Director of Undergraduate Studies (2007-present)
Associate Professor, University of Alabama (2005-present)
Assistant Professor, University of Alabama (1999-2005)
Post-Doctoral Associate, Yale University (John Hartwig, 1997-1999)
PhD, Stanford University (Bob Waymouth, 1998)
BS, University of Nebraska-Lincoln (Reuben Rieke, 1992)

Kevin Shaughnessy was born in 1970 and raised in Trumbull, Nebraska. He earned his B.S. degree with honors and highest distinction from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1992. While at Nebraska, he worked with Reuben D. Rieke on developing Rieke zinc-promoted reactions. He then joined the group of Robert M. Waymouth at Stanford University, where he developed zirconocene-catalyzed carbometalation reactions. Upon completing his PhD (1998), he moved to Yale to work with John F. Hartwig on palladium-catalyzed enolate arylations and development of high-throughput screening assays. In 1999, he joined the chemistry faculty at The University of Alabama, where he is currently an Associate Professor of Chemistry. His research interests have focused on the development of catalytic methodologies in alternative solvents and understanding how these solvents affect fundamental organometallic reactivity.

Publication List

Graduate Students

W. Scott Brown

BS, Western Kentucky University (2001)

Scott is a native of Lewisburg, Kentucky, where he was raised on a Tobacco farm that he still works in his spare time. Scott earned his BS and MS degrees at Western Kentucky University. His master's research focused on the mechanism of directed ortho-metalation under the direction of Robert Holman. Scott joined the program at UA in fall of 2004. Since joining the Shaughnessy group that fall, Scott's research has focused on mechanisms and applications of cross-coupling reactions. Scott has been working to unravel the mechanism of Rh-catalyzed addition of boronic acids to aldehydes. He is also involved in our FMC Lithium funded project to explore the use of neopentylphosphines in Pd-catalyzed coupling reactions.

Synthesis, 2008, 1965-1970
Tetrahedron, 2008, 64, 6920-6934

Lensey L. Hill

BS, University of Tennessee-Chattanooga (2004)

Lensey is a native of Tennessee and attended the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. While at UTC, Lensey did undergraduate research with Prof. Robert Mebane on applications of Rainey nickel and Prof. Greg Grant on the coordination chemistry of cadmium thiocrown ether complexes. Lensey came to UA in 2004 and joined the Shaughnessy group soon after. Lensey's work has focused on the development and application of new ligands to Pd-catalyzed coupling reactions. She has contributed to studies on the application of neopentyl phosphines to Pd-catalyzed coupling reactions. She has also structurally characterized a number of neopentylphosphine-palladium complexes both in solution and in the solid state.

J. Org. Chem., 2006, 71, 5117
Tetrahedron, 2008, 64, 6920-6934

BS, Gustavus Adolphus College (2004)

Matt grew up in Minnesota and attended Gustavus Adolphus College. While at GAC, Matt worked with Prof. Brian O'Brien on the synthesis and characterization of phosphorus analogs of phthalimide anions. Matt spent the summer of 2003 at UA as a SURP participant working in Prof. Joe Thrasher's lab. Matt returned to UA in 2004 after completing his degree at GAC. He joined the groups of Profs. Shaughnessy and Thrasher as a joint advisee. His work at UA has largely focused on the synthesis of novel flourine containing compounds.

BS, University of Tennessee Chattanooga (2008)

Nigel earned his undergraduate degree at UT-Chattanooga and worked with Dr. Kyle Knight on metal catalyzed reactions. Nigel joined the Shaughnessy group in summer 2008.

Undergraduate Students

Quentin is a native of Mobile, AL. He joined the Shaughnessy group in 2006. His research has focused on the application of neopentylphosphines to the Suzuki coupling. Quentin is also working to develop new water-soluble phosphines. Quentin is a biology major.

Synthesis, 2008, 1965-1970

Fallon is a native of Fairhope, AL. She came to UA after taking courses at Faulkner Community College. She joined the Shaughnessy group in the fall of 2006. Fallon is a chemistry major and is minoring in biology. Fallon was inducted into Gamma Sigma Epsilon in 2007. Fallon's research has focused on developing new hydrophilic N-heterocyclic carbene precursors. This fall she also began working on palladium-catalyzed carbon-selenium bond forming reactions.

Main Group Chem. 2007, 6, 201-214
Synthesis, 2008, 1965-1970

Denise is a native of Louisville, AL and an alum of the Rural Health Scholars Program. She joined the Shaughnessy group in the summer of 2007. She is working to develop new water-soluble phosphine ligands and apply them in palladium-catalyzed coupling reactions. Denise is a chemistry major and was inducted into Gamma Sigma Epsilon in 2007. She is a 2008 recipient of the Randall Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award.

Synthesis, 2008, 1965-1970

William is a chemistry major from Greenville, AL. He started at UA in fall 2003 and joined the Shaughnessy group in spring 2008. William has worked on Pd-catalyzed C-C bond forming reactions using novel phosphine ligands.

Synthesis, 2008, 1965-1970