Department of Chemistry (GRAD)
The Department of Chemistry offers graduate programs leading to the degrees of master of arts (non-thesis), master of science (thesis), and doctor of philosophy in the fields of analytical, biological, inorganic, organic, physical, and polymer and materials chemistry. Reinforcing the broad nature of our graduate program, we have close interactions with various departments, including the Departments of Physics and Astronomy, Biochemistry and Biophysics, Environmental Science and Engineering, and the Biological and Biomedical Sciences Program.
Research Interests
Analytical
Development of instrumentation for ultra-high pressure capillary liquid chromatography, capillary electrophoresis, and combined two-dimensional separations. Applications include proteomics and measurement of peptide hormones in biological tissues. Mass spectrometry of biological, environmental, organic, and polymeric compounds; tandem MS, ion activation, ion molecule reactions; instrument development. Electrochemistry: new methods for study of biological media, neurotransmitters small spaces, redox solids, chemically modified surfaces, nanoparticle chemistry, and quantum size effects including the analytical chemistry of nanoparticles. Chemical microsystems: microfabricated fluidics technologies (i.e., lab-on-a-chip devices) to address biological measurement problems such as protein expression, cell signaling, and clinical diagnostics. Miniaturized mass spectrometers for environmental monitoring. Nanoscale fluidics devices for single molecule DNA sequencing and chemical sensing. Polymeric membranes to improve the analytical performance of in vivo sensors and enable accurate measurement of analytes in challenging milieu.
Biological
Structure-function relationships of complex biochemical processes; the molecular basis of disease; chemical biology; biophysics; mechanism of protein biosynthesis; metabolic regulation; gene organization and regulation of gene expression; biomolecular structure; protein folding; protein and RNA chemistry under physiologically relevant conditions, in-cell NMR; thermodynamics of protein-protein interactions; characterization of protein-protein and protein-DNA complexes by atomic force microscopy and single molecule fluorescence; in vitro and in vivo studies of DNA repair; RNA structure in vivo, RNA and viral genomics, transcriptome structure, assembly of biomedically important RNA-protein complexes; chemical synthesis of peptides and proteins; protein engineering through chemical synthesis and directed evolution; unnatural amino acid mutagenesis; molecular modeling of biomolecules; cell surface biophysics; fluorescence microscopy and spectroscopy; small molecule and protein microarray development; live cell fluorescence microscopy; genomics-driven natural product discovery; natural product biosynthesis and pathway engineering and design; synthetic biology; antibiotic mechanism of action; bioinformatics; metabolomics; small molecules involved in inter- and intra- species signaling.
Inorganic
Physical inorganic chemistry: electronic structure of transition metal complexes; photochemistry and electrochemistry of metal complexes; use of coordination complexes and inorganic materials for solar energy harvesting and conversion; molecular orbital theory, nuclear magnetic resonance and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopies; X-ray crystallography; infrared and Raman spectroscopies. Chemistry of transition metal complexes: synthesis of transition metal compounds, organometallic chemistry including metal-catalyzed organic reactions; reactions of coordinated ligands; kinetics and mechanisms of inorganic reactions; metal cluster chemistry; chiral supramolecular chemistry. Materials chemistry: molecular precursors to materials; solid state lattice design; metal-ion containing thin films; metal-polymer complexes; functional coordination polymers and metal-organic frameworks; chiral porous solids. Bioinorganic and medicinal inorganic chemistry: nanomaterials for biomedical imaging and anticancer drug delivery; reactivity of oxidized metal complexes with nucleic acids, photo-induced DNA cleavage, synthesis and characterization of model complexes for metalloenzymes.
Organic
Synthesis and biological reactions of natural products; peptide synthesis; protein engineering; structure-function studies on polypeptides and proteins; mechanistic and synthetic studies in organometallic chemistry; catalysis using organometallic complexes; nuclear magnetic resonance; kinetics; organosulfur and organophosphorus chemistry; surface effects in chemical behavior; chemistry of reactive intermediates including carbocations, carbanions, carbenes radical ions and radical pairs; photochemistry; light-driven organic catalysis; fluorescent sensors; enzyme inhibitors; new synthetic methods including asymmetric catalysis; stereochemistry and conformational analysis; design and synthesis of models for metalloenzymes; epr investigations of electronic couplings in high-spin organic molecules; spectroscopic studies of free radicals; synthesis and characterization of well-defined polymeric materials; synthesis of materials for use in microelectronics; homogeneous and heterogeneous polymerizations in supercritical fluids; synthesis of engineering polymers; molecular recognition.
Physical Chemistry
Ultrafast spectroscopy: femtosecond laser techniques to study photochemistry (e.g., energy transfer, proton coupled electron transfer) in systems including carbon nanotubes, light harvesting proteins, and several materials relevant to the production of solar fuels. Nonlinear Optics: lasers pulses with widely tunable bandwidths and frequencies with new nonlinear optical methods. Molecular interactions and dynamics in cells using optical Kerr effect and phase contrast methods. Spatial and temporal resolution of energy and charge transport within individual metal oxide nanoparticles using pump-probe microscopies. Biophysics: movements and interactions of regulatory proteins in cell nuclei using optical microscopies (e.g., FRET, FCS). Coherent quantum effects in photosynthesis using new laser spectroscopies analogous to multidimensional NMR techniques. Theoretical Chemistry: molecular dynamics simulations to study the structures and dynamics of biological membranes in addition to the properties of aqueous solutions next to such membranes. Laser spectroscopy in cooled molecular beams of transient species, ions and molecular complexes, subdoppler infrared spectroscopy, ion photodissociation studies, development of spectroscopic techniques, double resonance spectroscopy, pulsed field gradient NMR and NMR imaging. Application of optical and mass spectroscopies to study atmospheric chemistry. Quantum chemistry, density functional theory, quantum biology of neurotransmitters and pharmacological agents, energy minimization, protein dynamics, cooperativity, molecular graphics, mutagenesis, statistical mechanics of a liquid phase, structure and dynamics of aqueous solutions, kinetics in condensed phases, mechanical properties of polymers, state-to-state chemistry, reactions and energy transfer at solid surfaces. Polymer properties: preparation of and nonlinear optical effects in polymeric systems, self-organized polymers, and liquid crystalline materials.
Polymer and Materials Chemistry
Synthesis, properties, and utilization of novel functional materials for various applications ranging from medicine and microelectronics to oil recovery and climate change. The many-pronged approach includes synthesis and molecular characterization of multifunctional monomers and polymers, computer modeling and intelligent design of molecular architectures that are able to sense, process, and response to impacts from the surrounding environment, and preparation of new engineering thermoplastics and liquid crystalline materials. Recent efforts funded by the National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Health, Advanced Energy Consortium, and Army Research Office are focused on lithographic design of organic nanoparticles for the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases (especially cancer), self-healing, shape-memory, mechanocatalysis, organic solar cells, and imaging contrast agents for oil exploration. A broad variety of expertise includes imaging and probing of submicrometer surface structures by scanning probe microscopy, dynamic mechanical analysis, characterization of polymer dynamics by NMR techniques and light scattering, microfluidics and drug delivery control, measurement of molecular conductivity and energy conversion efficiency, and analytical as well as computational and numerical studies of soft materials, such as polymers, colloids, and liquid crystals.
Facilities and Equipment
Research is carried out in the William Rand Kenan Jr. Laboratories, the W. Lowry and Susan S. Caudill Laboratories, Venable Hall, Murray Hall, Chapman Hall, and the Genome Sciences Building. The undergraduate laboratories are housed in the John Motley Morehead Laboratories. The department is home to several core laboratories managed by Ph.D.-level staff scientists: Electronics Core Laboratory, NMR Core Laboratory, Mass Spectrometry Core Laboratory, X-Ray Core Laboratory, and the Scientific Glass Shop. Hardware and software resources managed by ITS are tailored to meet the needs of a broad range of chemists working on applications in quantum mechanics, molecular dynamics, NMR spectroscopy, X-Ray crystallography, structural biology, and bioinformatics.
Financial Aid and Admission
The department awards a number of industrial fellowships and predoctoral research and teaching appointments. All outstanding prospective graduate students who apply for admission/support are automatically considered for fellowships.
There are more than 200 graduate students in the department. All are supported either as teaching assistants (27 percent), research assistants (65 percent), or as fellows (8 percent) supported by The Graduate School, industry, or the United States government. The duties of the teaching assistants include the preparation for and supervision of laboratory classes in undergraduate courses and the grading of laboratory reports.
Applications for assistantships and fellowships should be made before the end of December, although applicants for assistantships are considered after that date. All international students whose native language is not English must take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) examination in addition to the Graduate Record Examination. However, international students who hold a degree from a university in the United States may be exempt.
Application forms for admission can be completed online at the Graduate School's website. Financial support as well as information about the department can be obtained from the Chemistry Department's graduate website. Questions about our program may be directed to the e-mail address chemgs@unc.edu.
Courses
Numbered 400-999:
Doctor of Philosophy
The Ph.D. degree in chemistry is a research degree, and students normally begin research during the first year in graduate school. The Ph.D. degree consists of completion of a suitable program of study, a preliminary doctoral oral examination, a written comprehensive examination (satisfied by a research summary and dissertation prospectus), an original research proposal, an original research project culminating in a dissertation, and a final oral examination.
Master of Arts (Non-Thesis)
The master of arts (non-thesis) degree requires a minimum of 30 semester hours. A typical path to degree completion is 18 hours of advanced chemistry courses and 12 hours in seminar courses and thesis registration. (Only six hours of CHEM 992 can count towards the 30-hour requirement.) Students must accrue a total of at least two semesters of “full time” status based on UNC–Chapel Hill course registration (9 hours in one semester is full-time, 6–8 hours is half-time, 3–5 hours is quarter-time). Students must be registered for 3 hours of CHEM 992 in the semester in which the MA Written Report is completed and the degree will be conferred . The M.A. written examination is a written report on the current state of research in an area that is relevant to a departmental research topic, submitted to and approved/signed by the research advisor. As a substitute for a thesis, the candidate must earn a minimum of three hours of CHEM 992 (master's non-thesis option) in the semester of planned graduation and submit a written research report to the research director.
Master of Science
The master of arts degree requires a minimum of 30 semester hours of credit. A typical course load involves 18 hours of advanced chemistry courses and 12 hours in seminar courses and thesis registration. (Only six hours of CHEM 993 can count towards the 30 hour requirement). Students must accrue a total of at least two semesters of “full time” status based on UNC–Chapel Hill course registration (9 hours in one semester is full-time, 6–8 hours is half-time, 3–5 hours is quarter-time). Students must be registered for three hours of CHEM 993 in the semester in which the M.S. thesis is defended. Third-, fourth-, and fifth-year students must register for CHEM 993 for three hours until they graduate. The written comprehensive examination is a research summary approved by the dissertation committee. The oral examination comprises the Doctoral Qualifying Examination as approved by the dissertation committee. A master's thesis and final oral examination are also required.
Following the faculty member's name is a section number that students should use when registering for independent studies, reading, research, and thesis and dissertation courses with that particular professor.
Professors
Erik J. Alexanian (077), Organic Chemistry
Jeffrey Aubé (082), Organic Chemistry
Todd L. Austell (070), Chemistry Education, Academic Advising, Lab Curriculum Development
James F. Cahoon (080), Polymer and Materials Chemistry
Jillian L. Dempsey (003), Inorganic Chemistry
Andrey Dobrynin (023), Polymer and Materials Chemistry
Dorothy A. Erie (011), Physical and Biological Chemistry
Michel R. Gagné (022), Inorganic, Organic and Polymer Chemistry
Gary L. Glish (040), Analytical Chemistry
Leslie M. Hicks (035), Analytical Chemistry
Brian P. Hogan (072), Chemistry Education, Academic Advising, Lab Curriculum Development
Jeffrey S. Johnson (058), Organic Chemistry
Yosuke Kanai (081), Physical Chemistry
David S. Lawrence (076), Organic Chemistry
Bo Li (085), Biological Chemistry
Gerald J. Meyer (054), Inorganic Chemistry
Alexander J. Miller (004), Inorganic Chemistry
Andrew M. Moran (006), Physical Chemistry
David A. Nicewicz (078), Organic Chemistry
Gary J. Pielak (046), Biological Chemistry
Matthew R. Redinbo (055), Biological Chemistry
Mark H. Schoenfisch (057), Analytical and Materials Chemistry
Sergei S. Sheiko (059), Polymer and Materials Chemistry
Jason D. Surratt (074), Analytical Chemistry
Joseph L. Templeton (031), Inorganic Chemistry
Domenic Tiani (071), Chemistry Education, Academic Advising, Lab Curriculum Development
Marcey Waters (056), Organic Chemistry
Kevin M. Weeks (053), Biological Chemistry
Wei You (042), Polymer and Materials Chemistry
Associate Professors
Erin Baker (012), Analytical Chemistry
Joshua E. Beaver (089), Chemistry Education, Academic Advising
Carribeth L. Bliem (083), Chemistry Education, Academic Advising
Nita Eskew (091), Chemistry Education, Academic Advising, Lab Curriculum Development
Frank A. Leibfarth (010), Organic, Polymer and Materials Chemistry
Matthew R. Lockett (037), Analytical Chemistry
Simon J. Meek (079), Organic Chemistry
Scott C. Warren (063), Polymer and Materials Chemistry
Danielle Zurcher (090), Chemistry Education, Academic Advising
Assistant Professors
Elizabeth C. Brunk (050), Biological Chemistry
Anna C. Curtis (073), Chemistry Education, Academic Advising, Lab Curriculum Development
Jade Fostvedt (039), Chemistry Education, Inorganic and Organometallic Chemistry
Megan Jackson (104), Inorganic, Physical and Materials Chemistry
Abigail Knight (014), Organic and Biological Chemistry
Huong Kratochvil (101), Biological Chemistry
Zhiyue Lu (009), Physical Chemistry
Elisa Pieri (025), Physical Chemistry
Sidney M. Wilkerson-Hill (013), Organic Chemistry
Alex Zhukhovitskiy (008), Organic, Polymer and Materials Chemistry
Professors Emeriti
Nancy L. Allbritton
Tomas Baer
Max L. Berkowitz
James L. Coke
Michael T. Crimmins
Joseph Desimone
Richard G. Hiskey
Eugene A. Irene
Richard C. Jarnagin
Donald C. Jicha
Charles S. Johnson Jr.
James W. Jorgenson
Thomas J. Meyer
Royce W. Murray
John Papanikolas
Robert G. Parr
Lee G. Pedersen
J. Michael Ramsey
Michael Rubinstein
Cynthia Schauer
Nancy Thompson
R. Mark Wightman
Department of Chemistry
