The Crystalline Sponge Method: Enhancing the Technique for Small Molecule Structural Elucidation by Timothy Ramadhar, Assistant Professor and Organic Chemistry Division Chair, Howard University

The Department of Chemistry Presents, via In Person and Online Zoom Presentation:  Timothy R. Ramadhar, PhD, Assistant Professor and Organic Chemisty Division Chair, Howard University

While single-crystal X-ray diffraction (SC-XRD) remains one of the most powerful tools for structural determination, it relies upon obtaining a good crystal. This precludes the analysis of poorly crystallizable compounds, crystals that diffract poorly, amorphous solids, and liquids – all constituting a broad range of chemical space. A technique termed the crystalline sponge method offers an innovative way to overcome this limitation. This approach involves soaking target molecules into a preformed crystalline matrix (“crystalline sponge”) that is typically a metal-organic framework (MOF), thus allowing for analysis of the target via SC-XRD. In this seminar, an introduction to the crystalline sponge method, its utility for full structural elucidation of synthetic compounds and natural products, and our work on developmental and computational studies to improve the technique will be presented.

Bio

Dr. Ramadhar received his BS in Biochemistry at the University of Waterloo and a Ph.D in Organic Chemistry at the University of Toronto.  He followed up with a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Harvard Medical School with a focus on Chemical Biology and Crystallography.

Link to Dr. Ramadhar's Profile

[email protected]