Louise Berben

All of our research centers around the synthesis and characterization of new inorganic molecules. Our choice of synthetic target is directed by a desire to investigate the activation of small molecules via chemical or electrochemical techniques, or interesting electronic states. Three main projects under investigation in our lab focus on:

1. Multielectron CO2 reduction chemistry with multimetallic clusters
2. Redox chemistry of main group elements; Al(III), Ga(III), and Si(IV)
3. Synthesis of Low-Coordinate Complexes using Bulky Acetylide Ligands

Education, Awards and Professional Highlights

• France Berkeley Fund Award (2018)
• Chancellor's Fellow, UC Davis (2015)
• Kavli Fellow (2015)
• Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (2014)
• Organometallics Young Investigator Fellowship, American Chemical Society (2014)
• Rising Star Award, WCC American Chemical Society (2014)
• Chemical Communications Emerging Investigator Lectureship, Royal Society of Chemistry (2013)
• Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellow (2012)
• CAREER Award, National Science Foundation (2011)
• Dow Chemical Company Postdoctoral Fellow (2006)
• Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor, University of California Berkeley (2003)
• Royal Australian Chemical Institute Student Prize (1999)
• University of New South Wales Honors Year Fellow (1999)
• University of New South Wales School of Chemistry Honors Fellow (1999)

Representative Publications

• Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution from Water by a Series of Iron Carbonyl Clusters, Nguyen, A. D.;+ Rail, M. D.;+ Shanmugam, M.; Fettinger, J. C.; Berben, L. A.: Inorg. Chem. 2013, 52, ASAP. +equal contribution.
• Aluminum-Ligand Cooperative N-H Bond Activation and an Example of Dehydrogenative Coupling, Myers, T. W.; Berben, L. A.: J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2013, 135, 9988-9990.
• Directing the Reactivity of [HFe4N(CO)12]- Toward H+ or CO2 Reduction by Understanding the Electrocatalytic Mechanism, Rail, M. D.; Berben, L. A.: J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2011, 133, 18577-18579.
• Countercations Direct One- or Two-Electron Oxidation of an Al(III) Complex and Al(III)-oxo Intermediates Activate C-H bonds, Myers, T. W.; Berben, L. A.: J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2011, 133, 11865-11867.
• Simple Routes to Bulky, Silyl-Substituted Acetylide Ligands and Examples of V(III), Fe(II), and Mn(II) Complexes, Yee, G. M.; Kowolik, K.; Manabe, S.; Fettinger, J. C.; Berben, L. A.: Chem. Commun. 2011, 47, 11680-11682.
• A Redox Series of Aluminum Complexes: Characterization of Four Oxidation States Including a Ligand Biradical State Stabilized via Exchange Coupling, Myers, T. W.;+ Kazem, N.;+ Stoll, S.; Britt, R. D.; Shanmugam, M.; Berben, L. A.: J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2011, 133, 8662-8672. +equal contribution.