Research

The Department of Chemistry at Howard University continues to be home to cutting edge research with an emphasis on student involvement.

We house various characterization equipment used for research and teaching opportunities. A key component of research is our graduate and undergraduate students. The interaction allows for students to learn from world renown researchers and results in publications, technological products, and even international opportunities. Our research program is not confined to our campus, but reaches across the globe through national and international collaboration.

To learn more about all of the exciting research underway in our department, please view our Faculty by Research Area section below!

Dr. Charles Hosten
Associate Chairperson
Email: chosten@howard.edu

Dr. Raymond Butcher
Associate Chairperson
Email: RButcher@howard.edu

Phone: 202-806-6900

Selected Recent Publications

S.E. Pidgeon, A.J. Apostolos, J.M. Nelson, M. Shaku, B. Rimal, M.N. Islam, D.C. Crick, S.J. Kim, M.S. Pavelka, B.D. Kana, M.M. Pires "L,D-Transpeptidase Specific Probe Reveals Spatial Activity of Peptidoglycan Cross-Linking" ACS Chemical Biology 14, 2185-2196 (2019) doi: 10.1021/acschembio.9b00427
D. Stephens, N. Osunsanmi, K. Sochacki, T. Powell, J. Taraska, D. Harris "Spatiotemporal organization and protein dynamics involved in regulated exocytosis of MMP-9 in breast cancer cells." The Journal of General Physiology 151 (12), 1386-1403 (2019) DOI: 10.1085/jgp.201812299
X. Wang, S. Bhadauriya, R. Zhang, P. Pitliya, D. Raghavan, J. Zhang, M.R. Bockstaller, J.F. Douglas, A. Karim "Nanoimprint Directed Assembly of Associating Polymer-Grafted Nanoparticles for Polymer Then Films with Enhanced Stability" ACS Applied Polymer Materials 1, 3241-3253 (2019), doi: 10.1021/acsapm.9b0059 (Cover Article)
O. Gbemigun, R.J. Butcher, J.S. Matthews "Synthesis and structural characterization of beta-enaminoester zinc complexes" Journal of Chemical Crystallography 49, 80-86 (2019) doi:10.1007/s10870-018-0736-0
P. Strandwitz, K. Kim, D. Terekhova, J. Liu, A. Sharma, J. Levering, D. McDonald, D. Dietrich, T. Ramadhar, A. Lekbua, N. Mroue, C. Liston, E. Stewart, M. J. Dubin, K. Zengler, R. Knight, J.Gilbert, J. Clardy, K. Lewis "GABA-modulating bacteria of the human gut microbiota" Nature Microbiology 4, 396-403 (2019) doi: 10.1038/s41564-018-0307-3
S. Kenzler, F. Fetzer, C. Schrenk, N. Pollard, A.R. Frojd, A. Z. Clayborne, A. Schnepf “Synthesis and characterization of three multi-shell metalloid gold clusters Au32(R3P)12Cl8” Agnewandte Chemie, 58, 5902-5905 (2019), DOI: 10.1002/aine.201900644
E. Delany, S. Kaur, S. Cummings, K. Basse, D. Wilson, J. Dutton "Revisiting the Perfluorinated Trityl Cation" Chemistry - A European Journal 25, 5298 (2019) doi: 10.1002/chem.20186110
S. Raje, K. Mani, P. Kandasamy, R.J. Butcher, R. Angamuthu "Bioinspired oxidative cleavage of aliphatic C-C bonds utilizing aerial oxygen by nickel acireductone deoxygenate mimics" European Journal of Inorganic Chemistry 16, 2164-2167 (2019) doi: 10.1002/ejic.201801471
C. Du, X. Liu, G Ye, X. Gao, Z. Zhuang, P. Li, D. Xiang, X. Li, A.Z. Clayborne, X. Zhou, W. Chen “Balancing the micro-mesoporosity for activity for activity maximization of N-doped carbonaceous electrocatalysts in the oxygen reduction reaction” ChemSusChem 12, 1017-1025 (2019) doi:10.1002/cssc.201802960

N. Nalli, A. Gambacorta, Q. Liu. C. Barnet, C. Tan, F. Iturbide-Sanchez, T. Reale, B. Sun, M. Wilson, L. Borg, and V. Morris "Validation of Atmospheric Profile Retrievals from the SNPP NOAA-Unique Combined Atmospheric Processing System. Part 2: Ozone" IEEE Transactions of Geoscience and Remote Sensing 56, 598 (2018) doi: 10.1109/TGRS.2017.2762600
N. Nalli, A. Gambacorta, Q. Liu. C. Barnet, C. Tan, F. Iturbide-Sanchez, T. Reale, B. Sun, M. Wilson, L. Borg, and V. Morris "Validation of Atmospheric Profile Retrievals from the SNPP NOAA-Unique Combined Atmospheric Processing System. Part 1: Temperature and Moisture" IEEE Transactions of Geoscience and Remote Sensing 56, 180-190 (2018) doi: 10.1109/TGRS.2017.2744558
S. Bhadauriya, X. Wang, P. Pitliya, J. Zhang, D. Raghavan, M. Bockstaller, C. Stafford, J. Douglas, A. Karim "Tuning the relaxations of nano patterned polymer films with polymer-grafted nanoparticles: Observation of Entropy-Enthalpy Compensation" Nano Letters 18, 7441-7447 (2018) doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.8b02514
Y. Lu, C. Zhang, X. Li, W. Xing, A. R. Frojd, A. Clayborne, W. Chen “Enhanced Electrocatalytic Activity of Au25 clusters by Single Platinum Atom Doping” Nano Energy 50, 316-322 (2018). DOI: 10.1016/j.nanoen.2018.05.052
U. Okeke, R. Otchere, Y. Gultneh, R.J. Butcher "The crystal structure of bis[(E)-4-bromo-2-({[2-(pyridin-2-yl)ethyl]imino}methyl]nickel(II) bis[(E)-4-bromo-2-({[2-pyridin-2-yl)ethyl]imino}methyl)phenolato]nicke(II) bis(perchlorate) methanol mono solvate, a structure containing strong inter-species hydrogen bonds" Acta Crystallographica E74, 1121-1125 (2018) doi: 10.1107/S2056989018010277