WELCOME TO THE PAPISH GROUP HOMEPAGE!

  

Research Group April 2009 (left to right) Tom Reffle (grad student), Shannon Oseback (undergraduate), Natalie Dixon (grad student), Liz Papish (principal investigator), Sarah Shim (undergraduate), Jessica Bongiovanni (undergraduate), Mukesh Kumar (post-doc), Ismael (Sam) Nieto (post-doc)

 

*One Page PDF Summary of Research*

 

RESEARCH GROUP NEWS:

  • Jessica Bongiovanni is graduating in June and attending graduate school at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte next fall, congratulations!
  • We welcome Dr. Ismael Nieto as a postdoctoral fellow starting work in March 2009.  Dr. Nieto received his Ph. D. from New Mexico State University and his graduate work involved designing new N-heterocyclic carbene ligands and complexes with Prof. Jeremy Smith.
  • We welcome graduate students Natalie Dixon and Tom Reffle.  Tom is a part time student who works for Rohm and Haas.  Natalie received her bachelor's degree from LaSalle University and her masters degree from University of Bristol (UK).
  • Dr. Liz Papish received a grant from NSF CAREER for "New Water-Soluble Ligands and Transition Metal Complexes for Enzyme Modeling and Catalysis"
  • We welcome undergraduates Shannon Oseback and Sarah Shim, beginning research in the 2008-2009 academic year.
  • Dr. Liz Papish received a grant from ACS Petroleum Research Fund (type AC) for “Novel Water-Soluble N-Heterocyclic Carbene Chelates for Transition Metal Catalysts.”
  • We welcome Dr. Mukesh Kumar as a postdoctoral fellow starting work in May 2008.  Dr. Kumar received his Ph. D. from India Institute of Technology and he has postdoctoral experience with Prof. Keith Pannell at University of Texas at El Paso. 
  • My lab at Drexel is now completely renovated and experiments are underway!

   

Dr. Elizabeth T. Papish                                                         w/ Prof. Garry Hanan at Nitrogen Ligands conference in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany

Assistant Professor of Chemistry

Office: 410 Stratton Hall

Lab: 502 Disque Hall

Drexel University

3141 Chestnut St.

Philadelphia, PA 19104

(215) 895-2666

email: elizabeth.papish@drexel.edu        

 

Chestnut St., across from my office and lab, looking at center city Philadelphia             View from the Lab Windows at Night

  

 

Information About Liz Papish and the Papish Group's Research Interests

 

Hi!  I recently joined Drexel University in 2007 and these past 2 years I have enjoyed setting up my lab, teaching general and inorganic chemistry, getting to know the faculty and students, and exploring Philadelphia.  Prior to coming to Drexel, I was a professor at Salisbury University for four years where I taught organic, general and inorganic chemistry and did research with undergraduates.  I am originally from Long Island, New York and I lived in New York City for five years.  I enjoy running and I love sushi and exotic food in general.  My husband is a meteorologist and he works for the National Weather Service.

 

The focus of research in my lab is bioinorganic chemistry; our goal is to mimic the structure and function of important metalloenzymes. In particular, the Papish group is interested in modeling phosphotriesterase (PTE) because PTE catalyzes the hydrolysis of both pesticides and nerve gases. New ligands will be designed to mimic the secondary coordination sphere and provide water-solubility, properties that should lead to fast catalysis of important hydrolysis reactions. The scope of potential research applications is large and includes modeling various esterases, carbonic anhydrase and oxygenases. Model complexes could provide catalysts for green chemistry applications, including the breakdown of environmental toxins, the harnessing of oxygen as an abundant and environmentally benign oxidant, the use of CO2 in chemical reactions, and the development of a class of ligands that is compatible with water as an alternative to the use of organic solvents.

 

We recently started an organometallic project and we are synthesizing new N-Heterocyclic carbene (NHC) chelating ligands to replace phosphines in catalytic processes.  We are specifically interested in designing catalysts for hydrogenation reactions, because few catalysts are selective for C=O bonds over C=C bonds.  Additionally, most commonly used reagents for hydrogenation reactions in organic synthesis generate a lot of waste because they act in a stoichiometric fashion.  Ideally, a catalyst could be designed that uses H2 as the hydrogen source and is compatible with water or alcoholic solvents. 

 

For more information on both of the above project see my one page pdf or my papers below.

 

Why Should Undergraduates Consider Doing Chemistry Research???

·        Research is often one of the most interesting courses students take in college because they actually get to see how chemistry is applied to real problems. 

·        Research can help students decide what career and education options are best for them.  Students can get an idea of whether or not they would enjoy graduate school (which is often more lab work than course work) or working in a lab in industry. 

·        Since research problems are hard and require independent thinking, graduate schools, medical schools, pharmacy schools, and industry all look upon research experience very favorably.  There are many opportunities to enhance your resume through research by giving talks, applying for research funding, and maybe even publishing a paper!

 

Students who do research gradually transition from working very closely with the faculty when they are first learning the basics of research, to eventually working independently.  This transition happens slowly, but when the students feel they are ready they can start deciding what to try next.  Students who do research for six months to one year usually get to this point, and it is very exciting for them to come up with new ideas and try them out!

 

Undergraduate and Graduate Students who are interested in doing research in the Papish Group should email Liz Papish or speak with her in person. 

 

Some Information About Dr. Papish:

Education

·        Columbia University, Ph.D. in Chemistry 2002 (Adviser: Professor Jack R. Norton)

Thesis: “Kinetics and Thermodynamics of Proton and Hydrogen Atom Transfer From Transition Metal Hydrides”

·        Cornell University, B.A. in Chemistry, Magna Cum Laude, 1997

 

Professional Experience

            Visiting Assistant Professor, Franklin and Marshall College, 2002-2003

            Assistant Professor, Salisbury University, 2003-2007

 

               Jessica near the Glovebox and Solvent Purification System                                                       Sean Gardner by the hood

           

          

                  Research Group at Salisbury U April 2007                                                       Research Group at Salisbury U Spring 2006

                                                                                                                          

                

            Out to Dinner to Celebrate NSF Grant (March 2009)                                 At Temple U. for Philadelphia section ACS meeting (Jan. 2009)

   

 

For More Pictures Check Out the Following Links:

Alumni (including pictures)
 

Grants

  • ACS Petroleum Research Fund (type GB) 2004-2007 for "Transition Metal Complexes for Catalytic Hydrolysis of Phosphotriester Pesticides"
  • Research Corporation Cottrell College Science Award 2007 (rescinded, not eligible since no longer at a PUI)
  • ACS Petroleum Research Fund (type AC) in 2008 for “Novel Water-Soluble N-Heterocyclic Carbene Chelates for Transition Metal Catalysts.” 
  • NSF CAREER award 2009-2014 for "New Water-Soluble Ligands and Transition Metal Complexes for Enzyme Modeling and Catalysis"

 

Awards to the PI

  • Outstanding Research Mentor of the year 2007 at Salisbury University
  • Outstanding Poster Award at Inorganic Gordon Research Conference 2007 for poster on "Sterically Bulky Water-Soluble Ligands for Modeling Metalloenzyme Active Sites"

 

Publications (* denotes undergraduate coauthors)

 

11.  Bongiovanni, J. L.;* Rowe, B. W.;* Fadden, P. T.;* Taylor, M. T.;* Wells, K. R.;* Papish, E. T.; Yap, G. P. A.; Zeller, M. "Zinc(II), Nickel(II) and Copper(II) Complexes of Bulky Tris(triazolyl)borate Ligands are Sterically Similar to Tp Analogs but have Improved Solubility in Water and Alcohols" submitted to Inorganic Chemistry, 3/31/2009.

 

10. Gardner, S. R.;* Papish, E. T.; Monillas, W. H.; Yap, G. P. A. “Tris(triazolyl)borate Ligands of Intermediate Steric Bulk for the Synthesis of  Biomimetic Structures with Hydrogen Bonding and Solubility in Hydrophilic Solvents” Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry, 2008, 102, 2179-2183.  In Young Investigator Special Issue: "Inorganic Biochemistry: The Next Generation."

 

9. Papish, E. T.; Donahue, T. M.;* Wells, K. R.;* Yap, G. P. A. “How Are Tris(triazolyl)borate Ligands Electronically Different From Tris(pyrazolyl)borate Ligands? A Study of (TtztBu,Me)CuCO [TtztBu,Me = tris(3-t-butyl-5-methyl-1,2,4-triazolyl)borate].” J. Chem. Soc. Dalton Trans., 2008, 2923-2925.

 

8. Jernigan, F. E.;* Sieracki, N. A.;* Taylor, M. T.;* Jenkins, A. S.;* Engel, S. E.; Rowe, B. W.;* Jové, F. A.; Yap, G. P. A.; Papish, E. T.; Ferrence, G. M. “Sterically Bulky Tris(triazolyl)borate Ligands as Water-Soluble Analogues of Tris(pyrazolyl)borate” Inorg. Chem.  2007, 46, 360-362.

 

7. Jernigan, F. E.;* Jové, F. A.; Papish, E. T.; Yap, G. P. A. "Bis[tris(3-isopropylpyrazolyl)methane sulfonate]manganese(II)" Acta Cryst. E62, 2006, m3172-m3173.

 

6. Papish, Elizabeth T.; Taylor, Michael T.;* Jernigan, Finith E.;* Rodig, Michael J.;* Shawhan, Robert R.;* Yap, Glenn P. A.; Jové, Fernando A. "Synthesis of Zinc, Copper, Nickel, Cobalt and Iron Complexes Using Tris(pyrazolyl)methane Sulfonate Ligands:  A Structural Model for N,N,O Binding in Metalloenzymes" Inorganic Chemistry 2006, 45, 2242-2250.

 

5. Mahajan, Devinder; Papish, Elizabeth T.; Pandya, Kaumudi.  “Sonolysis Induced Decomposition of Metal Carbonyls: Kinetics and Product Characterization.” Ultrasonics Sonochemistry 2004, 11, 385-392.

 

4. Tang, LiHao; Papish, Elizabeth T.; Abramo, Graham P.; Baik, Mu-Hyun; Norton, Jack R.; Rappé, Anthony. “Kinetics and Thermodynamics of H• Transfer From (h5-C5R5)Cr(CO)3H to Styrene and Methyl Methacrylate”.  J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2003, 125, 10093-10102.

 

3. Papish, Elizabeth T.; Magee, Matthew P.; Norton, Jack R.  “Protonation of Transition Metal Hydrides to Give Dihydrogen Complexes: Mechanistic Implications and Catalytic Applications”.  In Recent Advances in Hydride Chemistry; Poli, R., Ed.; Elsevier: Switzerland, 2001; pp 39-74.

 

2. Papish, Elizabeth T.; Rix, Francis C.; Spetseris, Nikos; Norton, Jack R.; Williams, Robert D. “Protonation of CpW(CO)2(PMe3)H: Is the Metal or the Hydride the Kinetic Site?” J. Am. Chem. Soc.  2000, 122, 12235-12242.

 

1. Wu, Min; Papish, Elizabeth T.; Begley, Tadhg P. “Mechanistic studies on thiaminase I. Identification of the product of thiamin degradation in the absence of the nucleophilic cosubstrate.” Bioorg. Chem. 2000,  28,  45-48.