Standing (l to r): Kevin Shaughnessy, Maryam Khan, Scott Brown, Joon Cho, Justin P'Pool, Matt Hennek. Seated (l to r): Brent Graves, Emily Pair, Caitlin Prickett, Lucas Moore

Group News

AAS Meeting: Quentin Sonnier won the first prize in the Alabama Academy of Science undergraduate paper competition at the annual meeting at Samford University. Lensey Hill placed second in the poster competition.

Neopentylphosphine paper: A paper co-authored by Lensey L. Hill, Joanna M. Smith, William S. Brown, Lucas R. Moore, Paul Guevera, Emily S. Pair, Jake Porter, Joe Chou, Christopher J. Wolterman, Raluca Craciun, David A. Dixon and Kevin H. Shaughnessy on the use of neopentylphosphines in cross-coupling reactions has been published online by Tetrahedron.

TXPTS paper published: A paper co-authored by Lucas Moore, Beth Western, Kevin O'Halloran, Raluca Craciun, Jason Spruell, and David Dixon on the catalytic application, properties, and coordination chemistry of the TXPTS ligand has been published in Organometallics.

New group members: William Clark and Nick Massie have joined the group as undergraduate researchers.

Graduation: Dr. Joon Cho formally earned his PhD degree in the December commencement ceremony. Former undergraduate reserach Jake Porter received a BS degree in chemistry.

Distinguished Teaching Fellow: Kevin Shaughnessy has been named an Arts & Sciences Distinguished Teaching Fellow for the period 2007-2010 by Dean Olin.

Dental School: Undergraduate research Strud Tutwiler has been accepted to UA School of Dentistry for the fall 2008 semester. Congrats, Strud!

OCTA Award: Kevin Shaughnessy has been named a 2007 recipient of the Outstanding Commitment to Teaching Award, which is given each year by the National Alumni Association to four faculty members at UA. The OCTA award is the highest teaching award given to UA faculty.

New Group Members: Sara McLendon, Jason Crowell, and Ellie Killian joined the group this fall as undergraduate researchers.

Caitlin Accepted to PCOM Grad Program: Caitlin has been accepted to the Graduate Program in Biomedical Sciences at Philiadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) in Atlanta.

Joon Cho Defends: Joon-Hyung Cho successfully defended his dissertation in July. His dissertationi has been approved by the Graduate School, and he will graduate in December. Joon has accepted a post-doctoral position with Dr. Jin Cha at Wayne State University in Detroit.

Justin Accepts New Position: Dr. Justin P'Pool (PhD 06) has recently accepted a joint post-doctoral position with Dr. Robert Minto at Indiana University-Purdue University and Dr. Daniel Silvo at the Cancer Research at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis. He will work on the synthesis of biologically active natural products.

New Research Student: Denise Boykin has joined the group this summer. She is working on the development of new water-soluble ligands for palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions.

Caitlin graduates: Caitlin Prickett who has been with the group since summer 2004 received her dual chemistry and biology degrees in the May commencement ceremony.

Pharmacy School: Joanna Smith has been accepted to the Samford University School of Pharmacy.

Group members inducted: Caitlin Prickett and Fallon Brown were inducted into Gamma Sigma Epsilon national chemistry honorary.

New Jobs: Dr. Michael Sliger (postdoc 02-04) has accepted a position with Duracell in Bethell, CT. Michael will work in the lithium battery development unit. Dr. Lucas Moore (PhD 06) has accepted a job with Ciba Specialty Chemicals in Mobile, AL. Lucas is a Senior Process Development Chemist for the Plastics and Adhesives division

Outstanding Dissertation: Beth Western's dissertation entitled, "Palladium-Catalyzed Modification of Halonucleosides: Methodology Development and Mechanism Determination," was chosen to receive The University of Alabama's Outstanding Dissertation Award. Beth's dissertation was chosen as the work that best exemplifies "research skill, independent thought, the ability to interpret information, and the ability to handle the topic in an intelligent and insightful way" from all dissertations submitted in the past year.

New Research Student: Paul Guevera has joined the group as an undergraduate research student this spring. Paul is a chemistry major and a member of the track and cross country teams at UA.

Travel Awards: Joanna Smith won an NSF-REU Chemistry Leadership Group Travel Award to attend the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Chicago in March. Lensey Hill and Scott Brown received travel awards from the Graduate School to attend the ACS meeting as well.

Palladacycle Paper Highly Accessed: Rongcai Huang's paper entitled, "Water-Soluble Palladacycles as Precursors to Highly Recyclable Catalysts for the Suzuki Coupling of Aryl Bromides in Aqueous Solvents," was the second most accessed article in Organometallics in the third quarter of 2006.

Congratulations Graduates: Former undergraduate research students Emily Pair, Brent Graves, Maryam Khan earned degrees during the December Commencement ceremonies.

Hydrophilic Carbene Complex Paper: Lucas Moore's paper on water-soluble imidazol-2-ylidene complexes was published in Organometallics (2006, 25, 5151)

Palladacycle Paper Published: Rongcai Huang's paper, "Water-Soluble Palladacycles as Precursors to Highly Recyclable Catalysts for the Suzuki Coupling of Aryl Bromides in Aqueous Solvents," was published in Organometallics (2006, 25, 4105).

New Undergraduate Researchers: Fallon Brown and Jake Porter have joined the Shaughnessy group this fall. Falon and Jake are both chemistry majors.

More Shaughnessy Group News

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