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Physical Organic Chemistry

Gordon Research Conference

Understanding Chemical Reactivity - New Concepts and Applications

June 23 - 28, 2013
Chair
Vice Chair
Holderness School
33 Chapel Lane
Holderness, New Hampshire, United States
 Venue and Travel Information

Conference Description

Physical organic chemistry is broadly defined and of fundamental importance for the development of interdisciplinary areas that link together chemical synthesis, biological and material sciences with theoretical and physical chemistry. Therefore, this conference encompasses areas ranging from synthetic and mechanistic organic chemistry, including reactive intermediates, computational chemistry, spectroscopy and photochemistry, to advanced functional materials and supramolecular chemistry as well as chemical processes in biological systems.

Topics will include, but are not limited to: smart materials, catalysis, computational chemistry, mechanisms of chemical reactions and in enzymes, gas phase radical and ionic reactions, reactive intermediates, and spectroscopy.

All attendees are invited and encouraged to present their latest, mostly unpublished research results in the traditionally highly stimulating and exciting poster sessions. Abstracts are not required. A selection of the best posters will be chosen for short oral presentations on the last evening of the conference.

You won’t want to miss this event, therefore mark your calendar, and we hope to see you there!

Related Meeting

This GRC will be held in conjunction with the "Physical Organic Chemistry" Gordon Research Seminar (GRS). Those interested in attending both meetings must submit an application for the GRS in addition to an application for the GRC. Refer to the associated GRS program page for more information.

Conference Program

SUNDAY
2:00 pm - 9:00 pmArrival and Check-in
6:00 pmDinner
7:30 pm - 7:35 pmWelcome / Introductory Comments by GRC Site Staff
7:35 pm - 9:30 pmReactive Intermediates
Discussion Leader: Kathleen Kilway (University of Missouri Kansas City, USA)
7:35 pm - 8:05 pmMalcolm Forbes (University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, USA)
"Photodynamic Therapy, Toils and Troubles: Problems Solved With Tiny Bubbles"
8:05 pm - 8:10 pmDiscussion
8:10 pm - 8:40 pmRichard O'Hair (University of Melbourne, Australia)
"Going for Gold: Understanding Structure and Reactivity of Coinage Metal Nanoclusters In Organic Chemistry"
8:40 pm - 8:45 pmDiscussion
8:45 pm - 9:15 pmMarc Robert (University Paris 7, France)
"CO2 Electrochemical Reduction"
9:15 pm - 9:20 pmDiscussion
9:20 pm - 9:30 pmGeneral Discussion: Outlook and Future Directions
MONDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
8:30 amGroup Photo
9:00 am - 12:10 pmNew Insights into Catalysis and Other Stories
Discussion Leader: Gary Weisman (University of New Hampshire, USA)
9:00 am - 9:30 amNancy Goroff (State University of New York Stony Brook, USA)
"Tamed! Getting Reactive Monomers in Line"
9:30 am - 9:40 amDiscussion
9:40 am - 10:10 amMark Taylor (University of Toronto, Canada)
"Noncovalent and Reversible Covalent Interactions: Solution-Phase Thermodynamics and New Applications"
10:10 am - 10:20 amDiscussion
10:20 amCoffee Break
11:00 am - 11:30 amFranziska Schoenebeck (ETH Zürich, Switzerland/RWTH Aachen, Germany)
"New Insights and Developments in Pd Catalysis - A Combination of Theory and Experiment"
11:30 am - 11:40 amDiscussion
11:40 am - 12:10 pmRichard Wong (National University Singapore, Singapore)
"Bio-Inspired Catalysis: Design and Understanding of Catalytic Mechanism and Origin of Stereoselectivity in Organocatalysis"
12:10 pm - 12:20 pmDiscussion
12:20 pm - 12:30 pmGeneral Discussion: Outlook and Future Directions
12:30 pmLunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pmFree Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pmPoster Session
6:00 pmDinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pmDeveloping Smart Molecules
Discussion Leaders: Luis Echegoyen (University of Texas at El Paso, USA) and Burkhard König (University of Regensburg, Germany)
7:30 pm - 8:00 pmJames Petersson (University of Pennsylvania, USA)
"Thioamides: Minimalist chromophores for monitoring protein dynamics and stability"
8:00 pm - 8:10 pmDiscussion
8:10 pm - 8:40 pmKrystof Matyjaszewski (Carnegie Mellon University, USA)
"Macromolecular Engineering by Tempering Radicals Behavior"
8:40 pm - 8:50 pmDiscussion
8:50 pm - 9:20 pmMalika Jeffries-EL (Iowa State University, USA)
"Tuning the Properties of Organic Semiconductors via Chemical Synthesis"
9:20 pm - 9:30 pmDiscussion
TUESDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
9:00 am - 12:10 pmNovel Functional Materials and Their Properties
Discussion Leader: Sally Mallory (University of Pennsylvania, USA)
9:00 am - 9:30 amAnke Krüger (University of Würzburg, Germany)
"Hard and Soft, Black and Brilliant - News from the Carbon Universe"
9:30 am - 9:40 amDiscussion
9:40 am - 10:10 amIvan Aprahamian (Dartmouth College, USA)
"Hydrazone-Based Switches, Fluorophores and Sensors"
10:10 am - 10:20 amDiscussion
10:20 amCoffee Break
11:00 am - 11:30 amMiguel Garcia-Garibay (University of California Los Angeles, USA)
"From Molecular Structure to Function in the Crystalline Solid State: The Role of Information Entropy"
11:30 am - 11:40 amDiscussion
11:40 am - 12:10 pmRebecca Braslau (University of California Santa Cruz, USA)
"Non-Migratory Plasticizers: Development of Phthalate Mimics"
12:10 pm - 12:20 pmDiscussion
12:20 pm - 12:30 pmGeneral Discussion: Outlook and Future Directions
12:30 pmLunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pmFree Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pmPoster Session
6:00 pmDinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pmRadicals in Biological Systems
Discussion Leader: John Murphy (University of Strathclyde, UK)
7:30 pm - 8:00 pmBernd Giese (University of Fribourg, Switzerland)
"Mineral Respiration: How Proteins Transport Electrons over Long Distances"
8:00 pm - 8:10 pmDiscussion
8:10 pm - 8:40 pmJoanne Stubbe (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA)
"Use of Unnatural Amino Acids to Study PCET: Ribonucleotide Reductase as a Paradigm"
8:40 pm - 8:50 pmDiscussion
8:50 pm - 9:20 pmDerek Pratt (University of Ottawa, Canada)
"New Developments in the Chemistry of Phenol, Amine and Organosulfur Radical-Trapping Antioxidants"
9:20 pm - 9:30 pmDiscussion
WEDNESDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
9:00 am - 12:10 pmRadicals and Radical Ions in Solution and Gas Phase
Discussion Leader: Carl Schiesser (University of Melbourne, Australia)
9:00 am - 9:30 amRobert Flowers, II (Lehigh University, USA)
"Follow the Thread: Unraveling the Mechanism of Single-Electron Oxidation and Reduction in Important Synthetic Reactions"
9:30 am - 9:40 amDiscussion
9:40 am - 10:10 amJames Tanko (Virginia Tech, USA)
"Radical Ion Rearrangements Studied by Electrochemical Methods"
10:10 am - 10:20 amDiscussion
10:20 amCoffee Break
11:00 am - 11:30 amStephen Blanksby (University of Wollongong, Australia)
"Insights into the Gas Phase Chemistry and Spectroscopy of Phenyl Peroxyl Radicals Using Distonic Radical Ion Models"
11:30 am - 11:40 amDiscussion
11:40 am - 12:10 pmBas de Bruin (University of Amsterdam, Netherlands)
"Bio-Inspired Catalytic Radical-Type Transformations; Catalytic Reactivity of 'Carbene and Nitrene Ligand Radicals'"
12:10 pm - 12:20 pmDiscussion
12:20 pm - 12:30 pmGeneral Discussion: Outlook and Future Directions
12:30 pmLunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pmFree Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pmPoster Session
6:00 pmDinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pmConjugation - From Theory to Application
Discussion Leader: Luis Echegoyen (University of Texas at El Paso, USA)
7:30 pm - 8:00 pmWilliam Karney (University of San Francisco, USA)
"Topology and Bond Shifting in cis/trans Isomerization of Annulenes and Dehydroannulenes"
8:00 pm - 8:10 pmDiscussion
8:10 pm - 8:40 pmAndrew Holmes (University of Melbourne, Australia)
"Challenges in Printing Organic Solar Cells"
8:40 pm - 8:50 pmDiscussion
8:50 pm - 9:20 pmTohru Nishinaga (Tokyo Metropolitan University, Japan)
"Self-Association and its Steric Control of Cationic Oligothiophenes"
9:20 pm - 9:30 pmDiscussion
THURSDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
8:30 am - 9:00 amBusiness Meeting
Nominations for the next Vice Chair; Fill out Conference Evaluation Forms; Discuss future Site & Scheduling preferences; Election of the next Vice Chair
9:00 am - 12:10 pmReaction Mechanisms - New Insights from Experiments and Theory
Discussion Leader: Kathleen Morgan (Xavier University of Louisiana, USA)
9:00 am - 9:30 amRichard Johnson (University of New Hampshire, USA)
"High Energy Rearrangements, Cyclizations and Coupling Reactions of Arenium Ions"
9:30 am - 9:40 amDiscussion
9:40 am - 10:10 amDaniel Singleton (Texas A&M University, USA)
"Effects of Energy Flow and Entropy on Reaction Mechanisms and Selectivity"
10:10 am - 10:20 amDiscussion
10:20 amCoffee Break
11:00 am - 11:30 amNancy Mills (Trinity University, USA)
"Antiaromaticity: a Better Way to Examine Delocalization"
11:30 am - 11:40 amDiscussion
11:40 am - 12:10 pmPeter Schreiner (University of Giessen, Germany)
"Tunneling in Chemical Reactions"
12:10 pm - 12:20 pmDiscussion
12:20 pm - 12:30 pmGeneral Discussion: Outlook and Future Directions
12:30 pmLunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pmFree Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pmPoster Session
6:00 pmDinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pmPoster Session Talks
Discussion Leader: Michael Haley (University of Oregon, USA)
TBA
FRIDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
9:00 amDeparture

Contributors

Conference Links

Conference History Physical Organic Chemistry (GRS)
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