Department Annual Newsletter

*Indicates Oberlin undergraduate researcher. Presenter is underlined.

J. M. Belitsky, “Melanin-Inspired Chemistry,” Poster Presentation, Bioorganic Chemistry Gordon Research Conference, Andover, NH, June 2026.

J. M. Belitsky, “Melanin Chemistry in the Undergraduate Laboratory,” Poster Presentation, Bioorganic Chemistry Gordon Research Conference, Andover, NH, June 2025.

B. B. Bowers, T. L. Satterfield*, S. Taylor*, I. S. Vigsnes*, “Photochemical Fate of Pharmaceuticals Containing the Trifluoromethyl Group,” Poster Presentation, Gordon Research Conference - Environmental Sciences: Water, Holderness, NH, June 2026.

T. L. Satterfield*, S. R. Taylor*, I. S. Vigsnes*, Bowers, B. B., “Sorption Behavior and Sunlight-Driven Photolysis of Fluorinated Pharmaceuticals (Efavirenz, Fluoxetine, Sitagliptin) in Aqueous Environments,” Poster Presentation, Oberlin Undergraduate Research Symposium, Oberlin, OH, April 2026.

B. B. Bowers, “Fate and Transport of Fluorinated Everyday-Everywhere Chemicals in Natural and Built Environments,” Presentation, John Carroll University Chemistry Seminar, University Heights, OH, February 2026.

B. B. Bowers, “Fate and Transport of Fluorinated Everyday-Everywhere Chemicals in Natural and Built Environments,” Presentation, Cleveland State University Chemistry Seminar, Cleveland, OH, January 2026.

B. B. Bowers, “What Happened to the Ozone Hole?” Presentation, Oberlin Science Café: Lab Coats Not Required, Oberlin, OH, December 2025.

C. M. Oertel, “Local and Global Asymmetries in Hybrid Lead(II) and Tin(II) Halides,” Presentation, North American Solid State Chemistry Conference, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, July 2025.

W. H. Parsons, “Development and application of activity-based probes for rhomboid intramembrane proteases,” Presentation, Case Western Reserve University Chemical Biology Program, Cleveland, OH, June 2026.

A. S. Xie*, G. N. Morais*, E. Koh*, K. Inaba*, W. H. Parsons, “Development of N-methylene-substituted saccharin-derived activity-based probes for serine proteases,” Poster Presentation, American Chemical Society National Meeting, Biological Chemistry Division, Atlanta, GA, March 2026.

R. Duncan*, L. M. Ryno, “Effect of Curli on E. coli Biofilm Growth with Carbohydrates,” Presentation, Oberlin Undergraduate Research Symposium, Oberlin, OH, April 2026.

L. M. Ryno, “Carbohydrate-induced transcriptomic and pH changes influence biofilm formation and antibiotic response in E. coli,” Presentation, American Chemical Society National Meeting, Organic Chemistry Division, Atlanta, GA, March 2026.

M. Foley*, G. Marino Garcia*, L. M. Ryno, “Understanding the role of lactose, glucose, and galactose on E. coli biofilm growth, composition, and antibiotic sensitivity,” Poster Presentation, American Chemical Society National Meeting, Biological Chemistry Division, Atlanta, GA, March 2026.

D. Hwang*, J. Bader*, L. M. Ryno, “D-Ribose changes extracellular protein composition of E. coli biofilms,” Poster Presentation, American Chemical Society National Meeting, Biological Chemistry Division, Atlanta, GA, March 2026.

K. Johnstone*, L. M. Ryno, “Role of Efflux Pumps in E. coli Biofilm Formation, Growth, and Antibiotic Susceptibility in Response to Environmental Sugars,” Poster Presentation, American Chemical Society National Meeting, Biological Chemistry Division, Atlanta, GA, March 2026.

R. A. Saylor, M. Allen, Y. Feng, A. Lupatkin, E. L. Rigby, “Progress toward development of separations-based platform to interrogate neurochemical systems in the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans,” Poster Presentation, Bioanalytical Sensors Gordon Research Conference, Newport, RI, June 2026.

R. A. Saylor, E. L. Rigby, M. Allen, and A. Lupatkin, “To fluoresce or not to fluoresce: Progress toward interrogating neurochemical systems in the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans,” Plenary Presentation, American Chemical Society Meeting in Miniature, Cleveland, OH, March 2026.

R. A. Saylor, E. L. Rigby, M. Allen, and A. Lupatkin, “Investigating neurochemical systems in the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans,” Presentation, Cleveland State University Department of Chemistry, Cleveland, OH, February 2026.

R. A. Saylor, E. L. Rigby, P. Gonzalez Quevedo, M. Allen, and A. Lupatkin, “To fluoresce or not to fluoresce: Detecting neurochemicals using the NDA/CN reaction,” Presentation, University of Kansas Department of Chemistry, Lawrence, KS, October 2025.

*Indicates Oberlin undergraduate researcher.

Shivani Patel, Nicholas P. Cerny, Lucas G. Zimmer*, Shuming Chen, Jonathan A. Ellman, “Studies on the Mechanism of Styrene Elimination from Sulfilimines: Hammett and Kinetic Isotope Effect Analysis and Computation,” The Journal of Organic Chemistry, 2025, 90(32), 11597–11604.

Gang Chen, Gabriel N. Morais*, Hui Liang, Jing Zhao, Chuanyong Wang, Shuming Chen, Jiajia Ma, “Accessing N-Unprotected Unnatural α-Amino Acid Esters by Half-Sandwich Chiral-at-Ruthenium Aldehyde Catalysis: Scope and Mechanistic Study,” Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2025, 64(37), e202510811.

Huijun Qian, Gabriel N. Morais*, Katherine E. Colbaugh, Junqi Su, Prof. Zili Chen, Zhiping Li, Shuming Chen, Leiyang Lv, “Chemo- and Regiodivergent Allyl-Propargyl Cross-Coupling Reactions for the Construction of 1,4-Enallenes and 1,5-Enynes,” Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2025, 64(46), e202517878.

Roman G. Belli, Jenna N. Humke, Sanu S. Pullarat, Alexander Umanzor, Gabriel N. Morais*, Erin E. Plasek, Sallu S. Kargbo, Shuming Chen, Courtney C. Roberts, “Expanding Access to Previously Inaccessible 5-Membered N-Heteroarynes,“ JACS Au, 2025, 5(10), 4688–4694.

Chen-Yan Cai, Chao Hu, Katherine E. Colbaugh, Rohan R. Merchant, Shuming Chen, Tian Qin, “Direct Access to Acylboranes via Formal Condensation of Carboxylic Acids with Ligated Boranes,” Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2026, 65(1), e16826.

Renzhe Li, Chang Liu, Wenyuan Li, Minh Vy Truong*, Seunne W. Khoo*, Yunzhou Li, Rohan R. Merchant, Bryan S. Matsuura, Ho Yee Joyce Fung, Shuming Chen, Tian Qin, “High-Fidelity Transfer of Chiral Sulfonimidoyl Radicals,” Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2026, ASAP.

Molly E. Foley*, Daniel R. Hill*, S. Gaboury*, Daniel S. Pastor*, Drew R. Dansby*, Rebecca Z. Fenselau*, Ali R. Alotbi*, Galen M. Brennan*, Matthew J. Elrod, “Aqueous reaction mechanisms and kinetics of atmospheric relevant carbonyl organonitrates and organosulfates,” Environmental Science and Technology Air, 2025, 2, 1862-1873.

Jo Chvatal*, Dat T. Nguyen*, Alexondra S. Xie*, William H. Parsons, “Synthesis and Evaluation of N-Arylsulfonated Succinimides as Activity-Based Probes,” Synlett, 2025, 36(16), 2603–2608.

Kyosuke Shishikura, Jiasong Li, Yiming Chen, Nate R. McKnight, Thomas P. Keeley, Katelyn A. Bustin, Eric W. Barr, Snehil R. Chilkamari, Mahaa Ayub, Sun Woo Kim, Zongtao Lin, Ren-Ming Hu, Kelly Hicks, Xie Wang, Donald M. O’Rourke, J. Martin Bollinger, Jr., Zev A. Binder, William H. Parsons, Kirill A. Martemyanov, Aimin Liu, Megan L. Matthews, “Hydralazine inhibits cysteamine dioxygenase to treat preeclampsia and senesce glioblastoma,” Science Advances, 2025, 11, eadx7687.

Katherine M. Austin*, Jenna K. Frizzell*, Audrey A. Neighmond*, Isabella J. Moppel*, Lisa M. Ryno., “L-Arabinose Alters the E. coli Transcriptome to Favor Biofilm Growth and Enhances Survival During Fluoroquinolone Stress,” Microorganisms, 2025, 13(7), 1665.

Shuming Chen, “Mechanism-Guided Design and Selectivity Control in Catalysis via Hidden Dynamic and Coordination-Sphere Influences,” Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, 2025–2030, $75,000.

Shuming Chen, “CAREER: Understanding and Directing Selectivity in Functionalizations of Strong Covalent Bonds Utilizing Coordination-Sphere Effects,” National Science Foundation CAREER Award, 2024–2029, $550,000.

Shuming Chen, “Probing Complex Post-Transition State Bifurcations in Reactions Between Boroles and Unsaturated Hydrocarbons,” American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund, 2023–2026, $55,000.

Manish A. Mehta, “Thermodynamics and NMR Crystallography of Organic Crystal Forms,” National Science Foundation Research at Undergraduate Institutions Grant, 2021–2026, $422,360.

Manish A. Mehta, “MRI: Track 1 Acquisition of a 600 MHz NMR Console and a Helium Recovery System for Shared Use in Research and Teaching,” National Science Foundation Major Research Instrumentation Grant, 2025–2028, $915,365. Co-PIs: Jason M. Belitsky, Matthew J. Elrod, Shuming Chen, William H. Parsons; Senior Personnel: Catherine M. Oertel.

William H. Parsons, “Activity-based protein profiling of the human rhomboid proteases for inhibitor discovery and enzyme characterization,” National Institute of General Medical Sciences R15 Grant, 2025–2028, $264,117

William H. Parsons, “Development of a robust, scalable synthesis of isothiazolidin-3-one 1,1-dioxides,” Organic Syntheses, Inc. PUI Grant, 2025–2027, $16,000.

Lisa M. Ryno, “Sugar-mediated remodeling of the E. coli transcriptome and its impact on biofilm growth and composition.” National Science Foundation Research at Undergraduate Institutions Grant, 2022–2027, $534,002.