Welcome to 2024!
Team SLiThEr has been hard at work arranging SLiThErs for this spring, and our first one will be in one week's time!
The presenter will be friend of IONiC George Stanley, and the title is "What to do when your published results are questioned". We will meet at 4pm Eastern (1 pm Pacific, 2 mountain, 3 central) on Thurs Feb 8th, a week from today.
I regularly give an oral exam instead of a written exam in my junior and senior level organometallics seminar course. The course focuses on the primary literature, discussion of advanced topics, and asking questions. A written exam would not evaluate the students' abilities on the important skill development they learned in the class. Besides, I am better able to gauge when a student has no idea about a certain topic, or just needs a little nudge in order for them to demonstrate that they actually understand 95% of it.
The Tonks group has helped to revitalize interest in early metal, especially titanium, organometallic chemistry in recent years. Often his group uses Ti complexes for multi-component coupling, increasingly with masked low-valent Ti(II) as an important intermediate. This paper is more fundamental, exploring a ligand based on ortho-terphenoxide since the meta- and para- derivatives were already known. Along the way, they report some interesting NMR and structural information, and finish with some hydroamination catalysis.
When I saw this paper come out, I thought it would make a great teaching paper. It has synthesis, characterization, reaction mechanisms, computational chemistry and it directly impacts catalysis by a thorough examination of the reductive elimination reaction. What are the factors governing the rate of C-C RE? Can geometry (sterics) control reactivity or is it only based on the hybridization (sp2/sp3) of the carbon atom in question (electronics)?
Please join us on November 16th at 4:00 pm EST (1:00 pm PST) for a presentation and discussion with Professor Marilyn Mackiewicz from Oregon State University titled “Inclusive Leadership: Your role in Creating Cultures of Belonging Where Everyone Can Thrive”.
Please join us for SLiThEr #56: What can CUR do for you? on October 26th at 4:00pm EST.
Have you ever wondered what resources are available to you at the Council of Undergraduate Research (CUR)? Come out and join us as Bridget Gourley (DePauw University), Joe Reczek (Denison University), and Kari Stone (Lewis University) discuss getting involved in CUR from the perspectives of a long-time representative, the chair of the chemistry division of CUR, and a fairly new division representative. Sign up here.
I saw Amanda Cook present this work (and another paper, Organometallics, 2022, 41, 997) at the Organometallics Gordon Conference in summer 2023 and while I was furiously taking notes, I knew that I wanted to teach this paper. The paper elucidates the mechanism of oxidative addition of tertiary silanes to palladium zero phosphine complexes.
I am moving away from teaching the Goldberg paper (still one of my favorites) and instead wanted to teach just the highlights as part of my seminar class in organometallic chemistry this fall. I created this shorter version of the activity to use in class. I did NOT have them read the paper in advance, hence the summaries in the LO itself.
Please join us on October 12th at 2 pm Eastern for SLiThEr #55 presented by Judith Currano titled "Chemical information meets artificial intelligence: The continued need for information literacy training". This presentation will be an abridged-version of Judith's recent fall ACS meeting presentation which explores how research search engines perform searches and how to train students to better utilize these resources. Please share this event with your students and register here for the Zoom link: https://forms.gle/G5DsS4YRpN14hA2j8
Join us for SLiThEr #54 with Amanda Reig (Ursinus College), Caleb Tatebe (Presbyterian College), and Ariela Kaspi-Kaneti (University of La Verne) on August 28rd at 3:00pm EST.
In this SLiThEr, our presenters will discuss the process of applying for PUI faculty positions. Our panelists will share their experiences from the points of view of those who have been on search committees and those who have been recently hired. Come learn more about what to expect and bring your questions! Please share this event with anyone you think may be interested!