| Emslie Group - People |
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Contents:
- Recent Group Photo
- Current Group Members (photos and info)
- Previous Graduate Students (photos and info)
- Previous PDFs and Visiting Research Scientists (photos and info)
- Previous Undergraduate Students (photos and info)
- Various Photos of the Group (lab events etc)
CURRENT GROUP MEMBERS
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Jeffrey Price (pricej4@mcmaster.ca) Jeff obtained his B.Sc. in Chemistry from McMaster U. His PhD research is focused on organomanganese chemistry for metal Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) and Catalysis. He currently has 6 papers - four 1st author papers (Organometallics x 3 + Angew. Chem.), one 2nd author paper (Organometallics), one review (Coord. Chem. Rev.), and 3 additional manuscripts close to submission. |
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Aathith Vasanthakumar (vasana4@mcmaster.ca) Aathith obtained his B.Sc. in Chemistry from the University of Toronto at Mississauga. Aathith's research is focused on the design and synthesis of new highly rigid pincer ligands, and applications of these ligands in electropositive metal chemistry. |
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Katarina Paskaruk (paskarkm@mcmaster.ca) Katarina (Katia) obtained her B.Sc. in Chemistry from McMaster University. Katia's reserach is focused on the development of ambiphilic ligand transition metal complexes for applications in catalysis.
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Majeda Al Hareri (alharerm@mcmaster.ca) Majeda obtained her B.Sc. in Chemistry from Brock U., and started as a graduate student in the Emslie group in Sept 2016. She already has 3 publications (2 x 1st and 1 x 2nd author) from her undergrad research in the Pilkington group (Inorg. Chem. 2017, accepted, Chem. Commun. 2016, 52, 11335-11338, and J. Mater. Chem. C 2015, 3, 7738-7747). Majeda's research is focused on new approaches in element ALD. |
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Novan Gray (grayna@mcmaster.ca) Novan was a undergraduate 3RP3 student (Jan-April 2017) in the Emslie group, then a summer student (2017) and a Chem 4G09 student (2017-2018). Novan's 3rd year undergraduate research focused on the development of new co-reactants for metal ALD, while his 4th year research project focused on uranium complexes of new rigid ligands. Novan's graduate research is focused on the development of actinide rigid ligand complexes, and studies of metal-ligand bonding. |
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Declan DeJordy (dejordyd@mcmaster.ca) His graduate research is focused on the development of new precursors and reactions for ALD.
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Kasuni Wedisinghe (wedisink@mcmaster.ca) Her graduate research is focused on the development of new precursors and reactions for ALD.
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Seja Elgadi (boisvere@mcmaster.ca) Seja's CHEM 3RP3 project involved ambiphilic ligand synthesis and late transition metal chemistry. Her CHEM 4G09 project will focus on organometallic actinide chemistry.
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PREVIOUS GRADUATE STUDENTS
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Kevin (Ya-Dong) Yu (yuy100@mcmaster.ca) Kevin is a Ph.D. student from Shantou University, China, who conducted 1 year of his studies in our group. In China, Kevin's research focused on the synthesis, characterization of Cu and Ag complexes, with a focus on their optical properties (Chem. Commun., 2014, 9000-9002 and 2015, 14489-14492, and Inorg. Chem., 2016, 75-82). Kevin's research in our group focused on metal complexes of an extremely rigid and bulky pincer linand, XAT. |
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Kelly Motolko - Ph.D. degree received in August 2017. Kelly obtained her B.Sc. in Chemistry from the University of Western Ontario, and she defended her PhD from the Emslie lab in August 2017 (external examiner Prof. Gino Lavoie, York U). Kelly's PhD research focused on the organometallic chemistry of early transition metal and f-element complexes supported by rigid pincer ligands, for applications in alkene hydroamination and ethylene polymerization. Kelly's work yielded 4 first-author papers (2 Organometallics, 1 RSC Adv. and 1 Eur. J. Inorg. Chem.) |
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Dr. Nick Andreychuk -
Ph.D. degree received in May 2017 Nick obtained his B.Sc. in Chemistry from Lakehead University, and defended his Ph.D. from the Emslie lab in May 2017 (External examiner Prof. Daniel B. Leznoff, SFU). He currently has 6 papers: 1 from his undergraduate research in the MacKinnon group, and 5 from our group (1 Organometallics, 2 Dalton Trans., and 1 JOMC on uranium complexes + 1 Angew. Chem. and potassium-alkane complexes). A book chapter has been submitted, and 1 other manuscript is in preparation. 2013/14 winner of the Dr. Ronald J Gillespie Prize for outstanding scholastic achievement and innovative research in Inorganic Chem. Nick was a PDF in the Emslie group for 1 year, and is now a Chemist, Intellectual Property at Apotex Pharmachem. |
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Dr. Brad Cowie -
Ph.D. degree received in 2015. Brad obtained his B.Sc. in Chemistry from McMaster, and defended his Ph.D. from the Emslie lab in Oct. 2015 (External examiner Prof. Joshua S. Figueroa, UCSD). His research focused on the synthesis, study and reactivity of late TM complexes bearing borane- and alane-containing ambiphilic ligands. He has 11 papers from McMaster: 1 from undergrad research in the Greedan group, and 10 from our group (9 on ambiphilic ligand complexes including in Angew. Chem., and 1 review). 2013/14 winner of the Dr. Ronald J Gillespie Prize for outstanding scholastic achievement and innovative research in Inorganic Chem. In Nov 2015, Brad started a PDF (NSERC) in the group of Polly Arnold at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowship winner. |
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Dr. Carlos Cruz -
Ph.D. degree received from the Emslie group in 2010. Carlos is currently a Research Chemist in the Polyolefins Catalyst and Product Development Group at Chevron Phillips Chemical Company in Oklahoma. |
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Natalie Huk - M.Sc. degree received from the Emslie group in 2006. Thesis: "Borane-Containing Ligands Based on Thioxanthene, Xanthene and Acridine: Synthesis and Platinum Coord. Chem.". Natalie Huk received her B.Sc. degree in Chemistry from U Windsor in 2003; her final year undergraduate thesis was with Dr. Chuck Macdonald. She graduated with an M.Sc. from the Emslie lab in 2006, before going on to pursue a 2nd graduate degree in California. Her research was included in 1 paper from the group. |
PREVIOUS PDFs OR VISITING RESEARCH SCIENTISTS
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Dr. Nick Andreychuk Nick obtained his Ph.D. degree in the Emslie group. His thesis was entitled "Rigid NON-Donor Pincer Ligands in Organoactinide Chemistry". He then worked as a postdoctoral researcher for 1 year in the Emslie group, working on research focused on the development of new directions in CVD. Now a Chemist, Intellectual Property at Apotex Pharmachem.
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Dr. Edwin Wong Edwin obtained a B.Sc. in Computer Engineering from the U. Alberta and then completed B.Sc.and Ph.D. degrees in Chemistry at Simon Fraser University (SFU) in Vancouver. His Ph.D. was conducted with Prof. Leznoff and his thesis was entitled "An investigation of redox-active isoindoline-based ligands and their coordination complexes". Edwin then worked for 1 year as a PDF in Prof. Cameron Jones' group at Monash University in Australia before joining the Emslie group in April 2013. Edwin's research focused on the development of new rigid pincer ligands and their application in the development of f-element organometallic chemistry, particularly olefin polymerization catalysis. Edwin is now working at E-One Moli Energy (Canada) Limited. |
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Dr. Todd Whitehorne Todd obtained his B.Sc. in Chemistry from Carleton U. in 2007 and then completed an M.Sc. in the Barry group at Carleton U.; " Au(I), Au(III), Ag(I) Amidinate, Guanidinate and Xanthates applied to CVD/ALD deposition of metallic thin films". In 2009 he moved to the Schaper group at Université de Montréal where he completed his Ph.D. entitled "Novel M(II) β-Diketimines for the stereoselective polymerization of lactide". Todd 's research in the Emslie group was focused on the development and study of new precursors and reaction chemistry for metal Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD). In March 2015, Todd started a position at Digital Specialty Chemicals. In November 2015, he moved on to a position at Atomic Energy Canada Ltd. (AECL). |
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Dr. Preeti Chadha |
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Dr. Bala Vidjayacoumar Bala obtained his M.Sc. in Chemistry in 1999 from Pondicherry University in India, and his Ph.D. in Chemistry in 2005 from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur in India. Upon completion of his Ph.D. degree, Bala worked for 7 months as a research associate in the group of Prof. R. Mukherjee at IIT Kanpur. He then moved to a position as a PDF with Prof. S. Gambarotta (U Ottawa) in September 2005, and in March 2007, Bala joined the Emslie research group. During this time, his research focused on the development and study of new methods for late transition metal atomic layer deposition (ALD) and he also mentored various students in the area of organouranium chemistry. He has 5 papers so far from his research in the group and is now a Lead Scientist at SABIC (Saudi Basic Industries Corporation). |
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Dr. Sougandi Ilango Sougandi obtained her M.Sc. in Chemistry (1999), an M.Phil. in Bioinorganic Chemistry (2000) and a Ph.D. in Chemistry (2003) from Pondicherry University in India. From January 2004 to December 2005, Sougandi worked as a PDF in the group of Prof. Jean Marc Latour in Grenoble, France. This postdoctoral work focused on protein purification and EPR titration of metalloproteins. In March 2006, Sougandi moved to a position as a PDF in the group of Prof. S. Gambarotta (U Ottawa), and this was followed by a position as a PDF in the Emslie group (August 2007 to May 2008). During this time, her research focused primarily on organometallic and low valent uranium chemistry and she has 2 papers from this work. She is now an Award Specialist at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia |
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Dr. Venkat Ramalingam Venkat obtained his B.Sc. (1999) and M.Sc. (2001) degrees in Chemistry from Madurai Kamaraj University, India. He then completed a Ph.D. in chemistry with Prof. Maravanji S. Balakrishna at IIT Bombay, India. The title of his thesis was "Phosphorus Based Multidentate Ligands: Synthesis, Organometallic Chemistry and applications". In July 2007 he joined the group of Prof. W. Malisch as a PDF at the University of Würzburg, Germany. In December 2008, Venkat joined the Emslie group as a PDF; his research focused on the development and study of new methods for late transition metal atomic layer deposition (ALD). He has 1 paper from this work, and at the end of October 2009, Venkat moved to a faculty position at the PSG Institute for Advanced Studies in Coimbatore, India. |
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Dr. James Blackwell James obtained his B.Sc. in Chemistry from the University of Toronto. He then completed an M.Sc. with Prof. M. Lautens (U Toronto), followed by a Ph.D. with Prof. W. Piers (U Calgary), and a postdoctoral fellowship with Prof. C. Cummins (MIT). Before moving to a position as a research chemist at Intel Corporation in Oregon, James worked for 4 months in the Emslie lab as a visiting research scientist. During this time, his research focused on attempted synthesis of our ambiphilic phosphine-thioether-borane ligand, TXPB. |
PREVIOUS UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
* 19 out of 25 previous undergraduate students in the lab have or will continue on to pursue a graduate degree in chemistry.
| Date | Student | Position in Emslie Group |
Current Position |
| 2018-2019 | Eliza-Jayne Boisvert |
Volunteer (Jan-April 2018), Summer Student (2018), then |
Will start as an M.Sc. student in the Fogg group at U Ottawa in Sept 2019 |
| 2018 | Seja |
CHEM 3RP3 in the Fall term of 2018. |
Undergraduate student - will be back for 4G09 in 2019-2020 |
| 2017-2018 | Novan |
CHEM 3RP3, summer, then CHEM 4G09 student. |
Grad student in the Emslie group (see grad student section for more details) |
| 2017-2018 | Andrew Broomfield | CHEM 4G09 thesis student. |
Grad student in the Fekhl group at U Toronto, Mississauga |
| 2016-2017 | Aisling |
CHEM 4G09 thesis student |
Completed undergrad degree at U Bristol |
| 2016-2017 | John |
CHEM 4G09 thesis student |
Completed undergrad degree at U Bristol |
| 2015-2016 | Alon Genkin |
CHEM 4G09 thesis student (co-op). |
Unknown |
| 2015-2016 | Lilly |
Summer student, then CHEM 4G09 thesis student. |
Unknown |
| 2015-2016 | Matt |
CHEM 4G09 thesis student |
PhD student in the Chaplin group at Warwick. |
| 2014-2015 | Katarina Paskaruk | Summer student, then CHEM 4G09 thesis student. |
PhD student in the Emslie group |
| 2013-2014 | Tara Dickie |
CHEM 4G09 thesis student. |
PhD student in the Hayes group (U Lethbridge) |
| 2012-2013 | Judy (Fu An) Tsao | Summer student,
then CHEM 4G09 thesis student. |
PhD from the Stephan group (U of T) |
| 2012-2013 | Adam Pantaleo | Summer student,
then CHEM 4G09 thesis student. |
MSc from the Song group (U of T) |
| 2011-2012 | Meera Mehta |
Summer student,
then CHEM 4G09 thesis student. 1 of 2 runners up for undergrad thesis talk award. |
PhD from the Stephan group (U of T). Now PDF at Oxford U, England. |
| 2010-2011 | Jeffrey Price |
Summer student,
then CHEM 4G09 thesis student. 1 of 2 runners up for undergrad thesis talk award. |
PhD student in the Emslie group
(see PhD student section for more details) |
| 2009-2010 | Velislava Bachvarova | CHEM 4G09 thesis student. |
Unknown |
| 2009 | Kelly Motloko |
Summer student after completing her B.Sc. in
Chemistry
at the University of Western Ontario. |
PhD from the Emslie group. |
| 2008-2009 | Terry Chu |
CHEM 4G09 student,
then summer student. |
M.Sc. from Piers group (Calgary). Ph.D. from Nikonov group (Brock). Now PDF at Los Alamos. |
| 2007-2008 | Brad Cowie |
CHEM 4G09 thesis student, then NSERC USRA summer student in 2008. |
PhD from Emslie group. Now PDF with Polly Arnold at U Edinburgh, Scotland |
| 2007-2008 | Jordan Thomson |
CHEM 4G09 thesis student.
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PhD from Ozin group (U Toronto). Then Green Centre, followed by DuPont Canada. |
| 2007-2008 | Matt Ray |
3rd year undergraduate research student from the University of Bristol, England. 1 paper (Dalton Trans.) from U research. |
PhD from Kilian group at St. Andrews in Scotland. Now research & process development chemist at Addivant. |
| 2006 | Rachelle Kleinberger | Summer student in 2006. | Completed PhD in the Stover group |
| 2005-2006 | Simon Oakley |
CHEM 4G06, then summers student. Winner of undergraduate thesis talk award. 2 papers (Dalton Trans. and Organometallics) from undergrad. |
Completed M.Sc. in the Hicks group at U Victoria |
| 2005 | Kyle Parker |
NSERC USRA student. 1 paper (Organometallics) from undergraduate Rh research. |
Completed PhD in Fryzuk group at UBC. |
| 2004 | Abdullah Alabousi | B.HSc.(Honours) 3H03 undergrad research project. | Obtained Medical degree from UWO |
| 2003-2004 | Carlos Cruz |
CHEM 4G06 thesis student. |
Completed Ph.D. in Emslie group. Now researcher at Chevron Phillips in the US. |
Pictures of previous undergraduate students:
Eliza-Jayne Boisvert (2017-19) |
Novan Gray (2017-2018) |
Andrew Broomfield (2017-2018) |
Aisling Roper(2016-2017) |
John Box (2016-2017) |
Alon Genkin (2015-2016) |
Lilly Vo (2015-2016) |
Matt Sinclair (2015-2016) |
Katarina Paskaruk (2014-2015) |
Tara Dickie (2013-2014) |
Adam Pantaleo (2012-2013) |
Judy (Fu An) Tsao (2012-2013) |
Meera Mehta (2011-2012) |
Jeffrey Price(2010-2011) |
Velislava Bachvarova (2009-2010) |
| Kelly Motolko (2009) |
Terry Chu (2008-2009) |
Brad Cowie (2007-2008) |
Matt Ray (2007-2008) |
Jordan Thomson (2007-2008) |
Rachelle Kleinberger (2006) |
Simon Oakley (2005-2006) |
Kyle Parker (2005) |
Carlos Cruz (2003) |
SELECTED RECENT PHOTOS
IDW in Waterloo - Oktoberfest Banquet! - November 2018 |
Undergraduate Chemistry Thesis Night - March 2018 |
Photos from Chem Dept Xmas Dinner - December 2017 |
Dinner at Brux House - December 2017 |
Kelly Graduation - November 2017 |
Braduation - July 2016 / Nick Graduation - June 2017 |
Edwin's Last Day in the Lab - Dinner at the Phoenix - April 2015 |
Lab Christmas Dinner - Dec 2014 ( Emslie group + Escapees)
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Lab BBQ - Sept 2014 |
Emslie Group in October 2014 - From left to right - Brad Cowie, Katarina Paskaruk, Kelly Motolko,
Nick Andreychuk, Todd Whitehorne, Kris Kolpin, Edwin Wong, Aathith Vasanthakumar |
