At UC Davis, we have a diverse and interdisciplinary group of faculty, students, postdocs, and staff engaged in a wide breadth of research. Here you can explore many different areas of chemistry, including biofuels, nucleic acids, glycoscience, metabolic engineering, imaging, metalloenzymes, reaction kinetics, spectroscopy, natural product synthesis, nanomaterials, medicinal chemistry, protein structure, vaccine design, and more.
We also encourage and support research that transcends traditional academic boundaries by bringing together scholars from different areas of study who share our interest in the chemical sciences, such as the School of Medicine, College of Engineering, College of Biological Sciences, and Genome Center (see Graduate Groups at UC Davis for more information about the graduate group concept).
See People for a more comprehensive photo directory of our faculty.
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2021-22
Research Highlights
- Direct Conversion of Captured CO₂ into Fuel and Chemicals (Berben et al.)
- New Theoretical Method Reveals Polarization Effects of Solvents Over Photoreactions (Song et al.)
- 2 + 2 = 3: Making Ternary Phases through a Binary Approach (Kauzlarich et al.)
- Biosynthesis of the [FeFe]-Hydrogenase with an organometallic Fe2S2 cluster bypasses HydG and HydE maturases (Britt et al.)
2020-21
Research Highlights
- Ultrafast dynamics of vibrational energy transfer in water (Donadio et al.)
- Machine learning-assisted discovery of chevrel phase tellurides (Velazquez et al.)
- Further along the biosynthesis pathway of the [FeFe] hydrogenase active site (Britt et al.)
- An elusive lysine-tryptophan intermediate in the enzyme SuiB (Britt et al.)
- Rapid Quantification of Hydrogen Bond Acceptor Ability (Franz et al.)
- A Novel Biosensor for Determining Hallucinogenic Potential (Olson et al.)
- Hidden protein structures key to understanding neurodegenerative disease (Murray et al.)
- A Non-Hallucinogenic Psychedelic Analog for Treating Mental Illness (Olson et al.)
- Intermediate Yb valence in the Yb₁₄MSb₁₁ (M = Zn, Mn, Mg) phases (Kauzlarich et al.)
- Strongly anisotropic nucleation of 1D pseudo-Chevrel Phase sulfides that exhibit tunable intercalant-dependent interfacial charge-transport properties (Velázquez et al.)
2019-20
Research Highlights
- Detection of OG:A Lesion Mispairs by MutY Relies on a Single His Residue and the 2‑Amino Group of 8‑Oxoguanine (David et al.)
- Fast Proton Transfer and Hydrogen Evolution Mediated by [Co₁₃C₂(CO)₂₄]⁴⁻ (Berben at al.)
- Catalyzing Enantioselective Si–H Insertions for Silicon-centered Chirality (Franz et al.)
- Driving Torsion Scans with Wavefront Propagation (Wang et al.)
- Direct Solid-State Nucleation and Charge-Transport Dynamics of Alkali Metal-Intercalated M₂Mo₆S₆ (M = K, Rb, Cs) Nanorods (Velazquez et al.)
- Bryostatin 1 Promotes Synaptogenesis and Reduces Dendritic Spine Density in Cortical Cultures through a PKC-Dependent Mechanism (Olson et al.)
- Elucidation of the metal-binding site in C-peptide, a hormone related to insulin (Heffern et al.)
- Elucidating the role of HydE maturase in hydrogenase synthesis (Britt et al.)
- Microwave-assisted synthesis of Ge nanostructures for energy storage (Kauzlarich et al.)
- Anions control vapochromic and thermochromic properties of [(C₆H₁₁NC)₂Au]⁺ salt (Balch et al.)
- A spectroscopic mimic of the oxygen evolving complex (Britt et al.)
- Modeling active sites in water oxidation catalysts (Britt et al.)
- Thermoelectric composite with improved mechanical and transport properties (Kauzlarich et al.)
- Discovery of metastability in the active phase of perovskite solar cells (Navrotsky et al.)
- Emerging consensus on photosynthetic oxygen evolution (Britt et al.)
- New insights into hydrogenase active site biosynthesis (Britt et al.)
- A radical enzyme intermediate trapped using non-native substrates (Britt et al.)
- CO2 reduction promoted by metal-promoted Mo6S8 clusters (Velazquez et al.)
2018-19
Research Highlights
- Metals influence C-peptide, a hormone related to insulin (Heffern et al.)
- DMT Microdosing Produces Antidepressant and Anxiolytic Effects (Olson et al.)
- Thermodynamics of H₂O and CO₂ Absorption and Guest-induced Phase Transitions in Zeolite RHO (Navrotsky et al.)
- Solid state synthesis from KH and thermoelectric properties of K₈E₈Ge₃₈ (E = Al, Ga, In) (Kauzlarich et al.)
- Developments in Rhodium Catalyzed C‑H insertion of Donor/Donor Carbenes (Shaw et al.)
- A Bump-Hole Approach for Directed RNA Editing (Beal, Fisher et al.)
- Designing Reactions with Post-Transition-State Bifurcations (Tantillo et al.)
- An electrochemical thermal transistor (Donadio et al.)
- NMR studies of aqueous silicate complexes at gigapascal pressures (Casey et al.)
- Metals and Hormones! (Heffern et al.)
- Electrochemical Reduction of N₂ to NH₃ at Low Potential by a Molecular Aluminum Complex (Berben et al.)
- Eu₁₁Zn₄Sn₂As₁₂: A Ferromagnetic Zintl Semiconductor with a Layered Structure Featuring Extended Zn4As6 Sheets and Ethane-like Sn2As6 Units (Kauzlarich, Taufor et al.)
- An Aminoimidazole Radical Intermediate in the Anaerobic Biosynthesis of the 5,6-dimethylbenzimidazole Ligand to Vitamin B12 (Britt et al.)
- The Zinc Linchpin Motif in the DNA Repair Glycosylase MUTYH: Identifying the Zn²⁺ Ligands and Roles in Damage Recognition and Repair (David, Siegel et al.)
- X-ray Triggered Release of Engineered Proteins from Nanoparticles (Siegel et al.)
- Ultrafast Spintronics in Photochromic Cobalt Switches (Larsen et al.)
Journal Covers
- Franz Lab research featured on cover of The Journal of Organic Chemistry
- Balch Lab research featured on cover of Chemistry: A European Journal
Special Issues
2017-18
Research Highlights
- Hydrogenase Catalysis – Collaboration Between Metals and Protein (Cramer et al.)
- Investigating the Many Roles of Internal Water in Cytochrome c Oxidase (Stuchebrukhov et al.)
- Probing the coordination and function of Fe 4 S 4 modules in nitrogenase assembly protein NifB (Britt et al.)
- Protein targets for cancer metastatis (Lebrilla et al.)
- Dynamic control of selectivity for synthetically useful carbocation rearrangements (Tantillo et al.)
- Zeolites exhibit flexibility during H2O and CO2 absorption (Navrotsky et al.)
- Protonation Heterogeneity Modulates the Ultrafast Photocycle Initiation Dynamics of Phytochrome Cph1 (Larsen, Lagarias et al.)
- A Mechanochromic Luminescent Chemical Container Assembled from Gold(I) Phosphine Building Blocks (Balch, Olmstead et al.)
- Streamlined chemoenzymatic total synthesis of prioritized ganglioside cancer antigens (Chen et al.)
- Facile C−H Bond Metathesis Mediated by a Stannylene: A Sn(I) Radical Intermediate (Power et al.)
- Solvent Effects on Growth, Crystallinity, and Surface Bonding of Ge Nanoparticles (Kauzlarich et al.)
- Illuminating the structural basis of photoactivation (Ames, Larsen, Lagarias et al.)
- Hallucinogenic Compound in Ayahuasca Shows Therapeutic Promise (Olson et al.)
- A named reaction connects two cities (Kurth et al.)
- Britt Lab research published in Nature Chemistry (Britt et al.)
- A recipe for docking carbocations in enzyme active sites (Siegel, Tantillo et al.)
- Ultrafast spectroscopy reveals photoinduced charge transfer dynamics in iron-sulfur proteins (Larsen, Cramer, Goodin et al.)
- A new material with high thermoelectric efficiency at room temperature (Donadio, Kauzlarich et al.)
- Structure elucidation of biologically important metabolites (Fiehn et al.)
- A chemoenzymatic synthon for carbohydrate synthesis (Chen et al.)
- Light Turns on Water Splitting Photocatalyst (Osterloh et al.)
- Elucidating the mechanochemistry of metal organic framework polymorphs (Navrotsky et al.)
Journal Covers
- Velázquez Lab research featured on cover of J. Mat. Chem. C
- Olson Lab research featured on cover of ACS Chem. Neurosci.
- Olson Lab research featured on cover of Cell Reports
- Berben Lab research featured on cover of Organometallics
- Wang Lab research featured on cover of Chemical Physics
- Moule Lab research featured on cover of JMCC
- Ng Lab research featured on cover of PCCP
