Penn Department of Chemistry

Biological Chemistry

The study of biochemistry in a modern chemistry department - with a strong emphasis on molecular structure, chemical dynamics, and theoretical chemistry - is probably the best preparation for an academic or industrial career in biological chemistry. This is because all of modern molecular biology is the result of efforts to explain life processes in terms of chemistry. The recent spectacular advances in genetic engineering are a direct result of the ability to perform precise chemistry with DNA outside the cell. In fact, the human genome project is merely a covalent structure determination.

In the Penn Chemistry Department a broad range of biological problems are being attacked, from the structure of proteins and nucleic acids, to enzyme mechanisms, to neurochemistry. Techniques in use cover all of modern chemistry: NMR spectroscopy, X-ray and neutron diffraction, laser and synchrotron radiation, as well as recombinant and synthetic DNA approaches.

The Biological NMR facility

Many collaborative projects take advantage of the fact that Penn is one of the very few universities where the Chemistry and Biology Departments, and the Medical, Dental, and Veterinary Schools are on one campus. For the Ph.D. candidate, these collaborations are in part formalized by Chemistry students being appointed to positions on the NIH-funded training grants in Cell and Molecular Biology and Biophysical Spectroscopy. In addition, a new program in Biotechnology has been established with the Department of Chemical Engineering of the School of Engineering and the Wistar Institute. Both organizations are virtually adjacent to the Chemistry complex. Another new program supported by DOE, NSF, and USDA encourages molecular, genetic, and structural studies in plant biology with participation of the Chemistry, Biology, and Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics Departments.

Inorganic Chemistry

The inorganic chemistry program at Penn is unusually diverse and interdisciplinary in nature, encompassing synthetic, spectroscopic, structural, mechanistic, and theoretical research programs involving new molecular, polymeric, and solid-state compounds and materials. A major emphasis in many of the research programs is the design and synthesis of new molecules and materials having specific chemical or physical properties. Some specific areas of current interest include: metallo-radicals, electron and energy transfer reactions, metallo-enzymes and the de novo synthesis of artificial metalloproteins, main group chemistry, transition-metal catalyzed reactions of organic and inorganic compounds, solid-state chemistry, new conducting polymers and liquid crystals, inorganic polymers, ceramic processing, and molecules and materials with novel optical properties.

The department offers state-of-the-art instrumentation and technical support for forefront research in inorganic chemistry, including outstanding facilities for NMR, mass spectrometry, X-ray crystallography, computing, and materials characterization. In addition, the NIH-funded Regional Laser Laboratory provides access to cutting-edge spectroscopic techniques for the study of ultrafast chemical reactions and the photophysics of inorganic systems.

Inorganic chemistry at Penn benefits greatly from the Materials Research Laboratory at the university, which fosters a large number of interdisciplinary research projects with groups in diverse departments such as materials science, electrical engineering, chemical engineering, physics, and biophysics. The inorganic group at Penn also has numerous interactions with nearby industrial research centers, ranging from collaborative research programs to a bimonthly inorganic and organometallic group meeting, held jointly with researchers from Du Pont Central Research and the University of Delaware, as well as other companies and universities.

Organic Chemistry at Penn encompasses the study of organic synthesis, conducting polymers, bioorganic chemistry, organometallic chemistry, photochemistry, and physical organic chemistry. Programs are available in new synthetic methodology, synthesis of novel polymers and liquid crystals, total synthesis of natural products with anticancer, antibiotic, antiallergic, and antithrombotic action, the design and synthesis of biologically interesting compounds, mechanistic organic chemistry, and the synthesis of theoretically interesting molecules. Current projects cover a wide spectrum of topics ranging from synthesis of macrolides, polyethers, cyclopentanoids, alkaloids, marine natural products, pheromones, cyclic peptides, anthracyclines, sphingolipids, nucleotides, and carbohydrates, to organometallic and organofluorine chemistry and NMR studies of organic and bioorganic molecules. Molecular modeling is an increasingly important part of organic chemistry. Current applications at Penn range from molecular mechanics to high-level ab initio molecular orbital calculations.

Organic research is aided by superb modern facilities which include a fully computerized mass spectrometry center with both low- and high-resolution capabilities, and NMR center with multi-nuclear and high-resolution capabilities, an X-ray crystallography center for structure determinations, and a high-quality departmental computer facility.

The geographic location of Penn, in the center of the Northeastern United States, and at the heart of the pharmaceutical and other chemical industries makes our department a highly attractive research center for organic chemistry.

Physical and Theoretical Chemistry

Research in physical chemistry at Penn uses modern theoretical and state-of-the-art experimental techniques to obtain a fundamental understanding of the structure, dynamics, and reactivity of molecular systems. Species under investigation range from isolated gas-phase molecules--such as radicals, highly-excited molecules, and molecular clusters-- to condensed phase systems involving surfaces, liquid solutions, biological macromolecules, and novel materials. Spectroscopic and dynamical methods are used to probe potential energy surfaces of molecules, molecule-surface interactions, and solute-solvent forces, as well as chemical reactions, photochemistry, and energy transfer processes. Penn is recognized internationally as a center of expertise for the applications of lasers to chemical and biological problems. There are outstanding programs in high-resolution laser spectroscopy, multiphoton processes, nonlinear optics, and ultrafast phenomena. In addition to lasers, solid state NMR, synchrotron radiation, molecular beam, scanning probe microscopy, and ultrahigh vacuum surface analysis methods are widely used. As part of the interdisciplinary Materials Research Laboratory (LRSM) at Penn, physical chemists are examining structural and dynamical aspects of novel materials, liquid crystalline phases, and thin films. Many fundamental physical processes of large biomolecules are under investigation in the Regional Laser and Biotechnological Laboratories (RLBL). Theoretical chemistry is particularly strong in the areas of statistical mechanics, quantum dynamics, and molecular dynamics, with emphasis on the theory and computer simulation of biophysical systems, novel materials and condensed phase processes. Excellent computing facilities are available within the department, including dozens of workstations and a mini-supercomputer with high level three-dimensional graphics capabilities.

With more than 70 Ph.D. students, postdoctoral associates, and faculty members actively engaged in research, the physical and theoretical chemistry group at Penn forms a stimulating environment for learning and discovery.

Interfaces: Chemistry on the Edge

Wherever two or more disparate materials come together, the interface provides an opportunity for new, unexpected chemistry. Researchers at Penn are discovering new chemical phenomena and expanding the boundaries of chemistry by looking at these edges. Nanoscale patterned surfaces interacting with gases and liquids, biological macromolecules interacting with substrates and cellular environments, and self-assembled arrays of designed monomers are all fertile areas for innovative Penn chemists. The professors and students involved in this work develop and harness an impressive array of state-of-the-art tools and methods. Because the interfaces are often only a small fraction of a system by volume, experimentalists at Penn are constantly inventing new surface-sensitive techniques, including near-field optical microscopy, resonant Raman techniques, and single molecule detection schemes. Chemistry at interfaces spans a wide range of energy and time scales and involves unusual chemical bonds, so Penn theoretical chemists have created advanced Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics methods as well as techniques to model complex systems with quantum mechanical accuracy. In addition to answering fundamental questions, Penn chemists are motivated to study interfaces because of the interdisciplinary nature of this work, and the plethora of real-world applications. To fully understand the multicomponent nature of these systems, close collaborations are established with researchers in many fields, including physics, biophysics, biochemistry, materials science, computer science and chemical engineering. The Penn Chemistry department is a leader in creating ideas which will benefit society: improved automotive pollution catalysts and heterogeneous synthesis catalysts, a new understanding of protein secondary and tertiary structure, control of photosynthetic and ion channel biopathways, and new coatings to inhibit corrosion. Studying interfaces in the chemistry department of the University of Pennsylvania places you on the cutting edge of science, prepares you for many career areas, and gives you a chance to make a difference. Join us!

Biophysical Chemistry and Dynamics

Biological molecules are complex molecular systems that yield a rich variety of phenomena. Studying such systems requires a variety of different methods to probe and understand their behavior in detail. Biochemical events occur across a variety of time scales, from femtoseconds to days, and groups in the department study this full dynamic range. With its expertise in spectroscopy, Penn is a leader in studying submillisecond processes such as energy transfer, protein dynamics, and early events in protein folding. Single molecule studies in the department provide a detailed picture of biomolecular events such as protein folding. The department has expertise in the structural biology of proteins and nucleic acids, with special emphases on studying, controlling and impeding enzymatic activity. Given the complexity of proteins and nucleic acids, theory and computer simulation are used to provide a molecular interpretation of their structure and dynamics.