Terminal Selective Arylation of Inert Alkanes via Radical‐Organometallic Crossover Selectivity is an essential part of organic synthesis and key to synthetic efficiency. However, selectivity is challenging to achieve in hydrocarbon molecules. Herein we report a mild and direct meth....

Congrats to Shijin, Drew, and Martin on publication of this C-H arylation with remarkable terminal selectivity! 3,5-lutidine turns out to be key! Check it out in Chem Eur J @chemistryeurope.bsky.social

chemistry-europe.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Photocatalytic anti-Markovnikov hydro- and haloazidation of alkenes - Nature Communications Hydroazidation of alkenes provides a direct entry to alkyl azides which are prevalent structural motifs in medicine development and chemical biology probes. Here the authors report a photocatalytic an...

Excited to share this new paper in @natcomms.nature.com co-led by Harry Bian and Shijin Yu on photocatalytic azidofunctionalizations using iron terpy complexes. Iron LMCT in the visible range!

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Overcoming Challenges in Small‐Ring Transfer: Direct Decarboxylative Hydroalkylation of Alkenes via Iron‐Thiol Catalysis Cyclopropanes, especially those substituted with trifluoromethyl (CF3) groups, are valuable scaffolds in medicinal chemistry. Their enhanced bioavailability contributes to the widespread presence of ....

Really excited to share this collaboration with the Katayev group @unibe.ch showing how Fe/S catalysis can make privileged bioisosteres quickly, easily, and cheaply! Check it out in @angewandtechemie.bsky.social

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Movie you’ve watched more than six times using gifs.

(“Hard mode” no Star Wars, Star Trek, or LOTR)

PhD Timeline xkcd.com/3081

Mild Hydroalkylation of Terminal Olefins Via Decatungstate/Thiol Cooperative Photocatalysis Here we report the use of a tetrabutylammonium decatungstate (TBADT)/thiol photocatalytic system for selective addition of acetone and other simple ketone, nitrile, and chlorocarbon functionalities to terminal olefins. This system avoids the use of energetic reagents such as peroxides and proceeds under mild conditions using Earth-abundant element catalysts, providing a sustainable approach to C–C bond formation using activated olefins. Initial exploration reveals that hydroalkylation of unactivated olefins is also possible, though in lower efficiency, and preliminary mechanistic experiments are consistent with a radical mechanism.

Congrats @austinjacious.bsky.social, Paige Sutter, Alex Chavez, and Sebastian Cruz on publishing this cool study on alkene hydroalkylation using TBADT/thiol catalysis! A brand new project area started and led by Austin! #realtimechem

pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Congratulations also to DOCTOR @austinjacious.bsky.social for defending his innovative thesis on Monday as part of the West Lab double-header!! So excited for the great things he'll do beyond Rice!

Enormous congratulations DOCTOR @sbuzsaki.bsky.social!!! What a fantastic defense to wrap up a truly pathbreaking PhD and I am so glad I could celebrate with you yesterday! It has been a true privilege to work with you and I look forward to supporting you in the years to come!

As a small piece of science news, it was great to see our report on iron photocatalyzed diazidation, dichlorination, and fluorochlorination featured in the 2024 @chemicalscience.rsc.org most popular organic chemistry papers collection!

Paper here: pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...

"Imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever."

a cartoon character wearing glasses and a yellow sweater ALT: a cartoon character wearing glasses and a yellow sweater

Also:

Age yourself with a cartoon you watched as a kid

Sarah Buzsaki Thesis Defense For those outside of Rice University, please fill out the details below if you're interested in virtually attending my thesis defense! :) I'll send you an email with the Zoom link, and (hopefully) a r...

Excited (and nervous) to say that as of today, I'm a month away from my thesis defense! If you're not at Rice and interested in virtually attending, please fill out this google form :)
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Share with US students who had their offers of admission withdrawn for PhD programs:

Apply to Canada. Check out Canadian professors, and contact us. Our system works differently here, and we are all still, technically, able to accept students for Fall 2025.

No matter what you think of the Israel/Palestine situation, and no matter what you think of the Columbia Univ. protests:

If ICE can grab a permanent resident, suddenly revoke their Green Card (!) and whisk them away to a distant prison incommunicado, no one’s liberties are really safe.

Movies you've watched more than six times, gifs only

The Accidental Poison That Founded the Modern FDA Elixir Sulfanilamide was a breakthrough antibiotic—until it killed more than 100 people.

As FDA regulations are "revisited" and countless reviewers are fired, it's worth reviewing why we built up the modern FDA in the first place (spoiler alert: preventable national tragedy).

www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...

Excited to share our latest work on photoactive surfactants for photocatalysis in aqueous solution. Congratulations to Ying Chen for a great paper!
#PhotoactiveSurfactants #Photocatalysis

Putting the F in pharma Adding fluorine to drug molecules can be tricky, but is often worthwhile. Rachel Brazil talks to the chemists trying to tame the ninth element

Delighted to contribute some thoughts to this wonderful article in @chemistryworld.com by Rachel Brazil on putting fluorine in drug molecules along with @tnoel82.bsky.social , Veronique Gouverneur, David O'Hagan, and Rob Young! Check it out! #realtimechem

www.chemistryworld.com/features/put...

Tori Amos - Smells Like Teen Spirit YouTube video by GeorgeBopper

youtu.be/HaAI3jI7uCc?...

Jazz Band Covers Nirvana On The Spot (ft. Ulysses Owens Jr.) YouTube video by Musora

youtu.be/3pYHCGYJbw0?...

Wicked Game YouTube video by Gemma Hayes - Topic

music.youtube.com/watch?v=evv1...

Where Did You Sleep Last Night (Live) YouTube video by Nirvana - Topic

music.youtube.com/watch?v=IZFY...

Creep YouTube video by Vega - Topic

Some other interesting covers that have stuck with me:

music.youtube.com/watch?v=Ot_1...

In your opinion, what’s a cover version of a song that not only holds up to the original but wildly exceeds it? Here's mine (not too deep a cut, admittedly):

music.youtube.com/watch?v=gSS2...

Supramolecular self-assembly of metal complex surfactants (MeCS) into micellar nanoscale reactors in aqueous solution Surfactants are amphiphilic molecules that can form micellar structures with a hydrophobic core and a hydrophilic corona in water. In this work, we combine the remarkable properties of photoactive met...

Excited for this collaborative paper on nanoscale photoreactors to finally be out in #ChemSci @roysocchem.bsky.social! Check it out!

pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...

I remember hearing about "the [famous Ivy League Prof] 1,2 Transposition", where a 19% in a paper draft became a 91% in the submitted manuscript...

Thrilled to welcome our newest postdoc, Shih-Chieh Kao, who joins us after his PhD in the West group at Rice. Looking forward to all the exciting chemistry you will do over the next few years. @pushingarrows.bsky.social @oxfordchemistry.bsky.social

Congrats on the start of this appointment!! Shih-Chieh was a dream student: the creative (and experimental) force behind so much cool chemistry in our group and a genuinely supportive and kind collaborator! I can't wait to see what he achieves as a postdoc with you all!

This is also true about running a research group