John Anderson
University of Chicago, IL·Chemistry
Many enzymes use a metal atom at their core to carry out oxidations. These are reactions that remove electrons, and often hydrogen, from molecules, including the difficult job of breaking carbon–hydrogen (C–H) bonds.
- Fields
Chemistry
Biochemistry
Materials Science
- Topics
bioinorganic chemistry
metalloenzymes
oxidation catalysis
- Grants
- 3 known grants, through Apr 2031
What they work on
- Use metal oxo complexes that can be made highly basic to test how separate proton- and electron-transfer driving forces control concerted proton-electron transfer during C–H bond oxidation.
- Test how large internal electric fields, created by placing negative charges near a metal active site, change the rates and selectivity of substrate oxidation in synthetic model complexes.
- Load redox-active ligand scaffolds with hydrogen-atom equivalents to activate O2 for oxidation reactions and catalysis, with the goal of more efficient aerobic catalysts.
- Measure bond dissociation free energies, pKa values and oxidation potentials of modular model complexes and correlate them with oxidation rates, using systematically altered complexes as controls.
- Synthesize pseudo-tetrahedral late transition metal oxo complexes stabilized by oxidation-resistant fluorinated ligands bearing strongly donating carbenes, and measure their redox potentials and basicities.
- Characterize the nucleophilic, electrophilic and radical reactivity of fluorinated oxo complexes and their stoichiometric and catalytic transfer of oxo, nitrene and carbene groups to substrates.
- Compare redox modulation before, during and after synthesis of sulfur-based coordination polymers as routes to control their redox state and electronic or magnetic properties.
- Test the hypothesis that the solubility of coordination polymer building blocks or oligomers depends on their charge, so that adjusting redox state can control material morphology.
More about the research
Chemists build small synthetic molecules that imitate these metal centers. The goal is to learn what controls how fast and how selectively the reactions run, and to design better catalysts. Across three projects, the lab makes metal compounds and materials whose structure it can change one piece at a time. One project uses model compounds to test what governs biological oxidations. A second builds sturdy fluorinated complexes that stabilize highly reactive metal–oxygen species. A third develops electrically or magnetically active coordination polymers whose charge state and shape can be controlled.
Why it matters
Metal-containing enzymes carry out oxidations relevant to human health. Clearer rules for what controls their rates and selectivity would improve understanding of these biological processes. The same principles could guide synthetic catalysts that target specific C–H bonds, use air more efficiently for more sustainable oxidation chemistry, and transfer chemical groups in reactions important to drug development, chemical industry and renewable energy. Tools to control the charge state and shape of conductive or magnetic coordination polymers could help these materials be incorporated into devices.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
New Paradigms in Bioinorganic Oxidation: Modeling Non-Canonical Effects on Rates and Selectivity
NIH · Jul 2026 – Apr 2031
Synthetic control over redox-state and morphology in electronically complex coordination polymers
NSF · Sep 2023 – Aug 2027
Fluorinated Pseudo-Tetrahedral Complexes as Robust Platforms for Multiply Bonded Ligands and Group Transfer Reactivity"
NSF · May 2024 – Apr 2027
Closest labs
John Gilbertson
Western Washington University, WA·Chemistry
Develop a class of ditopic receptors, metal complexes with two hydrogen-bond-donating sites near the metal, that capture and reduce nitrite and nitrate (NOx-), built on the redox-active pyridinediimine (PDI) ligand.
Matthew Whited
Carleton College, MN·Chemistry
Develop late-metal complexes with metal–silicon single and multiple bonds that transfer reactive nitrene and carbene groups (short-lived nitrogen and carbon fragments) onto organic substrates.
Dianne Xiao
University of Washington, WA·Chemistry·Early-career
Develop a templating strategy to precisely position multiple metal centers and organic functional groups within metal–organic framework pores, giving uniform, tunable active sites on a solid support.
The school
University of Chicago: 39 labs on PI Pages, $681M a year on research, 457 research doctorates a year.
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