Welcome

Welcome to the Blank Research Group in the Chemistry Department at the University of Minnesota.

Our research group investigates a variety of dynamic events in condensed media. The investigations range from basic chemical reaction dynamics in solution to energy and charge transfer dynamics in new materials with targets including applications in solar energy conversion. Our primary experimental tools are nonlinear time domain spectroscopies and this includes new methods developed in our laboratory. Computational tools such as time dependent density functional methods and molecular dynamics simulations are used to complement the experiments and aid in the interpretation of our data.

group_photo_2021_december

Recent news and publications

Photos from Chemistry outreach event: Mik demonstrating lycopodium experiment for the Sanneh Foundation
Image of crystal Crystal structure, stability, spectroscopy, electronic structure, and ultrafast excited-state dynamics of the elusive iron(II) phthalocyanine axially coordinated with DABCO ligands

Nevonen, D. E., Schaffner, J., Hanrahan, P., Shepit, M., van Lierop, J., Blank, D. A., & Nemykin, V. N. Journal of Porphyrins and Phthalocyanines, 2023.

Congratulations to our Undergrads, Paul and Claire for graduating! We can't wait to see what y'll accomplish in graduate school!
Mik wins Chilli Cookoff
paper_jacob_rachel Outsourcing Intersystem Crossing without Heavy Atoms: Energy Transfer Dynamics in PyridoneBODIPY–C60 Complexes

R. K. Swedin, A. T. Healy, J. Schaffner, I. A. Kuzmin, Y. V. Zatsikha, V. N. Nemykin, and D. A. Blank The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 2022.

 

image Light-Driven Hydrodefluorination of Electron-Rich Aryl Fluorides by an Anionic Rhodium-Gallium Photoredox Catalyst

J. T. Moore, M. J. Dorantes, Z. Pengmei, T. M. Schwartz, J. Schaffner, S. L. Apps, C. A. Gaggioli, U. Das, L. Gagliardi, D. A. Blank, C. C. Lu, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2022.

Jacob wins John Wertz Excellence Fellowship
Michael successfully defended his thesis!
Jacob Wins Paul and Gerda Gassman Award
image Two-Photon Uncaging of Bioactive Thiols in Live Cells at Wavelengths above 800 nm

 Hammers, M; Hodny, M; Bader, T; Mahmoodi, M.M;  Fang, S; Fenton, A; Nurie, K; Trial, H,O; Xu, F; Healy, A; Ball, Z.T; Blank, D.A; Distefano, M.D. Org. Biomol. Chem, 2020.