Inorganic Chemistry Seminar: Professor Curtis Berlinguette, University of British Columbia

Inorganic Chemistry Seminar: Professor Curtis Berlinguette, University of British Columbia (Host: Professor Matt Kanan)

"Bridging the Gap Between Three Nobel Prizes for Electron Transfer"

About the Seminar

Over 60 years have passed since Taube deduced inner-sphere electron transfer between distinct metal complexes (Nobel Prize in 1983), yet the direct observation of an orbital pathway for non-covalently bound species is unknown. While orbital pathways for electron transfer are widely known for conjugated covalent bonds (Nobel Prize in 2000), I will present the first direct experimental demonstration of an orbital pathway for inner-sphere electron transfer through an intermolecular bond. This observation of intermolecular inner-sphere electron transfer adds granularity to Marcus theory (Nobel Prize in 1992) and informs materials design for solar fuels production at an atomic orbital level of resolution.  

About the Speaker

Dr. Curtis P. Berlinguette is a Canada Research Chair in Energy Conversion, CIFAR Fellow, Member of the Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute and Professor of Chemistry and Chemical & Biological Engineering at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Berlinguette completed his PhD in Inorganic Chemistry at Texas A&M University (Advisor: Prof. K. R. Dunbar) and postdoctoral studies at Harvard University (Advisor: Prof. R. H. Holm). He started his independent career in the Department of Chemistry and The Institute for Sustainable Energy, Environment & Economy at the University of Calgary in 2006 before moving his program to the University of British Columbia in 2013. He leads a research program dedicated to solar energy conversion and CO2 utilization.