Louise Berben

Louise Berben

Position Title
Professor

3465 Chemistry Annex
Bio

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.

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