Nanoparticle structure, nanoparticle chemistry, novel nanoparticle synthesis strategies, applications of nanoparticles to biological imaging.

His research interests at Colorado State will focus on the thermodynamics of nanoscale self-assembly processes in block copolymer composite materials and their applications in a variety of environments, including polymer-based photovoltaics, bio-enzymatic fuel cells, chemical and biological sensing devices, targeted chemical delivery, and hydrogel-based shape memory materials.

The design and study of new catalysts and catalytic processes with applications for pharmaceutical, natural product and industrial chemical synthesis.

Our research is focused on addressing environmental problems from a local to global scale. We develop and apply advanced spectrometry (e.g., FT-ICR MS), microscopy, and spectroscopy (e.g., XAS) techniques to characterize complex environmental systems. Our research is interdisciplinary and includes a big team of scientists and engineers.

Polymer Science, Sustainable Chemistry, and Homogeneous Catalysis: Intrinsically recyclable & bio-derived sustainable polymers; chemical synthesis of biodegradable microbial plastics; precision (living and stereoselective & chemoselective) polymer synthesis; Lewis pair polymerization methodology for compounded sequence control; metal-catalyzed coordination polymerization for chiral polymers; organocatalysis for biomass conversion to fuels, chemicals & materials.

Molecular biophysics; reaction kinetics on membrane surfaces; single-molecule imaging; time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy.

Bioinorganic, Bioorganic, Physical Organic Chemistries, with focuses on characterization of menaquinone metabolism and ihibition of electron transport in tuberculosis bacteria, vanadium containing anti-diabetic and anti-malarial compounds, microemulsion drug-membrane interaction studies, copper (II) amyloid-beta and peptide complexation studies, and spectroscopic techniques including 1D and 2D NMR, EPR, fluorescence and IR.

Organometallic Chemistry, Catalysis, Inorganic Chemistry: The design of new asymmetric catalytic reactions from an electronic structure perspective; Mechanistic investigation of organic transformations catalyzed by open-shell first-row transition metal complexes; Isolation and characterization of reactive organometallic species for small-molecule activation.

Indoor and outdoor atmospheric chemistry; Instrument development & high resolution mass spectrometry; Field and laboratory measurements of reactive trace gases and particles and their interactions with the biosphere

Chemical catalysis, nanoparticle research, energy research and kinetics and mechanism

Bioanalytical chemistry; environmental chemistry; chemical separations; microscale chemical instrumentation; capillary electrophoresis; biosensor development; paper-based analytical devices; microfluidics

Organic Chemistry: research leverages organic chemistry to design advanced polymeric materials for applications in sustainability, catalysis, and soft materials. Focus on recyclable soft materials, de novo polymer-based catalyst design, and improving the degradability of radically-derived polymers

Molecular recognition, self-assembly, development of novel biological recognition motifs, construction of synthetic receptors for small molecules of biological interest, design of catalytic peptides.

Develop computational catalyst design and apply computational tools to both enzymatic and catalytic conversion processes of sustainable chemicals and polymers from plants (biomass) for a new bio-energy infrastructure. Mechanism-driven discovery of biopolymer upgrading and material design via molecular and quantum mechanics. Machine learning approach in catalyst design, and (bio)fuel and chemical property prediction tool kit development.

Structure & dynamics in condensed phase systems; two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy.

Dynamics of molecules and chemistry in the condensed phase, especially molecular assemblies, molecules in confined environments. Fundamental properties and processes governing cryopreservation.

Synthetic chemistry, new reaction development, heterocyclic chemistry, organophosphorus chemistry, dearomatized intermediates, catalytic reactions

Prof. Menoni’s research bridges from material to optical sciences. She is engaged in the growth and characterization of high bandgap oxide materials for the engineering of interference coatings for high power lasers. She is also actively involved in using bright coherent beams of light of wavelengths between 10-50 nm for optics applications such as imaging and ablation.

organic chemistry, catalysis, polymer science

New materials and methodologies involving solid-state and solution-phase reactions, particularly those involving kinetic control. We study structure/property relationships of materials (e.g., magnetism, electrical transport) using advanced synchrotron X-ray and time-of-flight neutron scattering and spectroscopic methods.

The Paton group uses computational and data-driven approaches to make synthetic chemistry more predictable. We develop tools to predict molecular properties, design new functional molecules and optimize synthetic routes. Our approach combines quantum mechanical calculations, physical organic chemistry and machine learning.

Electrochemical synthesis of inorganic bulk and nanoscale materials, low-temperature solid-state chemistry, nanomaterials.

Theoretical characterization of reaction mechanisms in homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis, new electronic structure techniques, development of force fields or model potentials for chemical reactivity studies.

Atmospheric chemistry via studies in gas phase kinetics and photochemistry, heterogeneous chemistry, atmospheric field observations, and analyses of modeling results; Furthering understanding of the earth’s atmosphere, diagnosing, understanding of, and providing solutions to environmental issues of the stratospheric ozone depletion, air quality, and climate change; Provide new insights into gas phase chemical reactions, reactions on surfaces and in liquids, and photochemical processes; Developing new experimental methods both for laboratory studies and atmospheric measurements.

Multidisciplinary chemical design and fabrication of biomimetic materials for use in medical device applications. Research work includes: synthesis of organic and inorganic compounds including small-molecule therapeutics, polymers, and extended frameworks; analytical studies utilizing fluorescence, chemiluminesence, zeta potential, and LC/MS-TOF; fabrication and engineering of materials; biomedical efficacy and toxicity studies.

The Sambur group synthesizes nanomaterials and develops imaging techniques to correlate chemical and structural properties with function/performance.

Coordination and organometallic complex synthesis and characterization: environmental control of spin-crossover properties; single-molecule magnets; solar photochemistry employing earth-abundant materials.

Computational design, simulation, and experimental validation of new enzymes, and crystalline biomolecular assemblies. We convert porous protein crystals into “3D molecular pegboards” for the controlled assembly of nanoparticles, enzymes, fluorescent proteins, oligonucleotides, and other functional molecules.

Statistical mechanics, dynamics of colloidal and polymeric fluids, structure and dynamics of colloidal fluids under non-uniform flow conditions.

Analytical and Physical Chemistry; DNA and RNA biophysics; Nanoscience; Single Molecule Detection and Spectroscopy; Optical, Scanning Probe, and Electron Microscopy; Super-Resolution Imaging

Atmospheric chemical transformations in gas and particle phases using online mass spectrometry techniques. Understanding the sources and sinks of volatile organic compounds in the surface ocean, emission to the atmosphere and atmospheric fate. Atmospheric aerosol formation and growth, and chemistry-climate interactions. Instrument development to answer fundamental questions in atmospheric chemistry in both field and laboratory experiments.

Laser optical techniques for analysis of cell surface phenomena; microcalorimetry

Conformation and potential energy surfaces of isolated and solvated non-rigid molecules, nucleation, growth, and structure of van der Waals clusters in the gas phase, energy dynamics and chemical reaction in van der Waals clusters, spectroscopy of reactive intermediates, metal oxide cluster catalysis, saccharides, neurotransmitters

Plasma chemistry, reactivity of radicals with surfaces using LIF and molecular beam techniques. Plasma polymerization deposition and etching of materials. Characterization of plasma synthesized thin films.

Organic synthesis, organometallic chemistry.

Organic and biological chemistry, new synthetic methodology, synthesis of chemically and biologically interesting natural products and study of their molecular mechanisms of action, study of enzymatic reaction mechanisms and development of therapeutic agents.

Alkaloid chemistry, natural product isolation, characterization, synthesis and biosynthesis, chemical ecology, plant-insect interactions.

Fundamental and applied aspects of synthetic inorganic, analytical and environmental chemistry; fluorinated superweak ions; selective fluorination and chlorination of fullerenes; pollution prevention; infrared sensors for environmental and industrial applications; redox-cyclable ion-exchange; layered materials; metal carbonyls

Investigation of techniques and procedures for low cost under graduate laboratory education, chemical education, amthocyanin chemistry, atmospheric aerosols.

Teaching Responsibilities: General Chemistry, Problem Solving in General Chemistry, Introductory Seminar in Chemistry, Honors Seminar: Water Science