All good things must come to an end, and so too must the SURF program! We had so much fun hosting Ruchira and Calise this summer, so it’s bittersweet to see them wrap up their internships and return to Ithaca and Santa Cruz, respectively. We can’t wait to see what lies ahead for both of you in graduate school and beyond!

Together with collaborators from the Gutekunst lab at Georgia Tech, the Liu lab at the University of Pittsburgh, and Bristol Myers Squibb, today we report a one-step approach towards 1,2-diarylated sequence-encoded monomers that can be controllably polymerized via ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP). The method allows convenient access to otherwise inaccessible polymeric materials with the modularity inspired by classical cross-coupling. Congrats to the entire team: Van, Anne, and Camille from Scripps Research; Mizhi and Ethan from Georgia Tech; Yue from the University of Pittsburgh; and Steve from BMS!

For a link to the paper in Nature Synthesis, click here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s44160-024-00618-1

What is the active form of my catalyst for a given reaction of interest? This core question remains one of the most difficult to answer due to tendency of metals and ligands to change oxidation states in situ. Together with chemists at Bristol Myers Squibb and the Blackmond lab at Scripps Research, we undertook a systematic study of bisphosphine oxidation in palladium catalysis and its ramifications in coordination chemistry and catalysis. Led by G4 student Shenghua, this comprehensive study has something for everyone—organometallic synthesis, reaction kinetics, structural characterization, and density functional theory calculations!

For a link to the ChemRxiv pre-print, click here: https://chemrxiv.org/engage/chemrxiv/article-details/66aeabbd5101a2ffa809a6fa

The Engle lab is pleased to welcome three new first-year graduate students, Françoise Aouane (ETH Zürich/HHU Düsseldorf), Aimee Schill (Brigham Young University), and Ningxi Song (National University of Singapore), who arrived in San Diego and started research in the lab this week. We are thrilled to have the chance to work with this talented bunch and eager to follow the exciting science they pursue.

Luka Remec, a rising senior at Telluride High School in Telluride, CO, competed his summer research internship in the Engle lab this week. Luka’s internship was supported through the Pinhead Internship Program run through the Pinhead Institute. In the Engle lab, Luke worked under the mentorship of Madison developing alkyne diarylation methododology under palladium catalysis. After an awesome wrap-up talk, Luka will now head home for his senior year at Telluride High School and plans to pursue a STEM major in college next fall. Best of luck in your future endeavors, Luka!

Congrats to our stellar intern Sara Shanker, who has completed her summer internship in the Engle lab, where she developed new palladium-catalyzed olefin hydrofunctionalization methodology under the mentorship of Wen-Ji. Sara’s internship was supported by a generous scholarship from the Guru Kripa Foundation (GKF), the IIT Kharagpur Foundation (IITKGPF) of USA. Sara will now return to IIT Kharagpur to complete her joint B.S./M.S. degree while applying for graduate school. We can’t wait to follow your career as it unfolds, Sara! Congrats on your achievements!

We welcome our newest lab member, Letian Xu, who joins the Engle lab for a 6-months undergraduate internship. Letian is a senior at Nankai University, where he performs research in the lab of Prof. Shoufei Zhu. Outside of the lab, Letian is an avid FC Bayern Munich fan. Welcome Letian!

As per annual tradition, the Engle lab spent the afternoon at the beach celebrating our fantastic summer interns. Good food, good fun, and good people!

Starting this month, Keary will assume the role of Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies of the Skaggs Graduate Program at Scripps Research. In this role, he will build on the success of outgoing Dean Phil Dawson and lead top-10 graduate programs in Chemistry and Biology. For the official announcement, click here: https://www.scripps.edu/news-and-events/press-room/2024/20240701-engle-dean-scripps-graduate-school-of-chemical-sciences.html

Congrats to all of the lab alumni who recently graduated! We’ve been so fortunate to have worked with this talented crew of high school and undergrad interns, and we wish them the very best as they embark on their next adventures.

Undergrad Alumni
Xiaowei Chen (Rice): Cornell University (Ph.D. in Chemistry)
Madeline Fitzgerald (Davidson): UC Berkeley (Ph.D. in Chemistry)
Hang Chi (Calvin) Ho (HKUST): UCLA (Ph.D. in Chemistry)
Chenxi Liao (Nankai U): Nankai U (Ph.D. in Chemistry)
Gabrielle Martinez (CSUSM): UC Irvine (Ph.D. in Chemistry)
Wenzhuo Qin (Nankai U): Cornell University (Ph.D. in Chemistry)
Shinjin Sun (Fudan U): Fudan University (Ph.D. in Chemistry)

High School Intern Alumna
Giada Amundson (Montrose High): Oregon State University (B.S. in Chemistry)