Paper on strained polycyclic alkynes published in Nat. Commun.  Dr. TEA’s full paper “Probing the alkylidene carbene–strained alkyne equilibrium in polycyclic systems via the Fritsch–Buttenberg–Wiechell rearrangement” was published in Nature Communications. Congratulations, Tom! (September 2024).

Das talks about student research at ICPOC and IISc: Das gave a talk “Photochemical Generation of Ketenes and Allenes from Phenanthrene-based Photochemical Sources” at the 26th International Conference on Physical Organic Chemistry (ICPOC) sponsored by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) in Beijing, China in August 2024. A week later he gave another talk “Reactive Intermediates and Unusual Molecules from Phenanthrene-Based Precursors” at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru, India. Both talks highlighted the exceptional research work done in the lab by Colby undergraduates as well as visiting high school students. (August 2024).

Congratulations to Dr. TEA! Dr. Tom Anderson will begin his independent faculty career as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Middlebury after three productive years as the inaugural David Lee Phillips Postdoctoral Fellow at Colby! Farewell and thank you, Tom! We wish you the very best in your career. (July 2024).

Paper on allenylidenes published in J. Org. Chem. Alex, David, Yuewei, and Megan published a full paper ““Photochemical Generation of Allenylidenes from Cyclopropanated-Phenanthrenes: An Experimental and Computational Study” in the Journal of Organic Chemistry! Congratulations, A-D-Y-M! (May 2024).

Alex Roth ’24 named College Marshal! Read story here. (May 2024)

Congratulations to Katie and Alex! Katie Lane and Alex Roth graduated from Colby in May 2024. Kalium is now a Clinical Research Coordinator at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute as she prepares to enter medical school. Alessandro is a graduate student in chemistry at the University of Chicago. (May 2024)

Paper on crowded spiropentane published in Org. Lett. Alex’s work on “Formation and Rearrangement of a Congested Spiropentane from the Trapping of Dibenzonorcarynyliden(e/oid) by Phencyclone” was published in Organic Letters. Congratulations, Alessandro! (April 2024).

Zhazira, Katie, Jesus, and Das head to Japan for JanPlan research! ZeeK, Kalium, and Spiderman joined Das on a research trip to Hiroshima University in January 2024 where they collaborated on projects with Professor Manabu Abe and his research group. This monthlong trip focused on laser flash photolysis, matrix isolation spectroscopy, electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy, and computational chemistry using samples prepared at Colby by the students. The trip was made possible thanks to funding provided by DavisConnects, the Linde Packman Fund, and a grant to Das from the National Science Foundation. (February 2024).

Invited review article published in Org. Biomol. Chem. Alex’s review on “Carbenes from Cyclopropanated Aromatics” was published in Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry. This paper is dedicated to Miselis Professor of Chemistry Emeritus Bradford P. Mundy after whom the Mundy Organic Chemistry award is named. Really cool that Alex is the most recent recipient of the Mundy Award! Nicely done, Alessandro! 😃 (November 2023).

Paper on admantylidenecarbene published in J. Org. Chem. Alex, Christine, and Sarah published a full paper about their work on the chemistry of adamantylidenecarbene in the Journal of Organic Chemistry! Congratulations, A-C-S! (September 2023).

Annie Muller awarded a Fulbright! Annie Muller received a prestigious Fulbright grant to pursue graduate work at the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures at the University of Hamburg, Germany. Whoa, Art Minister! Way to go!! Congratulations!!! (June 2023).

Paper on strained heterocyclic alkynes published in Org. Lett. Dr. TEA’s paper “Formation of 3-Oxa- and 3-Thiacyclohexyne from Ring Expansion of Heterocyclic Alkylidene Carbenes: A Mechanistic Study” has been published in Organic Letters. Congratulations, Tom! (March 2023).

David Ramgren and Alex Roth win research poster prize at the IUPAC Conference on Physical Organic Chemistry in Hiroshima, Japan: David Ramgren, Alex Roth, Dr. TEA, and Das Thamattoor traveled to Hiroshima to attend ICPOC. The team presented four posters and two talks (one by Dr. TEA and the other by Das). David and Alex were the only two undergraduates presenting their work at this conference and one of their research posters was awarded a prize! Congrats Docster and Alessandro! (July 2022).

Dr. TEA and Das present at the Reaction Mechanisms Conference in Boulder, CO: Dr. TEA presented a research poster on his work and Das gave a Plenary talk at the RMC. They also got to spend some quality time, and discuss mechanistic chemistry, with colleagues from around the world. (June 2022).

Paper on crystal polymorphism published in CGD. Alex’s paper on “Polymorphism in 9-[(9H-Fluoren-9-ylidene)methyl]phenanthrene” was published in the ACS journal Crystal Growth and Design. Congratulations, Alessandro! (June 2022).

Congratulations Annie, Caleb, and Pegah! Annie Muller, Caleb Jacques, and Pegah Honarmand graduated from Colby in May 2022. Annie intends to attend a graduate program that combines her interest in science and art history while Caleb and Pegah are off to graduate school at Brown and UC Irvine respectively. (May 2022) 

Alex Roth wins Goldwater Scholarship! Just days after leaving the ACS meeting Alex learned that he is a recipient of the prestigious Barry Goldwater scholarship! Wow, Alessandro! Nicely done!! Congratulations!!! (March 2022).

Team Thamattoor presents at the ACS National Meeting in San Diego, CA: Caleb Jacques, Pegah Honarmand, David Ramgren, Alex Roth, Dr. TEA, and Das Thamattoor attended the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in San Diego, CA (March 20-24, 2022) and presented six posters on their research work. During the conference we got to explore San Diego and catch up with Colby alumni Sam Marchant ’21 and Dr. Galia Debelouchina ’05 at UCSD. As it turns out Galia is a professor at UCSD and Sam just joined her lab. We also got to meet former DasLab members Dr. Stan Presolski ’05 (a classmate of Galia’s and now a professor at Yale-NUS College) and Dr. Jamie Shaum ’13, who is doing postdoctoral work at Scripps Research Institute. (March 2022).

Congratulations to Sarah Haynes ‘J22! Sarah graduated from Colby in January 2022 and is preparing to enter dental school. (January 2022)

Paper on alkylidenecarbene ylide published in JACS. Our paper on ylide formation between an alkylidenecarbene, generated from a precursor synthesized by Minji Ko ’21, and acetonitrile has been published. Many researchers have speculated on the existence of these ylides for years but this is the first time that such an intermediate has been directly observed and characterized. You can read all about this work, done in collaboration with the lab of Professor David Lee Phillips, here. Congrats, Minji! (October 2021)

Welcome Dr. Tom Anderson! Tom, who recently received his Ph.D. at NYU, joined our lab on July 1, 2021 as the inaugural David Lee Phillips postdoctoral fellow. Professor Phillips, who established the position with a generous gift (that was graciously matched by President David Greene), visited Colby in late August and met with Tom in person. 

Congratulations Brett and Minji! Brett Ford and Minji Ko graduated from Colby in May 2021. Minji stayed on in our lab for a few more weeks before joining the laboratory of Dr. Kira Fu at the Boston Children’s Hospital as a research assistant. Brett accepted a position as synthetic chemist in the Drug Discovery laboratory of Dr. Kevin Hodgetts at Brigham and Women’s/Harvard Medical School.