GROUP NEWS
2024
[10/17] A recent paper from Team Phen using a combo of kinetics & data science to study the mechanism & origins of selectivity in a Pd-cat. aryne annulation got published on ACS Catalysis! Congrats team! Check it out here
[09/21] Congrats to Sofie for winning the outstanding poster award at the Chicago Regional Inorganic Colloquium!
[09/06] Congrats to Douglas for the honorable mention for outstanding TA award!
[08/28] The HTE-platform-based development of a novel aminohalogenation of arynes via halogen transfer has been disclosed in Organic Letters! Congrats Josh and Lars! Check it out here
[08/17] Our study of the role of the ancillary phosphine in inaccessible aryne formation and reactivity has been disclosed in an article published in Organometallics! Check it out here
[08/12] Congrats to our newest PhD, Dr. Josh Gavin! Josh is headed to Cambrex next month! (Ph.D. #4)
[08/05] Our investigation of a series of redox-active tris(amido) lanthanide complexes and their applications to cross-coupling has been published in Inorganic Chemistry! Check it out here
[07/18] Congratulations to Sal Kargbo for being awarded the Departmental 4th Year Excellence Fellowship!
[07/15] Our postdoctoral researcher, Dr. Roman Belli, leaves us after four years in the Roberts Group. He is headed to the University of Winnipeg as an assistant professor!
[06/26] Congrats to Dr. Jenna Humke, PhD for defending her dissertation! Jenna is headed to Cambrex in August! (Ph.D. #3)
[06/07] Congrats to Sal Kargbo for winning the best talk award at the Graduate Student Research Symposium!
[04/25] Our first Science paper on access to inaccessible arynes is live! Check it out here
[04/25] Congrats to Chris Seong for being selected for the ACS DOC GRS!
[04/24] Congrats to Dr. Erin Plasek, PhD on a successful defense! Erin will be headed to a job at AbbVie this summer. (Ph.D. #2)
[04/24] Congrats to Alex Umanzor for winning the CSE Excellence Award in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion!
[04/23] Congratulations to Brylon Denman and Chris Seong for being awarded Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships! Full List of Awardees
[04/08] Congratulations to Ali Younis for the NSF GRFP honorable mention!
[03/17] Alex Umanzor has been named a CAS Future Leader! Congrats Alex! Full List of Awardees
[03/02] Congratulations to Sal Kargbo for receiving the Merck Research Award for Underrepresented Chemists of Color!
[02/26] Congrats to Brylon on getting her internship at AbbVie!
[02/02] Courtney has received the McKnight Land-Grant Professorship! This is an endowed professorship she will hold for the next 2 years.
[01/23] Alex Umanzor was accepted to the Preparing Future PUI Faculty Workshop! Way to go Alex!
[01/08] Congratulations for Dr. Nick Garcia for defending his thesis! He will be staying in the Roberts group as a postdoctoral researcher to pursue more exciting lanthanide chemistry! (Ph.D. #1)
[01/03] Congrats to Sofie for passing her Oral Preliminary Exam!
2023
[12/22] Courtney was named the 3M-Alumni Professor of Chemistry! This is an endowed professorship she will hold for the next 5 years.
[12/19] Congrats to Rana for passing her Oral Preliminary Exam!
[12/10] Our paper on ligand-induced aryne regiocontrol made it on to the list of Most Read Articles from ACS Org. Inorg. Au for the year! Check it out here
[12/07] The group was awarded a 2024 Thieme Chemistry Journal Award! List of awardees
[11/16] Alex and Nick's paper on ligand-induced aryne regiocontrol was featured in the Most Read Articles from ACS Org. Inorg. Au for the month of November! Check it out here
[11/15] Ali Younis, Felicia Liu, Douglas Kavaguti, and Sanu Siyad Pullarat join the group as first year graduate students! Welcome!
[11/02] Congratulations to Alex Umanzor and Nick Garcia for their publication on their studies of PHOX ligand-induced regiocontrol in Ni aryne complex synthesis and difunctionalization! Check it out here
[09/18] Our SynPacts paper on our insights into the regioselectivity of metal-catalyzed aryne reactions has been published! Check it out here
[09/08] Congrats to Sal for the honorable mention for outstanding TA award! UMN Article
[08/01] Our work on the use of sodium triflinates for decarboxylative trifluoromethylation was featured in the Most Read Articles from JOC for the month of July! Check it out here
[07/31] Congratulations to Brylon Denman and Chris Seong for being awarded the Departmental 4th Year Excellence Fellowships! UMN Article
[07/19] Chris's work on decarboxylative desulfonylative trifluoromethylation was published in JOC! Check it out here
[07/18] Courtney was named an Amgen Young Investigator Awardee! She will give a talk at the award symposium and the group will receive a research award. UMN Article
[06/09] Alex Umanzor, Brylon Denman, Chris Seong, and Tori Tafuri all gave fantastic third year talks! Congrats to Brylon and Chris for winning the travel award and Alex for the honorable mention! UMN Article
[06/05] Lars Anderson and Ben Brekke join us for the summer as undergraduate researchers! Welcome!
[06/01] Our work on the investigation of regioselectivity in Pd-catalyzed aryne annulation was featured in the Most Read Articles from Organometallics for the month! Check it out here
[05/10] The group's first aryne paper has been published in Organometallics! Great work Brylon Denman and Erin Plasek! Check it out here
[05/08] Congratulations to Alex Umanzor for receiving the Merck Research Award for Underrepresented Chemists of Color! UMN Article
[05/05] Brylon Denman was accepted to the ACS Summer School on Green Chemistry and Sustainable Energy! Congrats Brylon!
[04/27] Congrats to Erin Plasek for winning a Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship! UMN Article
[04/02] Our recently published work on redox inversion was featured in the Most Read Articles from JOC for the month! Check it out here
[03/06] Chris and Annabel's paper on C(sp3)-C(sp3) bond formation via redox inversion was published in JOC! Check it out here
[02/24] Roman, Tori, and Nick's paper on Lu-catalysis was published in Organometallics as part of a special issue on Early Transition Metal Chemistry! Check it out here
2022
[11/25] The group's NSF CAREER Proposal on early transition metal chemistry was recommended for funding! UMN Article
[11/18] Rana Abdu and Sofie Hokanson join the group as first year graduate students!
[11/16] Sal Kargbo passes his Oral Preliminary Exam!
[11/16] Congratulations to Josh and Roman for their co-first-author publication on Sc-catalyzed radical polar crossover! Check out our group's first JACS paper here
[10/17] Fifth year Nick Garcia, previously advised by Prof. Connie Lu, joins the Roberts Group! Welcome Nick!
[09/08] Congratulations to Alex Umanzor for getting an honorable mention for excellence in teaching!
[08/08] Congratulations to Jenna Humke and Erin Plasek for being awarded the Departmental 4th Year Excellence Fellowships!
[07/20] Best of luck to postdoc Dr. Annabel Ansel as she starts her new position at Entos!
[07/19] A follow up paper on the mechanistic analysis of early transition metal catalyzed cross-coupling and optimization through metal tuning is out now on ACS Catalysis! Congrats to the duo! Check it out here
[06/09] Erin Plasek, Jenna Humke and Josh Gavin gave fantastic third year talks! Congrats to Erin for winning the travel award and Josh for the honorable mention! UMN Article
[06/07] The group was awarded the NIH MIRA grant for metal-aryne chemistry! Go Team Arynes! UMN Article
[04/04] Congratulations to Alex Umanzor for being selected as the winner of the COGS Teaching Excellence Outstanding TA Award!
[04/04] Congratulations to Alex Umanzor for being awarded the NSF-GRFP and Brylon for the honorable mention! UMN Article
[02/17] First research paper for the group published on ACS Catalysis! Congratulations to Roman Belli and Tori Tafuri! Check out some cool early transition metal chemistry here
[01/31] Tori Tafuri passes her Oral Preliminary Exam!
[01/24] Alex Umanzor passes his Oral Preliminary Exam!
2021
[12/15] Brylon Denman passes her Oral Preliminary Exam!
[12/06] Chris Seong passes his Oral Preliminary Exam!
[11/17] Welcome first year Sallu Kargbo to the group!
[09/09] Congratulations to Chris Seong for being awarded the Robert L. Ferm Outstanding Graduate TA Award and also the Certificate of Excellence for maintaining a 4.0 GPA!
[09/09] First research paper for the group submitted!
[04/12] Congrats to Alex Umanzor for winning the UMN Diversity and Inclusion Award! Thanks for bringing your passion for DEI to the group!
[03/08] Postdoctoral Researcher Dr. Annabel Ansel joins the group!
[01/29] Allen Nguyen passes his Oral Preliminary Exam!
[01/25] Jenna Humke passes her Oral Preliminary Exam!
[01/22] Erin Plasek passes her Oral Preliminary Exam!
[01/18] Josh Gavin passes his Oral Preliminary Exam!
2020
[11/18] First years Alex Umanzor, Brylon Denman, Chris Seong, and Tori Tafuri join the group! Welcome!
[09/01] Second year Jenna Humke, previously advised by Prof. Topczewski, joins the Roberts Group!
[09/10] Congratulations to Josh Gavin for getting the Certificate of Excellence for maintaining a 4.0 GPA and to Allen Nguyen for getting an honorable mention for excellence in teaching!
[08/24] First paper of the group is published on virtual graduate recruitment weekends in response to Covid-19! Check it out now
[07/20] Our first postdoctoral researcher, Dr. Roman Belli, joins the group!
[04/20] Congrats to Joshua Gavin for Honorable Mention for the NSF GRFP!
2019
[11/11] Our first group of grad students join the group! Welcome Josh Gavin, Erin Plasek and Allen Nguyen!
[06/19] Roberts Group opens its doors!