With over seventy total researchers during the summer, the Furman University Chemistry Department boasts one of the largest undergraduate research programs in the nation. The summer of 2014 marked the 50th consecutive program in which undergraduates, masters students, postdoctoral fellows, faculty mentors, and visiting faculty from area schools work together over a ten-week period in a wide variety of scientific research projects. The undergraduate students, who receive stipends for the summer, carry out independent investigations in the areas of analytical, inorganic, physical, organic and bio-organic chemistry. This program would not be possible without the support of wide variety of public and private sources.
These student/faculty collaborations produced the following research papers that were published in peer-reviewed journals.
Submissions from 2013
A Departmental Focus on High Impact Undergraduate Research Experiences, Robin B. Kinnel, Adam W. Van Wynsberghe, Ian J. Rosenstein, Karen S. Brewer, Myriam Cotten, George C. Shields, Charles J. Borton, SueAnn Z. Senior, Gregory S. Rahn, and Timothy E. Elgren
The Small Molecule Dispergo Tubulates the Endoplasmic Reticulum and Inhibits Export, Lei Lu, Rami N. Hannoush, Brian C. Goess, Shankar Varadarajan, Matthew D. Shair, and Tom Kirchhausen
Surface modification of polypyrrole/biopolymer composites for controlled protein and cellular adhesion, Paul J. Molino, BinBin Zhang, Gordon G. Wallace, and Timothy W. Hanks
Broadband Fourier Transform Rotational Spectroscopy for Structure Determination: The Water Heptamer, Cristóbal Pérez, Simon Lobsiger, Nathan A. Seifert, Daniel P. Zaleski, Berhane Temelso, George C. Shields, Zbigniew Kisiel, and Brooks H. Pate
Silver clusters as both chromophoric reporters and DNA ligands, Jeffrey T. Petty, Banabihari Giri, Ian C. Miller, David A. Nicholson, Orlin O. Sergev, Taylor M. Banks, and Sandra P. Story
A silver cluster-DNA equilibrium, Jeffrey T. Petty, Orlin O. Sergev, David A. Nicholson, Peter M. Goodwin, Banabihari Giri, and D. R. McMullan
DNA-Templated Molecular Silver Fluorophores, Jeffrey T. Petty, Sandra P. Story, Jung-Cheng Hsiang, and Robert M. Dickson
TREPR spectra of micelle-confined spin correlated radical pairs: I. Molecular motion and simulations, Valery F. Tarasov, Lauren E. Jarocha, Nikolai I. Avdievich, and Malcolm D. E. Forbes
TREPR spectra of micelle-confined spin correlated radical pairs: II. Spectral decomposition and asymmetric line shapes, Valery F. Tarasov, Lauren E. Jarocha, and Malcolm D. E. Forbes
Structure and Thermodynamics of H3O+(H2O)8 Clusters: A Combined Molecular Dynamics and Quantum Mechanics Approach, Berhane Temelso, Thorsten Köddermann, Karl N. Kirschner, Katurah Klein, and George C. Shields
From formamide to adenine: a self-catalytic mechanism for an abiotic approach, Jing Wang, Jiande Gu, Minh Tho Nguyen, Greg Springsteen, and Jerzy Leszczynski
From formamide to purine: an energetically viable mechanistic reaction pathway, Jing Wang, Jiande Gu, Minh Tho Nguyen, Greg Springsteen, and Jerzy Leszczynski
From formamide to purine: a self-catalyzed reaction pathway provides a feasible mechanism for the entire process, Jing Wang, Jiande Gu, Minh Tho Nguyen, Greg Springsteen, and Jerzy Leszczynski
Efficient Production of Fluorescent Polydiacetylene-Containing Liposomes for Pathogen Detection and Identification, Cassandra Wright-Walker, Caroline E. Hansen, Michael A. Evans, Emily S. Nyers, and Timothy W. Hanks
Novel inhibitors of bacterial virulence: Development of 5,6-dihydrobenzo[h]quinazolin-4(3H)-ones for the inhibition of group A streptococcal streptokinase expression, Bryan D. Yestrepsky, Yuanxi Xu, Meghan E. Breen, Xiaoqin Li, Walajapet G. Rajeswaran, Jenny G. Ryu, Roderick J. Sorenson, Yasuhiro Tsume, Michael W. Wilson, Wenpeng Zhang, Duxin Sun, Hongmin Sun, and Scott D. Larsen
Submissions from 2012
Quantum dot photoluminescence quenching by Cr(III) complexes. Photosensitized reactions and evidence for a FRET mechanism, Peter T. Burks, Alexis D. Ostrowski, Alexander A. Mikhailovsky, Emory M. Chan, Paul S. Wagenknecht, and Peter C. Ford
Electron spin resonance investigation of H2+, HD+, and D2+ isolated in neon matrices at 2 K, Matthew D. Correnti, Kyle P. Dickert, Mark A. Pittman, John W. Felmly, John J. Banisaukas, and Lon B. Knight
A Multistep Synthesis Featuring Classic Carbonyl Chemistry for the Advanced Organic Chemistry Laboratory, David B. Duff, Tyler G. Abbe, and Brian C. Goess
Photoactive Chromium(III)-Cyclam Complexes with Axially Bound geminal-Diethynylethenes, William P. Forrest, Zhi Cao, H. R. Hambrick, Boone M. Prentice, Phillip E. Fanwick, Paul S. Wagenknecht, and Tong Ren
Introduction: The Concept of Biomimicry and Bioinspiration in Chemistry, Timothy W. Hanks and Gerhard F. Swiegers
A unified mechanism for abiotic adenine and purine synthesis in formamide, Jeremy S. Hudson, Joseph F. Eberle, Raj H. Vachhani, Luther C. Rogers, James H. Wade, Ramanarayanan Krishnamurthy, and Greg Springsteen
Hydration of the Bisulfate Ion: Atmospheric Implications, Devon E. Husar, Berhane Temelso, Alexa L. Ashworth, and George C. Shields
Hydrophobic conducting polymer films from post deposition thiol exposure, Paul J. Molino, Gordon G. Wallace, and Timothy W. Hanks
Suppression of viral RNA binding and the assembly of infectious hepatitis C virus particles in vitro by cyclophilin inhibitors, Anita Nag, Jason M. Robotham, and Hengli Tang
Tri-snRNP-associated proteins interact with subunits of the TRAMP and nuclear exosome complexes, linking RNA decay and pre-mRNA splicing, Anita Nag and Joan A. Steitz