier (Samuel Kounaves)“Perchlorate on Mars: Evidence, Origins, andImplications”

Celeo R. Guifarro (Elena Rybak-Akimova)“The Guifarro Cycle — An Efficient Method forSynthesis of Imidoylamidines”

Amanda L. Kowalsick (Albert Robbat)“Metabolomic Profiling of Natural Products”

Emily A. Lewis (E. Charles Sykes)“A New Approach to Studying Cobalt’s SurfaceChemistry Using Cobalt Nanoparticles”

Colin J. Murphy (E. Charles Sykes)“Controlling Molecular Motion, Assembly andCoupling as a Step towards Molecular Actuators”

Son H. Nguyen (Clay Bennett)“Carbohydrates in Drug Discovery: 1. Methods forsolid phase glycoconjugate synthesis; 2. Synthesis ofcarbohydrate toll-like-receptor agonist conjugates forS.pneumonia vaccines”

Taryn D. Palluccio (Elena Rybak-Akimova)“Mechanistic Studies of Oxygen Activation and AtomTransfer Reactions with Mononuclear Vanadium (III),Iron (II), and Palladium (0) Complexes”

Justin S. Quartararo (Joshua Kritzer)“Bicyclic Peptides as Inhibitors of Protein-ProteinInteractions: The development of conformationalphosphotyrosine mimetics”

Marcin J. Rojek (David R. Walt)“Fundamental Studies of Enzymes: From SingleMolecule Kinetics to Conformation Studies”

Stephanie M. Schubert (David R. Walt)“The Development and Implementation of SingleMolecule Protein Assays for Applications in EarlyCancer Diagnostics and Single Cell Studies”

Zachary C. Smith (Samuel Thomas)“o-Nitrobenzyl Functionalized PhotopatternableConjugated Polymers”

Adam F. Visentin (Matthew Panzer)“Advancing Polymer-Supported Ionogel ElectrolytesFormed via Radic”

Jingjing Zhang (Samuel Thomas)“Materials with Singlet Oxygen Responsive EnergyTransfer and Highly Substituted Polycyclic Acenes”

Master’s Degrees AwardedSinem Guven Alexandra Zaitsev

Bachelor’s Degrees AwardedHelen Achwei Isabel A. CuervoLaura P. Aravena Julia L. GoldbergThomas W. Atmer Alice A. HaouziMark Bernardo Andrew T. Hyde

Sarah N. Innes-Gold (Charles Mace)“Using Buoyancy to Control the Patterning of JanusParticles at the Interface of Immiscible Liquids”

Adam M. Jacob Joshua A. McLindenLayne M. Keating Reyna E. NinerSara J. Khosrowjerdi John D. PattersonEmi J. Komatsu Kevin A. PerezAdam J. MacNeill Robert J. PlummerSarah A. Marakos Zaid R. RajaratnamCheyenne E. Martinez Dane S. Roberts

Matthew J. Ryan (Krishna Kumar)“Targeting the non-nuclear estrogen receptor withlipid-anchored 17 -estradiol”

Emily Steliotes Laura A. WashburnKian M. Tehranchi Allan Lee YauStephen A. Thompson Lawrence H. Zhang

Student Awards and HonorsThe Prize Scholarship of the Class of 1882Michael J. Bird, A’16

The Fredrick Melvin Ellis PrizeAllen Lee Yau, A’15

The Karno Dean’s Award for Academic Excellenceand LeadershipAdrian Devitt-Lee, A’15

The Class of 1947 Victor Prather PrizeMatthew J. Ryan, A’15

The R. M. Karapetoff Cobb Chemistry FundStephanie M. Cohen, A’16 Jessica N. Spradlin, A’16

The Durkee ScholarshipsSarah N. Innes-Gold, A’15 Matthew J. Ryan, A’15John D. Paterson, A’15

The Margaret Durkee Angell and HenriettaBrown Durkee Scholarship FundJulia L. Goldberg, A’15

The Max Tishler Prize ScholarshipMichael J. Bird, A’16 Jessica N. Spradlin, A’16Joshua L. Golubovsky, A’16

Summa Cum Laude GraduatesJulia L Goldberg Cheyenne E. MartinezAlice A. Haouzi John D. PattersonSarah N. Innes-Gold Matthew J. RyanSara J. Khosrowjerdi Allen Lee Yau

Magna Cum Laude GraduatesMark Bernardo Laura A. WashburnIsabel A. Cuervo

Cum Laude GraduatesLaura P. Aravena Robert J. PlummerEmi J. Komatsu Kian M. Tehranchi Sarah A. Marako Stephen A. Thompson

Beckman Scholars, 2015Jessica Dabrowski Julia Rogers

Illumina FellowsJohn Paul IssaMatthew Marcinkowski

Faculty Awards and HonorsKrishna KumarGraduate School of Arts & Sciences Teaching andMentoring Award

Albert RobbatResearch recognition award for Metabolomic Profilingby 2D GC/MS at the 40th International Symposium ofCapillary Chromatography in Riva Del Garda, Italy

Rebecca ScheckSmith Family Award for Excellence in BiomedicalResearch, Smith Family Foundation

Robert StolowHonored by the American Chemical Society as a 60-year member

Samuel ThomasAwarded tenure and promoted to Associate Professor

David WaltHonorary Doctor of Science, Stony Brook University;ACS Gustavus John Esselen Award; Named UniversityProfessor, Tufts University

Semester Achievement AwardsFALL 2014 Faculty: Charles Mace

Staff: Ashley BensTeaching Assistant: Eric High

SPRING 2015 Faculty: Joshua KritzerStaff: Kasey ShubertTeaching Assistant: Joseph Chiarelli




Doctoral Degrees AwardedEmel Adaligil (Krishna Kumar) “Discovery and Development of Antibiotics Composedof D-Amino Acids“

Amanda Aldous (Joshua Kritzer) “Metal Binding and Catalytic Activity of Macrocyclic Peptides”

Esra Altinok (Samuel Thomas) “Singlet Oxygen Responsive Samll Molecules and Polymers”

An-Hsiang Chu (Clay Bennett) “Toward a User-Friendly Stereoselective Glycosylation Strategy”

Pratyusha Mogalisetti (David Walt) “Single Molecule Enzymology Using Femtroliter Arrays”

Jason Nogueira (Clay Bennett) “Tackling the glycosylation of 2-deoxy-sugars: Areagent-controlled approach utilizing cyclopropeniumcations for the �-selective glycosylations of 2-deoxy-,2,6-dideoxy-, and 2,3,6-trideoxy-sugars”

Timothy Siegert (Joshua Kritzer) “Identification of Loop Mediated Protein-ProteinInteractions and Design of Cyclic Peptide Locked Loop Inhibitors”

Sezin Yigit (David Kaplan) “Recombinant Fibrous Protein Production and Applications”

Master’s Degrees AwardedRom Baral Diana GoodingDanielle Bright Sarah SolomonBrendan Duran Andrew Weber

Bachelor’s Degrees AwardedBruce Bausk

Samuel Berry “Measurement of the Hematocrit Using a Paper-BasedMicrofluidic Device”

Michael Bird “Rational Design of Inhibitors of Protein-ProteinInteractions Based on Computational Grafting of HotLoops on to Stable Scaffolds”

Christopher BlackwoodDaniel Bowen

Alexandra Brumberg “Surface Structure of Single-Crystal Hexagonal Ice”

Ashley Bucklin Lauren ColeOrtega Jose Caballero Laura CoughlinPeter Cavanagh Michael CurleyClifford Chao Hannah DeBaetsCourtney Chiu Adrian Devitt-LeeStephanie Cohen Alexandra Gilligan

Joshua Golubovsky “Using Raman Spectroscopy to Look Into the BlackBox of TiO2 Synthesis”

Kerem Gurol Nitin JethmalanAdam Hildebrand Randi KatzKristen Hsu

Caitlin Keenan “Developing ‘hot-loop’-inspired cyclic peptides toinhibit the oncogenic Skp2-Cks1 protein-proteininteraction”

Catherine Loomis Geethanjeli MahendranCelena Ma Ratan MarwahLiang Ma

Jordin Metz “The Role of Hydroxyl Radical in Ultranano TiO2Photo-oxidation”

Matthew Moser Rohan RacineKevin Ngan Ariq RahmanMonil Patel Christina Raso

Marissa Rodenstein “Synthesis of Lipidated Peptides as PotentialTherapeutics”

Julia Rogers “Computational Design of Glycopeptides and Cyclic Peptides”

Chrisanthe Salemis Akshay VigDiana Sapashnik Benjamin WeilersteinMatthew Shachat Jonathan WilliamsJessica Spradlin Qi YanBradley Tishman Yili Zhao

Student Awards and HonorsThe Frederick Melvin Ellis PrizeMatthew Moser, A16

The Karno Dean’s Award for Academic Excellenceand LeadershipLaura Quinto, A18 Adam Zoll, A18

The Class of 1947 Victor Prather PrizeMichael Bird, A16

The R.M. Karapetoff Cobb Chemistry FundJessica Dabrowski, A17 Kira Tomlinson, A17

The Durkee ScholarshipsMichael Bird, A16 Julia Rogers, A16Joshua Golubovsky, A16 Jessica Spradlin, A16Marissa Rodenstein, A16

The Margaret Durkee Angell and HenriettaBrown Durkee Scholarship FundMarissa Rodenstein, A16 Jessica Spradlin, A16

The Max Tishler Prize ScholarshipXizhao Chen, A17 Emily Lai, A17Ritah Chumdermpadetsuk, A17

The Boson Greek PrizeXizhao Chen, A17

The Norbert Wiener Award in MathematicsAdrian Devitt-Lee, A16

The Outstanding Achievement Award in theDepartment of MusicKristen Hsu, A16

The Anne E. Borghesani Memorial PrizeNicholas Roberts, A17

Summa Cum Laude GraduatesMichael Bird Geethanjeli MahendranAlexandra Brumberg Kevin NganStephanie Cohen Ariq RahmanLaura Coughlin Marissa RodensteinJoshua Golubovsky Julia RogersAdam Hildebrand Jessica SpradlinCaitlin Keenan Zili ZhaoLiang Ma

Magna Cum Laude GraduatesDaniel Brown Adrian Devitt-LeeAshley Bucklin Nitin JethmalaniPeter Cavanagh Celena MaClifford Chao Jordin MetzCo urtney Chiu Jonathan Edward WilliamsMichael Curley

Cum Laude GraduatesBruce Bausk Christina RasoSamuel Berry Chrisanthe SalemisLauren Cole Matthew ShachatHannah DeBaets Katherine ShieldKerem Gurol Akshay VigKristen Hsu Qui Yan

Dewald Summer ScholarsNile Abularrage Christopher Ivimey

Summer ScholarsZixhao Chen Zachary GrazianoNicholas Dechiara Emily LaiJasper Du Kira Tomlinson

Faculty Awards and HonorsClay BennettAwarded tenure and promoted to Associate Professor

Samuel KounavesElected Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry

Joshua KritzerAwarded tenure and promoted to Associate Professor

Krishna KumarAppointed Robinson Professor of Chemistry

Yu-Shan LinCELT Faculty Fellow

Charles SykesElected Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry

David WaltRalph N. Adams Award in Bioanalytical Chemistry

Semester Achievement AwardsFALL 2015 Faculty: Yu-Shan Lin

Staff: Kirsten HickeyTeaching Assistant: Marc Piquette

SPRING 2016 Faculty: Joshua KritzerStaff: Lawrence Aulenback Michael Lanza David WilburTeaching Assistant: Kassandra Spiller


IN MEMORY

Dr. Christine Jaworek-Lopespassed away on Saturday, May 21,2016, after a courageous 16-monthbattle with colon cancer. Christinewas the beloved mother of Cassie(10) and Zach (9); and two step-daughters, Abby (18) and Lindsay(16); and the wife of Joshua Lopes.Christine graduated as the salu-

tatorian of her class at PalmerHigh School in Massachusetts,received a B.S. and Ph.D. fromTufts University, and was an Asso-ciate Professor of Chemistry atEmmanuel College, where sheserved as the Chair of the Depart-ment of Chemistry and Physics. AtTufts University and EmmanuelCollege, she was known for herinfectious smile, her positive out-look, and her passion for teaching.Her students and colleagues atboth Tufts University andEmmanuel College saw her as amentor, supporter, teacher, and

inspiration. While at Tufts, Chris-tine received the “Teaching Assis-tant of the Year” award. AtEmmanuel College, she wasbeloved by her students and theyfondly called her Dr. J-Lo. Her joyof teaching was seen by students inand out of the classroom and theChemistry Club and the ScienceLiving-Learning Communityflourished under her leadership. AsChair, she secured external fundingfor state-of-the-art instrumenta-tion and faculty development. Onthe recommendation of her col-leagues at Emmanuel College,the faculty “Excellence in Serviceto the Community” award wasestablished and Christine is thefirst recipient. The award annuallyrecognizes a faculty member whoseactions embody a commitment toservice, which Dr. Jaworek-Lopesexemplified throughout her tenureat the college.1

Christine was an influentialmember of the Northeastern Sec-tion of the American ChemicalSociety (NESACS) where sheserved as a Director-at-Large,Alternate Councilor, and theNational Chemistry Week (NCW)chairperson for over a decade. ForNCW, Christine worked closelywith the Museum of Science

(MoS) in Boston and the BostonChildren’s Museum, where shebrought her passion for chemistryto kids by developing educationaland fun hands-on activities. UnderChristine’s direction, the NESACSNCW activities won severalChemLuminary awards. In 2015,Dr. Christine Jaworek-Lopesreceived the Henry A. Hill Awardfor her leadership, professionalism,and outreach in her field. Her levelof dedication to bring chemistry tolife and her vivid attention to detailhas had, and will continue to have,a lasting impact on her many stu-dents. Recently she and a co-authorcompleted the forthcoming text-book, Chemistry of Art: A Primer,which details the scientific princi-ples underlying art forms rangingfrom photography to ceramics.1

She was a passionate womanwith a strong determination toalways do everything to the best ofher ability, whether as a wife, adevoted mother, daughter, sister,friend, teacher, or as a member of her community. She lovedbooks, running, hiking, traveling,and cooking, but mostly she will be remembered as always beingloving and caring. She will begreatly missed.2


1. Faculty Excellence in Service Award established in honor of Jaworek-Lopes,http://www.emmanuel.edu/discover-emmanuel/news-and-media/facultyexcellence.htm.

2. Christine Jaworek-Lopes, http://www.sullivanfuneralhome.com/home/index.cfm/obituaries/view/fh_id/11186/id/3816127.

IN MEMORY

Professor Dewald joined the Tuftsfaculty as an assistant professor ofchemistry in 1965 and was pro-moted to full professor by 1977.Throughout those years, he led anactive research program, duringwhich he also mentored Ph.D. stu-dents and published 35 scholarlypapers. “He was a man who knewhow to teach and to connect withstudents,” Robert Jones, a graduatestudent in the early 1970s, said ofhis former professor. “He laid outthe material in classic Dewald fash-ion; [working] the area of kineticmechanisms with a flair of ingenu-ity and confidence.” After morethan 25 years of research contribu-tions, Bob shifted his attention towhat many consider his greatestimpact at Tufts: the education ofthousands of undergraduate stu-dents in the large lecture courses,

Chemistry 1 and 2. He later devel-oped and taught an advancedintroductory sequence (Chemistry11 and 12), popular with buddingscience majors. Although his lec-tures often had 200–300 students,Bob had a reputation for knowinga great many of them, and forbeing readily available for privatetutorials. Bob’s lifelong interest in chem-

istry was sparked at Michigan StateUniversity, where as a doctoral stu-dent, he began investigating theproperties of alkali metal solution inammonia under the eminentchemist James L. Dye. Together,they went on to study in Göttingen,Germany, in the laboratory offuture Nobel Laureate ManfredEigen. While there, Bob not onlyconducted ground-breaking studiesof the kinetics of reactions of metal-ammonia solutions, he also met hisfuture wife Inge, who returned tothe United States with him. Boband Inge settled in Massachusetts,where they raised their two childrenMark and Denise, both of whomattended Tufts.

Bob’s most enduring legacy isthat of a professor who exemplifiedeverything good in the Tufts Uni-versity undergraduate teaching tra-dition. He will be remembered bystudents as a demanding but fairteacher whose courses were rou-tinely cited as the ones at Tuftswhere they learned the most. Bobwas known for advising students:“Sit down on a hard chair and justdo it!” He was able to strike thebalance between being highly sup-portive, while reminding studentsof the necessary virtues of persever-ance and stamina.When he wasn’t studying, teach-

ing, or mentoring, Bob lovedspending time in the garden, andwas an expert in finding wildmushrooms. In addition to his wifeand children, he was also devotedto his beloved grandchildren. Hewill be missed by them, as well asby his colleagues in the chemistrydepartment and thousands of hisformer students, of whom he wasso proud. A service celebratingBob’s life will be held on campus inthe fall.



RESEARCHSamuel W. Thomas

The Thomas Lab: Stimuli-Responsive Organic MaterialsStimuli-responsive materials encompass awide variety of functional surfaces, poly-mers, composites, particles, etc., whichshow a macroscopic change in propertiesupon application of an external stimulus.A few examples of the many target appli-cations of stimuli-responsive materials arechemical sensing, mechanical actuation,and targeted delivery. Researchers have

designed materials that respond to a vari-ety of stimuli, such as temperature, electri-cal potential, magnetic fields, chemicalconcentration, and light. Light has severalunique characteristics that make it a par-ticularly promising stimulus, such as con-trol over when and where light irradiates a

sample (spatiotemporal control), stoi-chiometry (through a combination ofpower and time of irradiation), andenergy. Depending on its properties, lightcan also permeate through solid-statematerials, which simplifies its delivery as astimulus relative to more traditionalchemical reagents. These features of lightand its reactions with light-responsivepolymers have been the cornerstone oftransformative technologies such as pho-tolithography, a key step in the fabricationof microprocessors. Recently, interest inusing light to induce novel function inpolymers has accelerated. The focus of ourlaboratory’s research is to use our ground-ing in physical organic chemistry torationally design and understand theproperties of new organic materials withtargeted photoresponsive characteristics.More specifically, our research has focusedin two areas: 1) Photochemical control ofelectrostatics, and 2) control of organicsemiconductors.

More specifically, our research has focusedin two areas: 1) Photochemical control of electrostatics, and 2) photochemical

control of organic semiconductors.


Photochemical Control of ElectrostaticsBecause electrostatics are key to theintermolecular forces that dictate thebehavior of molecules and collectionsof molecules, controlling electrostat-ics with light would be a powerfultool in functional materials. Forexample, we demonstrated thatreversibly photoresponsive polymerscontaining photochromic spiropyranside-chains switch the sign of chargethat they acquire during contact elec-trification (static charging) by shininglight on them; before UV irradiation,the polymer develops a net negativecharge upon contact with steel,whereas after UV irradiation, thepolymer develops a net positivecharge. This switch in sign of charg-ing is reversed with heat or visiblelight. This new capability for poly-mers has the potential to controlCoulombic forces between insulatingmaterials in real time, and thereforehas potential applications in self-assembly and anti-static materials.Another example of photochemi-

cal control of electrostatics is thelight-induced degradation of poly-electrolyte multilayer (PEM) films.We designed a cationic polymer thatparticipated in layer-by-layer self-assembly with a commercial anionicpolymer to form PEM films held

together by charge-charge interac-tions. Our polymer was designed toeliminate the cationic side-chainupon UV irradiation and yielded anegatively charged polymer that nolonger had favorable charge-chargeinteractions with the polyanion in thePEM film. Therefore, irradiation ledto disruption of the electrostaticforces responsible for the polymerchains attraction to one another,causing the film to dissolve in irradi-ated areas. More recently we havedemonstrated that by combiningpolymers with sensitivities to differ-ent wavelengths we can selectivelyrelease one guest followed by another,and also demonstrated photo-dissolv-able organogels and hydrogels pre-pared by ring-opening metathesispolymerization.

Control of Conjugated Materialsπ-Conjugated materials are animportant class of semiconductorsthat find widespread application insensors, transistors, and photo-voltaics. Using photochemical reac-tions to induce useful responses inthese materials in one area of recentresearch, we have demonstrated fluo-rescent response of new furan- oracene-linked conjugated polymersthat show fluorescent response to

photosensitized 1O2.conjugated poly-mers to singlet oxygen, (1O2) whichis a critical reactive oxygen species inboth photodynamic therapy for can-cer and in a number of harmful bio-logical processes. Related solid-statematerials are sensitive to 1O2 inwater, while others show a thermally-reversible ratiometric fluorescentresponse to 1O2. Current effortsinclude building a suite of materialsuseful in different applications, suchas quantification of low O2 concen-trations in challenging environments.A second area our lab is pursuing

in light-induced control of conju-gated materials is using light to altertheir optical and solubility proper-ties. Upon photochemical cleavageof nitroaromatic groups, conjugatedoligomers show an increase in emis-sion efficiency; such materials havepotential as amplified photoactivat-able fluorophores, in which cleavageof one fluorescence quencher couldresult in a dramatic increase in fluo-rescence quantum yield. Finally, wedeveloped conjugated polymers withphotocleavable solubilizing groups.Nearly all conjugated polymersrequire long alkyl side-chains to besolution processable, but these alkylgroups prevent multilayer film for-mation, occupy film volume with

Figure 1: Figure 2:


groups that are not optoelectroni-cally active, and promote photo-chemical degradation. Ourpolythiophene derivative with pho-tocleavable alkyl chains behaves as anegative photoresist: it is solutionprocessable by spin-casting, butupon irradiation becomes insolublein toluene. More recently we have

been demonstrating photolithogra-phy with conjugated polymers andthin film transistor function usingrelated materials with optimizedphotocleavable groups.In conclusion, our lab has devel-

oped a number of new materials thatshow useful stimuli-responsive prop-erties. Current efforts are focused on further understanding structure-property relationships of these materials, optimization of desiredresponsive properties, and applicationdevelopment.

A portion of this article was repro-duced from Macromol. Chem. Phys.2012, 213, 2443–2449, with permis-sion from John Wiley and Sons.

Figure 4 was reprinted with permis-sion from ACS Macro Lett., 2012, 1,825–829. Copyright 2012 AmericanChemical Society.

Samuel Thomas has been an AssistantProfessor of Chemistry at Tufts Uni-versity, where his research focuses onnew photoresponsive polymers, since2009. He received a B.S. in Chemistryfrom the University of Rochester in2000. After one year at EastmanKodak, he earned his Ph.D. in 2006under the supervision of Professor Tim-othy Swager at MIT. He then spentthree years as a postdoctoral fellow withProfessor George Whitesides at Har-vard. Since starting at Tufts, Sam hasreceived a 2009 DARPA Young FacultyAward, a 2010 Thieme PublishersJournal Award, a 2012 NSFCAREER award, and a 2013 3MNon-Tenured Faculty Award.

Figure 3: Figure 4:

fundamentally made to draw more studentsinto Chemistry and Biochemistry earlier duringtheir tenure at Tufts. Introductory Chemistrynow ends with a few weeks of Organic Chem-istry—and Carbonyl Chemistry is taught in thefirst semester with specialized topics reservedfor the second semester. This allows pre-healthstudents to take Biochemistry after one semes-ter of Organic Chemistry and still understanddetails of metabolic cycles in molecular detail.Joshua Kritzer taught the first incarnation ofOrganic I and followed up with Biochemistry Iand II in this revised format. The response fromthe students has been uniformly positive.

Renovations of the physical plant con-tinue in the Pearson-Michael Complex. The

laboratories of Professors Lin, Scheck andMace were completely renovated and customfitted to suit their research needs. The Analyti-cal Chemistry teaching laboratory has recentlybeen renovated, and Chemistry will have botha teaching and a research presence in the Sci-ence and Engineering Complex (SEC) slated foropening in 2017.

Our students have always been central tothe department’s flourishing research andteaching programs. The past few years were noexception. Many of them have been awardednational and international prizes and havetaken on leadership roles in the broader community. The department staff have con-tributed in great measure to the success of the

department and continue to be the best oncampus. In addition to fundamental science,the department has been a leader in transi-tioning technology into the real world. The suc-cess of Illumina, Inc. and the announcement ofthe first $1,000 genome have been enabled bythe research carried out in the department.

I welcome you to come and have a look atthe changes in the department and meet oldfriends and new members. If you wish to par-ticipate, please join the newly establishedalumni LinkedIn group at https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8574899. The department ispoised to achieve greater success and scalenew heights!

CHAIR’S CORNERContinued from page 1

RESEARCH / THOMASContinued from page 15


EDUCATIONSarah Iacobucci

As of the Fall 2009 semester, the students enrolled in theintroductory Organic Chemistry course have been per-forming experiments in a remodeled Organic Chemistrylaboratory on the second floor of the Pearson building.The old Organic Chemistry laboratory was located on thethird floor of the Pearson building. Having the remodeledOrganic Laboratory on the second floor now completesthe plan to have all of the teaching labs housed on thesecond floor of the Pearson building. This allows for moreefficiency and better access to supplies, equipment, andinstrumentation for all of the teaching laboratories.

A lot of time and effort went into making this space abeautiful, comfortable, energy efficient, state-of-the artlaboratory. The success of this project was a result of aconcerted effort over many months with the Wise Con-struction Company, with Rick McLay as the project man-ager, and the Administration, Financial, Facilities,Chemistry, Construction, Energy, Safety, and numerousother departments at Tufts University.The laboratory has a state-of-the-art energy-efficient

HVAC system, which includes a heat recovery system.The HVAC system for the laboratory has separate zones,so that the room has maximum efficiency based upon theroom occupancy and usage. For example, the intake air

and exhaust air flow rate for the fume hoods goes into alow flow rate in the evenings and weekends after all occu-pants have left the room. The laboratory is climate con-trolled year-round using electronic monitors thatcontinuously monitor the indoor and outdoor temperatureand humidity.There are 16 fume hoods in the new laboratory. Most

of the hoods are Kewaunee TruView Teaching Hoods,which have glass side panels that allow for a more openteaching environment, as shown in the picture. Each hoodis equipped with air, vacuum, gas, water, cup sinks, a light,metal lattice, and storage space.Each hood is fitted with a compressed air-driven vac-

uum pump from PIAB Vacuum Products. These pumpsare compact, highly efficient, maintenance-free, light-weight, quiet, and are energy efficient. These pumpsreplaced the water aspirator vacuum systems that had beenused previously in the old Organic Chemistry laboratoryand that used large quantities of water.The noise level in the laboratory was also considered

when designing the laboratory. The air-handling system(e.g., fans, terminal units, air-handling units) has vibra-tion isolators, flexible ductwork connectors, and attenua-tion devices to minimize transmission of vibration andnoise. Also, the walls are covered with sound absorbingacoustic tiles.The laboratory is separated into two teaching sections

that each hold 14 students. In each section there are eighthoods, a writing area, a presentation area, a coat and bookbag storage area, and a common area for reagents, sup-plies, equipment, and instrumentation.The students who have used the laboratory find the

design of the room comfortable and user friendly. Theyenjoy having their own hood, a writing area, and state-of-the-art equipment. They are appreciative and proud ofthe extra effort that Tufts University put into making thislaboratory highly effective and energy efficient.

The laboratory is separated into twoteaching sections that each hold 14

students. In each section there are eighthoods, a writing area, a presentation

area, a coat and book bag storage area,and a common area for reagents, supplies,

equipment, and instrumentation.

September 6 Prof. Weihong Tan, University of FloridaThe Foundation of Molecular Medicine and Nanomedicine: A Chemical Biology Approach

September 13 Prof. Adam Willard, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyWhat Can Interfacial Water Molecules Tell Us about Solute Structure?

September 20 Prof. Bradley Pentelute, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyPrecision Cellular Delivery and Discovery of Fluorine Containing Abiotic Macromolecules

September 27 Prof. Ke Zhang, Northeastern University Teaching Oligonucleotides New Tricks – A Macromolecular Approach

October 4 Prof. Marion Emmert, Worcester Polytechnic InstituteActivating Strong Bonds and Recycling Rare Earths: Adventures inSustainable Chemistry

October 18 Prof. Jared Lewis, University of Chicago Engineering Proteins for Selective Catalysis

October 27 Prof. Yves Bleriot, Universite de Poitiers Glycosyl Cations: From Observation to Exploration

November 1 Prof. Paul Bohn, University of Notre Dame Liquid-Phase Ion Traps: Bimodal Nanoarchitectures for Studies of SingleReaction Events

November 15 Prof. Will Pomerantz, University of Minnesota Choosing the Right Halogen: Fluorinated Bromodomains for SmallMolecule Discovery

November 22 Prof. Matthieu Sologoub, Sorbonne UniversitesCyclodextrins Selectively Modified for Bio-Inspired Applications

November 29 Prof. Phillip Christopher, University of California, RiversideTBA

December 6 Prof. Ross Berbeco, Brigham and Women’s HospitalNanoparticles for Imaging and Dose Amplification in Radiation Therapy


Department of ChemistryDepartment Seminars, Fall 2016

All seminars are held in the Pearson Chemistry Building, 62 Talbot Ave., Rm. P106 on the Medford Campus at 4:30 PM unlessotherwise noted. Refreshments will be served thirty minutes prior to the seminar in P319. For further information please contact

Debbie D’Andrea at (617) 627-2649 or by email, [email protected].

Visitors Are Welcome


CREDITS:S. Iacobucci, J. Kritzer, K. Kumar, Y. Lin, S. Thomas

SENIOR EDITOR:E. Coombes

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TUFTS UNI VERSITY CHEMISTRY DEPARTMENTchem.tufts.edu/chem-notes/ChemNotes-W16.pdf · Education and Research The Tufts University Department of Chemistry continues its dual mission