The Stoddart Group has accomplished the feat of reaching its 1,000th publication in the Spring of 2013. A celebration of the achievement took place at Northwestern University on the Memorial Day weekend. A cake decorated with the number '1,000' was presented to mark this accomplishment. The milestone was made possible through the efforts of current and past group members and their dedication to developing exciting and innovative research in the fields of chemistry and molecular nanotechnology.
Stoddart group Postdoctoral Fellow Leah Witus has been awarded a National Institutes of Health Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards (NRSA) for Individual Postdoctoral Fellows. The purpose of the postdoctoral fellowship award is to provide support to promising postdoctoral applicants who have the potential to become productive and successful independent research investigators. Leah also received an International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN) Postdoctoral Fellowship. The IIN Postdoctoral more...
Third year graduate student, Anthea Blackburn, has been selected to participate in the 63rd Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting in Lindau, Germany in July 2013. The meetings, held since 1951, aim to "educate, inspire, and connect scientific generations" by facilitating a unique platform for dialogue between Nobel Laureates and talented graduate students from around the world. Congratulations Anthea!
Putting the little "Blue Box" [cyclobis(paraquat–p–phenylene)] to work in a radically new light has led to the discovery of a new class of stable organic radicals, which is described in the January 25, 2013 issue of Science. The interlocking of two Blue Box rings and the subsequent characterization was achieved by a team of Stoddart researchers in collaboration with fellow NU Professors Michael Wasielewski and John more...
Psaras McGrier (2010–2013) will be leaving the Stoddart group to begin his independent career as an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at The Ohio State University beginning 1 August 2013. During his time in the Stoddart group, Psaras was involved in numerous projects ranging from developing novel zirconium–based metal organic frameworks to designing molecular switches that can function in aqueous media. Congratulations Psaras!
Postdoctoral Fellow Psaras McGrier attended the 2012 Future Faculty Workshop which was held at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) on 15–17 July 2012. The workshop provides senior graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who are interested in a career in independent academic research with mentorship to help them prepare for the application process. This year’s workshop was hosted by Professor Craig Hawker at UCSB, and the funding for the event was provided by the National more...
Fourth–year graduate student Albert Fahrenbach has been invited on 9 May 2012 by the American Chemical Society (ACS) to attend the ACS Division of Organic Chemistry Graduate Research Symposium held at the University of Colorado, Boulder, on 26–29 July 2012, where he gave a 20&ndashminute presentation on his research. Attendance at this annual conference is extremely competitive, with only a handful of the applicants being invited to more...
Second‐year graduate students Jonathan Barnes and Dennis Cao were selected on 16 July 2012 to receive prestigious Ryan Fellowships. These fellowships are made possible through the donations of Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan, and provide students at Northwestern University from a variety of fields with the education and experience to assume leadership roles in academia and industry in the realm of nano–science and technology. Congratulations more...
The discovery of a new class of organic ferroelectric materials, which exhibit switchable electrical polarization, is the outcome of a collaborative project with the Stupp group. These new materials, which are described in the August 23, 2012 issue of the journal Nature, address a long–standing challenge in the field, namely room temperature operation. The fact that they open up the possibility of non–volatile more...
Ron Smaldone (2008–2012) has left the Stoddart group to start his independent career as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry on 1 August 2012 in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Texas, Dallas. Ron’s legacy in the Stoddart group includes serendipitously discovering CD–MOFs, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) comprised of cyclodextrins (CDs), opening up a new field of research within the Stoddart group. Congratulations Ron!
Adam Whalley (2009–2012) has joined the faculty of the Department of Chemistry on 1 August 2012 at the University of Vermont (UVM) in Burlington, Vermont to become their newest Assistant Professor of Chemistry. Adam brought years of synthetic organic chemistry experience, especially pertaining to all–carbon structures, to the Stoddart group. Congratulations Adam!
Fraser Stoddart hosted an event held at Northwestern University to celebrate his 70th birthday on 24 May 2012 as well as his recent election to the fellowship of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS). To celebrate these important events, a symposium was held in Fraser’s honor on 26 May 2012 at which research was presented by several past members of the Stoddart group, in addition to research currently being carried out in the JFS laboratory. Congratulations Fraser !
Fraser Stoddart was one of nine Northwestern faculty elected to one of the nation’s most prestigious honorary societies on 18 April 2012. He is among the 220 leaders in the sciences, social sciences, the humanities, the arts, business and public affairs who have been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS) this year for their pathbreaking work. He will be inducted at a ceremony 6 October 2012 at the academy’s home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Congratulations Fraser!
Anthea Blackburn, a second year graduate student, has been awarded a New Zealand Federation of Graduate Women Fellowship. This award is provided to New Zealand graduate women to foster international understanding and friendship, to further the value of education, and to encourage participation in public life. Congratulations Anthea!
Postdoctoral Fellow Ross Forgan has been selected as one of the inaugural members of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) Young Academy of Scotland (YAS), an initiative which has been launched by the RSE to bring together the most able and innovative young academics, entrepreneurs, artists and professionals in Scotland. Ross faced stiff competition in the election process and is one of the youngest individuals to be awarded this honor. He will join the YAS on his return to more...
Ragnar Stoll (2009-2011) has successfully completed his postdoctoral research at NU and has joined BASF Polyurethanes GmbH as a Research Scientist in Lemförde, Germany. Congratulations Ragnar!
Postdoctoral Fellow, Jeremiah Gassensmith received an award at the 2011 Meeting of the American Crystallographic Association (ACA), held in New Orleans LA on 28 May through 2 June 2011 for his abstract and talk on the Mechanical Properties in Supramolecular Assemblies. In addition to being given a fancy blue ribbon to wear during the conference, he was invited to write a perspective in the ACA's quarterly news letter RefleXions. Look out for Jeremiah's more...
Former graduate student Lei Fang (2006–2010), now a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford with Professor Zhenan Bao, has been selected by the Chinese Scholarship Council (CSC) to be a recipient of the 2010 Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self–Financed Chinese Students Studying Abroad. This particular award is extremely competitive. It is only given more...
Fraser received the 2010–2011 Distinguished Teacher Award by the Undergraduate Chemistry Council (UCC) on Thursday 12 May 2011. He was chosen as a result of a vote in which over 300 undergraduates participated following a "write in." He was presented with a plaque before the UCC Distinguished Speaker Lecture. Congratulations Fraser!
Margaret Schott, Administrative Assistant to the Stoddart group and Personal Assistant to Professor Stoddart for nearly 4 years, was recognized as a finalist for the NU Employee of the Year at a luncheon held at the Mid–America Club in Downtown Chicago on Tuesday 10 May 2011. She received a personalized plaque and a lovely bouquet of flowers for her support of the Stoddart group and her services to the wider NU community. Congratulations Peggy!
Cory Valente has successfully completed his postdoctoral research and on 9 May 2011 will be starting a new job as a Senior Research Chemist at The Dow Chemical Company – Advanced Materials in Spring House, Pennsylvania. Congratulations Cory!
Andrew (Chi-Hau) Sue defended his dissertation successfully on 22 February 2011 in the EE Department at UCLA, and has started immediately as a postdoctoral researcher in the group of Professor Omar Yaghi at UCLA. Congratulations Andrew!
Sir Fraser Stoddart was formally recognized at an Investiture on 14 January 2011 for his many achievements throughout his long career at the forefront of molecular nanotechnology and organic chemistry, along with Professors Ken Poeppelmeier and Mike Wasielewski. Congratulations Fraser!
Gokhan Barin has been selected as one of the recipients of 2011 Ludo Frevel Crystallography Scholarship Award. The award, granted by the International Centre for Diffraction Data (ICDD), is intended to support promising graduate students around the world to conduct crystallography-oriented research. Gokhan received this prestigious award for his proposal entitled “Metal-Organic Frameworks Incorporating Copper-Complexed Rotaxane Struts”. Congratulations Gokhan!
Wally Paxton's unique contributions as a Physical Chemist to the group have come to a close after three years as one of its leading postdoctoral scholars. He starts his new job on 10 January 2011 as a Senior Member of Technical Staff at Sandia National Laboratories' Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT) in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Congratulations Wally!
Doug Friedman has successfully defended his dissertation on 17 November 2010 and will continue to work in the Stoddart group as a postdoctoral researcher. Congratulations Doug!
Lei Fang has successfully defended his dissertation on 22 October 2010 and will start his post-doctoral research with Professor Zhenan Bao at Stanford University in Stanford, California in January 2011. Congratulations Lei!
Jason Spruell (2005-2009) has been selected by the Graduate Affairs Committee as the recipient of the NU Chemistry Department Award for Excellence in Graduate Research for 2010. Congratulations Jason!
Jishan Wu (2005-2007) received a Singapore National Young Scientist Award at a ceremony held on 30 September 2010 from the President of Singapore. Congratulations Jishan!
Sanjeev Dey has successfully completed his postdoctoral research and on 4 October 2010 will be starting a new job as a Research Chemist at Milliken Company in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Congratulations Sanjeev!
In our Angewandte Chemie communication published on 17 August 2010 and highlighted in RSC Chemistry World magazine, we describe CD–MOFs – metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) composed of edible cyclodextrins (CDs) and alkali metal salts. The research will also feature on the Front Cover of Angewandte Chemie sometime in November of this year. These renewable, more...
A Pd(II)–templated ring–in–ring complex assembles on the front cover of Issue 32 of Chemical Communications. Control of the five component self–assembly process is achieved through subtle modification of the 'corner' ligands of the Pd(II) cation. Previously thought to have little effect on complex formation, the group has shown that, by changing an NH2 moiety to an NMe2 group on the 'corner' ligands, intracomplex H–bonding is affected and a ring–in–ring complex is favored over a [3]catenane. The ability to direct more...
Undergraduate group members Petra Erne and Justin Gaines appear on the front cover of C&EN (Chemical and Engineering News) of the June 28, 2010 issue. The issue highlights recent measures taken to increase undergraduate safety in the laboratory in universities across the United States. The photograph was taken by Mitch Jacoby, a Northwestern alumnus. Congratulations to Petra and Justin for this unique coverage!
Postdoctoral Fellow Ali Coskun lifted the Best Poster Award at the Gordon Research Conference on Noble Metal Nanoparticles held during June 20 - 25, 2010 at Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA. He received his prize for his poster entitled "Molecular-Mechanical Switching at the Nanoparticle-Solvent Interface." Congratulations Ali!
Postdoctoral scholar Yanli Zhao was awarded Singapore National Research Foundation Fellowship in January 2010. He was then offered a Nanyang Assistant Professor position, a joint position in both the School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences and the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Nanyang Technological University, leading to an establishment of an interdisciplinary research group in August 2010. We congratulate Yanli and wish him the best of luck in his academic career!
Assistant Professor Amar Flood from Indiana University is one of this year’s Camille Dreyfus Teacher–Scholars. Criteria for selection include an independent body of scholarship attained within the first five years of independent research, and a demonstrated commitment to education, signaling the promise of continuing outstanding contributions to both research and teaching. Professor Flood’s accomplishments are in the understanding of strong CH•••anion hydrogen bonds from triazoles and in triazolophanes.
Visit the Amar Flood Research Group
Feodor Lynen Research Fellow Ragnar Stoll was awarded the prestigious Fischer-Nernst Award by the Department of Chemistry at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
(Germany). Dr Stoll, who obtained his PhD from Humboldt-Universität in 2009, received this eminent distinction for outstanding scientific accomplishments described in his dissertation "Design of Photoswitchable Catalyst Systems". Congratulations Ragnar!
An elusive polycatenane, which hurls to us from a distant sun, appears on the front cover of the first issue of Chemical Society Reviews in 2010. A main-chain polyrotaxane and bridged and pendant polycatenanes are shown in the background. This cover highlights our recent tutorial review mechanically bonded macromolecules.
In a follow-up communication to their 2009 Angewandte Chemie which describes the synthesis of side-chain poly[2]catenanes under kinetic control using click chemistry, the group has now coaxed side-chain poly[2]catenanes to drive their own formation under thermodynamic control along the polymer side-chains proceeded quantitatively, aided and abetted by the positive cooperativity of both intra- and interside-chain [Π···Π] stacking interactions of contiguous catenanes. This process, after all is said and done, results in an overall contraction and a change in the self-organization more...
Second year graduate students Carson Bruns and Albert Fahrenbach have been selected as recipients of 2010 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. Albert and Carson were among 2000 fellows in the natural and social sciences to receive this prestigious national award. 138 Fellowships went to students in the chemical sciences, eight of whom are members of the chemistry department at Northwestern. Congratulations to Carson and Albert for their outstanding achievements!
Postdoctoral Fellow Florian Beuerle has accepted an offer to become a Junior Research Group Leader at the Institute of Organic Chemistry at Würzburg University in his native country of Germany. Florian joined the Stoddart Group in 2008 after receiving his PhD from Friedrich Alexander Unversity at Erlangen, Germany with Professor Andreas Hirsch. He will leave Northwestern this summer to start his independent academic career.
Former graduate student Adam B Braunschweig (2001-2006) has accepted the position of Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry and The Molecular Design Institute at New York University (NYU) in New York City.
Adam joined the Stoddart group at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) after receiving a BA in 2001 from Cornell University where he did undergraduate research with Professor Dotsevi Y Sogah. Following the completion of his PhD at UCLA, he travelled to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem to work with Professor Itamar Willner (2006-2007), after which he completed his more...
Dr. Ragnar Stoll was awarded a Feodor Lynen Research Fellowship for Postdoctoral Researchers from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Germany. This fellowship supports young researchers from Germany at the beginning of their academic career to carry out a long-term research project abroad. Congratulations, Ragnar!
A 25-page blockbuster in the last issue of Chemistry — A European Journal for 2009 – describing how crown ether struts not only coordinate to inorganic secondary building units to construct metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), but also retain their ability to dock electron-accepting (Paraquat) substrates at their active sites, was followed early in the New Year (2010) by a Chemical Communications highlighting a MOF with more...
In the inaugural issue of Nanoscale, the RSC's newest journal, the Stoddart and Zink groups highlight the nanotechnologies that have been accessed with mesoporous silica nanoparticles decorated with smart (super)molecules as drug delivery vehicles, on a review entitled "Mechanised Nanoparticles for Drug Delivery." The Front Cover illustrates these mechanized silica nanoparticles selectively endocytosed by cancer cells. Once inside the cells, a cellular response triggers the release of the encapsulated cancer drugs, thus destroying the more...
Professor N. Jayaraman (Post-Doc, '94 – '99) has been awarded the Indian government's highest honor in science, the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award. Jay is currently a tenured professor at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore. Many Congratulations Jay!
Fraser, and former group members Professor Douglas Philp & Dr Stuart Cantrill, have been highlighted by Trinity College Dublin. A detailed account of the symposium can be found at the following weblink. (LINK)
On July 10th Sir Fraser was bestowed with an honorary Doctor of Science degree by Trinity College Dublin, presented by ex-Irish President Mary Robinson in the Public Theatre. The group was represented by current postdoctoral fellow Ross Forgan and by former graduate student and now Nature Chemistry Chief Editor Dr Stuart Cantrill. For more information on the ceremony and other honorary graduates, see the Trinity press release here.
Postdoctoral Fellow Wally Paxton won a Wiley-VCH Poster Award at the IV International Symposium on Macrocyclic and Supramolecular Chemistry in Maastricht, Netherlands for his poster describing Direct-Write Click Chemistry. You can find the paper describing this work here.
Dr. Florian Beuerle was awarded a Feodor Lynen Research Fellowship for Postdoctoral Researchers from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Germany. This fellowship supports young researchers from Germany at the beginning of their academic career to carry out a long-term research project abroad. Congratulations, Florian!
Dr. Cory Valente was awarded the 2009 Governor-General's Gold Medal by the Senate Committee on Admissions, Recruitment and Student Assistance (SCARSA) at York University in Toronto, CA. Dr. Valente, who attained his HBSc (2003) and PhD (2008) from York U, received this eminent distinction for demonstrating a consistently high distinction in scholarship during their graduate studies at York University. Congratulations Cory!
Postdoctoral Fellow Wally Paxton and Graduate Student Jason Spruell in the Stoddart group recently published a communication in the Journal of the American Chemical Society describing an approach toward Direct-Write Click Chemistry using copper-coated AFM tips to couple 1-alkyne compounds to azide-terminated surfaces. This work recently appeared as a Research Highlight in the journal Nature.
Undergraduate student Jeffrey Yang (Sophomore) was recently awarded the Searle Center for Teaching Excellence fellowship to support his summer research. Jeff is currently working on Donor-Acceptor Oligomeric systems and upon competition of his undergraduate work in the Chemistry Department at Northwestern, intends to apply to medical school (but we will try to keep him in chemistry). Congratulations Jeff!!
Graduate student Brian Northrop (2002-2006) will be starting at Wesleyan University as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry in July 2009. The new Northrop group will be studying the design and synthesis of new organic materials - e.g. functional polymers, organic polygons and nanoparticles, and artificial receptors - together with experimental and theoretical analysis of their formation and properties. For more about the Northrop group visit http://www.wesleyan.edu/chem/faculty/northrop/. Congratulations Brian!
Former graduate student and postdoc from our UCLA-days will be joining Florida State University, Tallahassee as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Integrative NanoScience Institute (INSI) in August 2009. The new Saha Nanochemistry Laboratory will explore supramolecular light-harvesting and electroluminescent materials as well as programmable foldamers and molecular tweezers for ion-pair recognition and transportation. For more information about Sourav's research group please visit his website LINK.
Michael Ambrogio was accepted as a Graduate Summer Intern at Amgen Inc., located at their San Francisco Research Center, focusing on synthetic methodology in the Medicinal Chemistry Division.
Karla K Coti gave an invited talk on her research titled "Development and Application of a Hydrodynamic-Focusing Microreactor and Cholesteric Liquid Crystalline (LC) Bistable [2]Rotaxanes" at California State University, Los Angeles in California. The seminar was presented to undergraduate student participants from the Minority Opportunities in REsearch (MORE) and faculty members.
Dr. Wally Paxton presented a poster and an invited mini-talk describing his work "Heterogeneous Catalysis of a Copper-Coated Atomic Force Microscopy Tip for Direct-Write Click Chemistry" at the Gordon Research Conference for Chemical Reactions at Interfaces. See the paper at: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ja9015974.
Jason Spruell was honored with the Elings Prize Fellowship in Experimental Science from the California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) at the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB). Later this year he will be moving on to UCSB to work closely with Professor Craig Hawker where this independent post will allow him the freedom to develop a program studying functional macromolecular architectures where his present expertise in the design, synthesis, and application of mechanically interlocked molecules will be an essential and enabling component.
Jason Spruell was honored with a Presidential Fellowship from Northwestern University, an award described as "the most prestigious fellowship awarded by Northwestern University". The Presidential Fellowship dictates that only one person per academic discipline may be nominated, Jason representing the entire Chemistry Department. He is one of only eight recipients for the 2009-2011 period.
Lei Fang was awarded the Ryan Fellowship in part to his research interests, strong background, and exceptional promise as a scholar. He is one of five students in the 2008-2009 Academic year who was awarded this prestigious fellowship.
Karla K Coti received the Dissertation Year Fellowship from UCLA for the 2008-2009 academic year. Her research involves the development of microfluidic reactors to improved product selectivity of organic reactions and synthesis and characteristic of liquid crystalline bistable [2] rotaxanes.
Karla K Coti attended the Building Engineering & Science Talent (BEST) Symposium at Dow in Midland, Michigan. She learned about the science and technology development at The Dow Chemical Company, interacted with scientist and managements from all levels and disciplines at Dow and the possibilities for a successful career in this global organization.
Post-doc Ivan Aprahamian will be starting at Dartmouth College as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry on August 2008. The new Aprahamian group will focus on the development of novel light-induced molecular switches and machines, in addition to the crystal engineering of Li-containing supermolecules. For more about the Aprahamian group visit LINK. Congratulations Ivan!
Matthew Belowich was awarded the Teaching Assistant Fellowship sponsored by the Northwestern University Searle Center for Teaching Excellence. Matthew trained incoming chemistry graduate students in teaching methodology and skills set required to become a successful Teaching Assistant.
Ashish Basuray was selected to attend the inaugural Future Faculty Workshop, hosted by Dr. Rick McCullough and Dr. Tim Swager at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The workshop facilitated skills sets required for the transition to an academic position, focusing on integrating minority scientists into mainstream academic research positions. Ashish presented current research findings on the synthesis of the Molecular Borromean Ring Metal-Organic Frameworks.
Michael Ambrogio presented his most recent research findings entitled, "Enzyme-Triggered Biocompatible Nanovalves," and the Northwestern University Department of Chemistry Industrial Associates Conference Poster Session
Ognjen Miljanic, a postdoctoral researcher in the Stoddart group, has accepted a position at the University of Houston. He will be leaving us to start his appointment in August of 2008. His group will study (a) metallocene-based anion sensors and (b) organization of nucleobases in 3D and 2D space. Visit Ognjens sleek new website at http://nsm.uh.edu/~miljanic. Best of luck, Ognjen!
During the Feynman Prize Luncheon on Tuesday 9 October 2007 in Arlington Virginia at a two-day conference on Productive Nanosystems: Launching the Technology Roadmap, it became known that, while the 2007 Foresight Institute Feynman Prize for Experimental Molecular Nanotechnology went to Fraser, the one in Theoretical Molecular Nanotechnology went to David Leigh (1984–1987), the Forbes Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh. David and Fraser will give their award lectures back-to-back on the following day, Wednesday 10 October, in the Doubletree Hotel Crystal City (300 Army more...
The Institute of Nanotechnology (IoN) played host, with its Chief Executive Officer, Ottilia Saxl, in the chair, to a guest lecture given by Fraser on "Chemistry and Molecular Nanotechnology for Tomorrow's World" at the Institute of Physics, 76 Portland Place, London on the evening of Thursday 13 September 2007. At the dinner – for 40 or so – which followed the lecture, after-dinner speeches were made by David Brickwood (Postgraduate Student at the University of Sheffield from 1970 to 1973), Larry Cullen (Postgraduate Student at the University of Sheffield from 1985 to 1989) and Stuart more...
Rising Third Year Graduate student, Travis Gasa, started his first day at Northwestern University on 10 September 2007, as the first member of the Stoddart group to transition from UCLA to the Department of Chemistry at NU. Travis journey has become the role model for the upcoming Pioneer Group to emulate. Thanks Travis and be sure to write every now and then!
The members of the Interdisciplinary Committee of the World Cultural Council announced today, Friday 7 September 2007, that Fraser has been selected as the winner of the ALBERT EINSTEIN World Award of Science 2007. This recognition is for his outstanding and pioneering work in molecular recognition and self-assembly and the introduction of quick and efficient template-directed synthetic routes to mechanically interlocked molecular compounds which have changed the way chemists think about molecular switches and machines. It is a prize that also recognizes the educational impact that Fraser has made, more...
Fraser and Fiona hosted a party for about 50 friends and "extended family" down at the Stoddart Retreat on Cape Cod in North Falmouth on the evening of Wednesday 22 August 2007. One of the star attractions was James Fraser the Second's train set. Kirsten Griffiths, Claire Yates and Stuart Rowan helped Fiona organize the party. Thanks to Kirsten, Claire, Stuart and Fiona!
A Symposium on the Chemistry of the Mechanical Bond and Beyond was run by the Division of Organic Chemistry to mark Fraser's 65th Birthday. Organized by Stuart Rowan, David Leigh and Jon Preece on Monday 20 August 2007 at the 234th ACS National Meeting in Boston, it brought the following speakers to the podium — Omar Yaghi, Douglas Philp, Francisco Raymo, Bill Goddard, Bruce Gibb, Jovica Badjic, David Reinhoudt, Hsien-Rong Tseng, David Leigh and yours truly. more...
The American Chemical Society announced the ACS 2008 National Award Winners in the 20 August 2007 issue of C&EN. On p 74, James F. Stoddart is listed as the recipient of the Arthur C Cope Award. Fraser will be honored along with all the other 2008 recipients, at the Awards Ceremony on Tuesday 8 April 2008 in conjunction with the 235th more...
All gave poster presentations and Ivan Aprahamian, Ognjen Miljanic and Claire Yates gave oral and poster presentations at the 234th ACS National Meeting on 19-23 August 2007 held in Boston.
A special symposium in Honor of Sir Fraser Stoddart was held under the auspices of the Division of Polymer Chemistry at the 234th ACS National Meeting in Boston on Sunday 19 August 2007. The speakers were Craig Hawker, Wayne Hayes, Stuart Rowan, Howard Colquhoun, Al Nelson, Makoto Fujita, Alexander Star, Marcus Weck and Bob Grubbs. This highly successful event was organized by Stuart Rowan. Many thanks Stuart!
On the Sunday evening of August 19, 2007, yet another 65th birthday party was held for Fraser by Fraser for the speakers performing at the two symposia (vide supra and vide infra) and group members past and present who were not defending posters at the Sel de La Terre restaurant in Boston. The event was organized by Kirsten Griffiths, who could not attend because of the competing poster session, and Fraser's elder daughter Fiona. Many thanks Kirsten and Fiona!
With Fraser's acceptance on 15 August 2007 of an invitation to join the Northwestern University (NU) faculty as a Board of Trustees Professor of Chemistry, the Stoddart group is planning its phased move to Evanston, starting with the first scout (Travis Gasa) arriving in the Department of Chemistry at NU on 10 September 2007. He will be followed by a group of pioneers in early October. They will prepare the newly refurbished research laboratories and office more...
The Executive Board of Editors and Elsevier, the Publisher of Tetrahedron Publications, have announced that the Tetrahedron Prize for Creativity in Organic Chemistry for 2007 has been awarded to Fraser in recognition of his creative fundamental research in catenane and rotaxane chemistry and its extension into functioning molecular machinery and nanotechnology. The prize will be presented to Fraser at the Fall more...
During the 2nd International Symposium on Macrocyclic and Supramolecular Chemistry held in Salice Terme, Italy from 24-28, June 2007, Fraser and Graduate Student Cari Pentecost were privileged to be given a private tour (thanks to Luigi Fabbrizzi!) of the Collegio Borromeo in Pavia, Italy on Wednesday 27 June guided by Giorgio Mellerio, Professor of Organic Chemistry and Vice-Rector of the College. They discovered that the artists treat topology with gay abandon: only 1 out of 10 images of the Borromean Rings are Brunnian links in the Collegio Borromeo. more...
At the UCLA Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Commencement on Saturday 16 June 2007, Cari Pentecost received the Saul Winstein Prize, awarded for her outstanding dissertation on "Molecular Borromean Rings and Solomon Links." Congratulations again Cari!
On Wednesday 13 June 2007, Fraser made his way to Buckingham Palace for an investiture accompanied by his two daughters, Fiona (McCubbin) and Alison Stoddart, and David Leigh, a former group member from the Sheffield days and now the Forbes Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh. Here is Fraser's recollection of his meeting with The Queen –
Lord Chamberlain: "May I present to Your Majesty, Professor Sir Fraser Stoddart, for Services to Chemistry and Molecular Nanotology" (The last word is not misspelt)
Final year graduate student, Cari Pentecost was one of only two such students to receive a 2007 UCLA Outstanding Graduate Student Award. Recipients are chosen for their academic excellence, research contributions, and leadership on behalf of graduate students at UCLA, as well as for their service to the university and the community. Cari was honored on two occasions, firstly at a party held at the Chancellor's Residencemore...
To celebrate Fraser's 65th Birthday in 2007, David Leigh, the Forbes Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh, with help from Stuart Cantrill, Amar Flood, Wayne Hayes, Douglas Philp, Jon Preece, Stuart Rowan, and Alison Stoddart, held a special – and fun – symposium in the School of Chemistry at Edinburgh University where Fraser obtained his BSc (1964) and PhD (1966) Degrees. The symposium began late afternoon on Wednesday 6 June and ran through to the Saturday evening of 9 June 2007. more...
Borromean Rings (BRs) have long fascinated scholars of all disciplines for their wide cultural appeal and unique topology. Undergraduate students are no exception and so Graduate Student Cari Pentecost, working with Undergrad Nick Tangchaivang, has modified the reported experimental procedure (Sciencemore...
During the International Conference on Molecular Machines and Sensors organized at the East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST) by He Tian in the period of May 7–9, 2007, there was an early 65th Birthday Party Celebration at the Banquet on the evening of Tuesday 8 May. Fraser was entertained in many different ways and showered with presents, including the biggest (hand-painted) fan he had ever seen. Many thanks to He Tian!
William Dichtel, Kaushik Patel, Jason Spruell, Ying-Wei Yang and Yan-Li Zhao all gave poster presentations at the Foundations of Nanoscience 2007 (FNANO 07) event on April 18–21, 2007 which was held at the Snowbird Cliff Lodge, Snowbird, Utah.
Following his King Faisal Memorial Lecture on "The Mechanical Bond in Chemistry" at the King Abd Al-Aziz City of Science and Technology in Riyadh on Tuesday 17 April 2007, Fraser was presented with the Jabir ibn Hayyan (Geber) Medal by the Saudi Chemical Society. Jabir ibn Hayyan was a prominent Arab alchemist in the 8th Century. He has been referred to as "the father of Arab Chemistry." He is widely credited with the introduction of the experimental method more...
Accompanied by Youssry (U3) Botros, an Intel secondee to UCLA, Fraser made his way First Class to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia on Thursday 12 April 2007. They arrived in this place of gardens and trees and met up with Fraser's younger daughter Alison, and her boyfriend Dr Mikey Ho. The week that followed was a never-to-be forgotten experience. The grandeur and oppulance of the Al-Faisaliah Hotel! The butlers! The Prince Sultan Grand Hall at the Al-Faisaliah Center where the Prize Award Ceremony took place. Fraser received more...
Ivan Aprahamian, William Dichtel, Phil Haussmann, Ognjen Miljanic, Cari Pentecost, Jishan Wu, Claire Yates and Yan-Li Zhao gave poster presentations at the 3rd Annual Frontiers in NanoSystems on March 19–21, 2007 in Kauai, Hawaii. Photos from the event can be found here!
As he prepares to receive his Knighthood, Ottilia Saxl, the Founder and Chief Executive of the Institute of Nanotechnology (IoN), asks Sir Fraser Stoddart, Director of the California NanoSystems Institute about his Eureka moment, why making molecules is like playing with Lego, and what still gets him up at 5am! The article is on p 32 in the first issue of NanoNow! which can be found here.
So reads the title of a News Feature (Nature2007, 445, 362) by Philip Ball in the 25 January Issue of Nature where a Letter (Nature2007, 445, 414) describes an array which is no bigger than a single white blood cell, yet it contains 160,000 memory cells - made up of around a couple of hundred bistable rotaxane molecules - each with an area of just under 300 nanometers square - some 40 times smaller than those in existing devices. This density of memory matches potentially the more...
The King Faisal Foundation have just announced that Professor Stoddart, director of the California NanoSystems Institute and Fred Kavli Chair of NanoSystems Sciences, is the winner of the King Faisal International Prize in Science for 2007. Visit the
CNSI and the UCLA
Newsroom for more information.
The Solomon's Knot is carved, sculpted, stitched, crocheted, knitted, inlaid, and beaded in cultural relics from Europe, the Middle East and elsewhere, according to Lois Rose Rose, author of "Seeing Solomon's Knot" and a UCLA graduate. It is found in numerous buildings on the UCLA campus, including floor tiles and on the wooden ceilings inside UCLA's Powell Library. They can also be located on the outside architecture of UCLA's Haine's Hall and Moore Hall. Now, final-year graduate student, Cari Pentecost, has made molecular rings in the shape of King Solomon's more...
The Younger Chemists
Committee (YCC) of the American Chemical Society (ACS) have selected Kirsten Griffiths for a Leadership Development Award to support her participation in the YCC Leadership Development Workshop to be held in Baltimore, MD from Friday 26 January to Sunday 28 January 2007. Many congratulations Kirsten! We will look to you for even more leadership in the future.
"If they followed protocol, his students could call him Sir Fraser," says the Los Angeles Times article, announcing the knighthood, bestowed by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of Britain upon Professor Fraser Stoddart for Services to Chemistry and Molecular Nanotechnology. For one who does not take easily to firsts, it is ironic that he might be the first UCLA professor to become a Knight Bachelor!
Other Knights and Dames in LA include Dame Julie Andrews, Sir Clive Granger, Sir Eldon Griffiths, Sir Anthony more...
The molecular Solomon link, which is destined to appear in the first bumper issue of
Angewandte Chemie for 2007, was featured in Research Highlights in Nature on 7 December 2006.
Fraser Stoddart received an Honorary Doctorate for his crucial contributions to supramolecular chemistry and nanotechnology from the University of Twente on 1 December 2006. The oration was given by David Reinhoudt. Fraser used as his text for his address, Shakespeare's Soliloquy in "As You Like It" (Act II, Scene 7) on the seven ages of man's life.
Final year graduate student, Cari Pentecost, received a prize for her poster at the 2006 Seaborg Symposium held at UCLA on 4 November 2006. Congratulations Cari!
All gave oral and poster presentations and Diego Benitez, William Dichtel and Claire Yates gave poster presentations at the 232nd National American Chemical Society on 10-14 September 2006 held in San Francisco.
The mechanically interlocked molecular bundles obtained by dynamic covalent chemistry and reported in Organic Letters (2006, 8, 3899) were an Editors Choice in the 18 August 2006 issue of Science.
Celica Ronconi has been appointed as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Inorganic Chemistry at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Congratulations Celia!
All presented posters at the 1st Joint International Symposium on Macrocyclic and Supramolecular Chemistry (ISMSC) which was held on 25–30 June 2006 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Claire Yates was the outright winner of the poster competition. Congratulations Claire!
On 20 June 2006 at a Graduation Ceremony in the McEwan Hall, Fraser Stoddart received the Alumnus of the Year 2005 Award from the University of Edinburgh. The award was created to acknowledge the achievements of the Universitys former students and is presented for service to the community, achievements in the arts or sciences, or for their contribution to business, public or academic life.
At the UCLA Deptartment of Chemistry and Biochemistry Commencement on 17 June 2006, Brian Northrop received the prestigious Thomas L and Ruth F Jacobs Award. Congratulations Brian!
Fourth year graduate student, Cari Pentecost, has been selected by the UCLA Graduate Division to receive a prestigious Dissertation Year Fellowship. Congratulations Cari!
We have just learned that Kelly Chichak (Postdoctoral Scholar from 2002 - 2005) has been chosen to receive a University of Alberta Alumni Association Horizon Award. This award recognizes the outstanding achievements of alumni, in their community and beyond, in the early stages of their careers. Kelly is one of five awardees that will be presented with the honor at a gala ceremony on Thursday 28 September 2006 at the prestigious Francis Winspear Center for Music located in downtown Edmonton. Congratulations again Kelly!
Fast on the heels of the groups 750th publication, Fraser has learnt that he has been elected to serve as a Foreign Member of the Science Division (Chemistry Section) of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. This honor is one which Fraser says he is going to treasure for it associates him with Dutch chemists whom he considers to be amongst some of the very best chemists of his generation.
Fraser, an estranged Edinbugger, and Douglas Philp, a displaced Weegie compared the emergence of nanotechnology with the golden age of Victorian railway engineers in the last CNSI seminar of the present academic year at UCLA. The seminar, which was entitled "Engineering Big Time: There is Plenty of Room at the Top," took place in La Kretz Hall 110 on Tuesday 30 May 2006. The seminar was followed by a CNSI-hosted reception in the Court of Sciences.
Fraser played host on Monday 22 May 2006 to the current members of the Stoddart group, as well as to the dedicated staff of the California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) and the hard-working graduate student members of the Spring 2006 Cume Class to celebrate the first 750 publications by the Stoddart group. Thanks to the many past group members who sent material that was presented at the party. Douglas Philp (Sheffield/Birmingham Postgraduate student 1989/93), who is in the middle of a two-month sabbatical leave from St Andrews University to UCLA, was the honored guest.
Kelly Chichak (Postdoctoral Researcher from 2002-2005), now a Research Scientist in the Nanotechnology Group at General Electric Global Research, will return to the UCLA Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry on Wednesday 10 May 2006 to receive a Certificate of Excellence for his synthesis of the first wholly synthetic molecular Borromean Ring (BR) compounds and his research on the supramolecular chemistry of carbon nanotubes. This long overdue recognition by UCLA is well deserved. Congratulations Kelly!
Kelly Chichak (Postdoctoral Scholar from 2002 - 2005) received the Amgen Postdoctoral Award from Nobel Laureate Paul Boyer at the 2006 Postdoctoral Recognition Awards Ceremony and Reception on Wednesday 10 May 2006 sponsored by the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the Molecular Biology Institute at UCLA. Well done Kelly!
We were delighted to learn recently that Wayne Hayes (Postgraduate Student at the University of Birmingham from 1992 to 1996) has been promoted to Reader in Chemistry at the University of Reading. Congratulations Wayne!
Fraser gave the UCLA Science Faculty Research Colloquium entitled "Science Engineered by Art" in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at UCLA on Thursday 4 May 2006.
Jason Spruell has been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship to support his research on "Artificial Molecular Muscles" over the next three years. Jason joined the Stoddart group from the University of Alabama back in September of last year. This early recognition by the NSF is well deserved. Congratulations Jason!
Just like the song says, "You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave". After several years of shuttling back and forth, Yi Liu (Graduate Student from 2000-2005) will check out shortly from Room SD at Hotel California and will move to Room SF passing by the old LA Room on the way. On June 5th, Yi will take up a position as an Independent Principal Investigator at the Molecular Foundry, a state-of-the-art research facility at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) where he will move into an office overlooking the San Francisco Bay in a brand new, six-story, $85 million, more...
Hard on the heels of celebrating the second birthday of James Fraser the Second in Belmont MA on Friday 31 March 2006, James Fraser the First received the 44th Mack Memorial Award from the Department of Chemistry at Ohio State University on Monday 3 April 2006. His award lecture was entitled "Whither Molecular Electronics." The occasion coincided with the publication by Jovica Badjic (postdoctoral researcher at UCLA from 2001 to 2004) of his first independent full paper in the Journal of the American Chemical Society on the "Design, Synthesis and Conformational Dynamics of a Gated Molecular Basket." more...
Douglas Philp (Sheffield 1989/91 & Birmingham 1991/93), Reader in Chemistry at the University of St. Andrews is the recipient of the Saltire Society Scottish Award 2005 sponsored by Scottish & Newscastle. The award (founded in 1989) is presented annually to a distinguished scientist in mid-career who has lived and worked continuously in Scotland for not less than five years, or is of Scottish descent. The Saltire Society seeks to recognize those who are making major contributions to science and who are able to communicate their scientific results to the wider public. Douglas will give a public more...
We were delighted to learn recently that Steven Langford (Ramsay Memorial Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Birmingham from 1993 to 1995) has been promoted to the position of Professor of Organic Chemistry at Monash University.
Many thanks to all those who voted for the inside cover of issue 27 of Chemical Communications in the covert 2005 ChemComm Cover Competition run by RSC Publishing. To find out more about how Borromeates can be turned into Borromeands, see Publication #719.
CAS Scientists have highlighted Linear Artificial Molecular Muscles and Template-Directed Olefin Cross Metathesis as the most "intriguing" documents for the third quarter of 2005. See Publications #723 and #730, respectively. CAS Scientists, who analyze over 200,000 documents in nearly 9,500 journals and 50 patent-issuing authorities, characterize a document that is "intriguing" if it contains new, novel or trendsetting scientific research that is likely to be of growing interest over time.
General Education (GE) at UCLA is using the Borromean Rings (BRs) graphical representation from the 28 May 2004 issue of Science as its logo in association with a short quote from Martin Luther King (MLK) that reads, "To save man from the morass of propaganda, in my opinion, is one of the chief aims of education. Education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence, to discern the true from the false, the real from the unreal, and the facts from the fiction. The function of education, therefore, is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. But education which stops with efficiency more...
On his first visit to Oklahoma, Fraser Stoddart gave the J Clarence Karcher Lecture entitled "Whither Molecular Electronics," in the Deptartment of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Oklahoma on Thursday 16 February 2006.
In the 23 January 2006 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the Stoddart group - in collaboration with the Balzani group at the University of Bologna in Italy - reported the operation of an autonomous artificial nanomotor powered by sunlight. This article is also featured in the Science & Technology Concentrates in the 30 January 2006 issue of Chemical & Engineering News.
For the period from January 1995 to October 31, 2005, Fraser Stoddart is ranked by the Thomson Scientific Institute as the Third Most-Cited Researcher in Chemistry with a total of 12,760 citations from 306 papers at a frequency of 41.7 citations per paper.
Stuart Cantrill shared the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Hanson-Dow Award for Excellence in Teaching with Professor Yung-Ya Lin of the Physical Chemistry Division. Stuart received this award in recognition of his dedication to the teaching of introductory organic chemistry to undergraduate students at UCLA.
Fraser Stoddart gave the 2005 Carnegie Trust Centenary Chair Lecture at the University of Edinburgh on Thursday 3 November 2005. The Visiting Chairs Program was established in 2001 to celebrate the centenary of the foundation of the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland. These are prestige appointments intended to enable leading scholars to visit Scotland and contribute to the enhancement of academic work in the Universities of Scotland.
Stuart Cantrill, Lecturer at UCLA and long–standing member of the Stoddart Group, will join the Nature Publishing Group in January 2006, as an Associate Editor with Nature Nanotechnology. This latest venture to come out of the Nature stable will be launched in October 2006.
Theresa Chang (1998-2003) and James Matthews (2003-2004), who have been carrying out postdoctoral research in the research group of E. W. (Bert) Meijer at the Eindhoven University of Technology in The Netherlands, will be joining Corning in New York State.
All presented posters at 11th International Symposium on Novel Aromatic Compounds (ISNA-11) that was held on 14-18 August 2005 in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada. Brian Northrop was the outright winner of the poster competition.
Fraser Stoddart has been selected as a 2005 Thomson Scientific Laureate in the field of chemistry. This is the fourth year in a row that Fraser has been named such.
For the period from January 1995 to June 30, 2005, Fraser Stoddart is ranked by the Thomson Scienctific Institute as the Third Most-Cited Researcher in Chemistry with a total of 11,993 citations from 296 papers at a frequency of 40.52 citations per paper.
She was awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Integrated Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) Materials Creation Training Program (MCTP) Fellowship. The program involves several materials chemistry related laboratory and classroom courses, as well as the opportunity to partake in an internship outside of UCLA.
Fraser Stoddart has been awarded the University of Edinburgh Alumnus of the Year 2005 Award. The Award is presented to a former student of Edinburgh University for services to the community, or for achievements in the arts or sciences, or for their contribution to business, public or academic life. Previous winners have included Lord Steel of Aikwood, novelist Ian Rankin, and double Olympic medalist Katherine Grainger. Fraser will receive the Award at a Graduation Ceremony in the McEwan Hall on Tuesday 20 June 2006.
Fraser Stoddart received the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science at the Degree Congregation at the University of Birmingham held on Friday 15 July. The oration was given by Professor Peter Rock. Frasers address to the congregated was entitiled "Changing Places".
She had the opportunity to represent the Stoddart Group as part of the US delegation to the 55th Annual Meeting of Nobel Laureates and Students in Lindau, Germany from 26 June to 1 July 2005. This interdisciplinary meeting brought together more than 50 Nobel Laureates and 600 students/young scientists to discuss the international implications of science in mainstream society.
The hurly-burly life of a scientific nomad is traced through thick and thin from the Athens of the North to the City of Angels with brief and not so brief interludes on the edge of the Canadian Shield, in the Socialist Republic of South Yorkshire, on the Plains of Cheshire beside the Wirral, and in the Midlands in the heartland of Albion. For more on the scientific career of Fraser Stoddart to date, see the July 2005 issue of Pure and Applied Chemistry.
Fraser Stoddart and Jim Heath have been awarded the Arthur K Doolittle Award which recognizes the best paper, based on scientific content, significance to the field, mechanics of presentation, and the quality of the reprint presented at the 2004 American Chemical Society (ACS) Meeting in the Division of Polymeric Materials Science and Engineering (PMSE) held in Anaheim in April 2004. The award was presented to Jim and Fraser at the PMSE Award Luncheon at the Spring ACS Meeting in San Diego in March 2005.
He has received an American Chemical Society (ACS) Division of Organic Chemistry (DOC) Graduate Fellowship, sponsored by the Nelson J Leonard ACS DOC fellowship, which is sponsored by Organic Syntheses, Inc. for the 2005-06 academic year. The fellowship will give Brian the opportunity to attend the National Organic Symposium in June 2007 and present his research.
The molecular Borromean rings are featured on the cover of the 20 December 2004 issue of Chemical & Engineering News. It is highlighted as one of the key advances in Supramolecular Chemistry in 2004.
The molecular elevator is one of the key advances in Nanotechnology and Materials highlighted in the 20 December 2004 issue of Chemical & Engineering News.
Fraser Stoddart is featured on the homepage of the UCLA College website along with a nanoscience article that was published in the UCLA College Report dated 19 August 2004.
Fraser Stoddart received the Tenth Nagoya Gold Medal from Professor Ryoji Noyori at the 15th International Conference on Organic Synthesis held during the 2004 IUPAC Meeting in Nagoya, Japan. He delivered his award lecture entitled "The Nature of the Mechanical Bond" on Wednesday 4 August 2004.
A feature article entitled "Olympiade der Moleküle" describing some of the Stoddart groups more exotic interlocked molecules — e.g. Olympiadane, a Molecular Elevator, and the Molecular Borromean Rings, — appeared in the German national newspaper, Die Welt, on Tuesday 27 July 2004. The article was written by Barbara Witthuhn.
The event was held on the UCLA campus from Tuesday 22 June to Saturday 26 June 2005 and included a Memorial Service for Norma arranged in the UCLA Faculty Club on the Wednesday by the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. A special thanks to all who helped organize and participated in this event. Norma would have been proud of everyone but somewhat embarrased by an event that was focused on her.
In the 28 May 2004 issue of Science, the Stoddart Group — in collaboration with the Atwood group at the University of Missouri, Columbia — report the self-assembly of molecular Borromean rings from 18 components by the template-directed formation of 12 imine and 30 dative bonds, associated with the coordination of three interlocked macrocycles, each tetranucleating and decadentate overall, to a total of six zinc (II) ions, in near quantitative yield. For more information, see the orginal article and visit the UCLA College Report dated 1 June 2004.
In the 19 March 2004 issue of Science, the Stoddart group — in collaboration with the Balzani group at the University of Bologna in Italy — report the incrementally staged design, synthesis, characterization, and operation of a molecular machine that behaves like a nanoscale elevator. For more information, see the original article and visit the UCLA College Report dated 22 March 2004.
