Chemistry and Biochemistry

Jingyue (Jimmy) Liu

 

Dr. Hamper received his B.A. in Chemistry from Kalamazoo College in Michigan and his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Illinois-Urbana.  He joined Monsanto in St. Louis, where he designed and prepared new agricultural products.  After initiating research using combinatorial chemistry approaches to bioactive compounds, he joined G.D. Searle to pursue discovery medicinal chemistry.  This led to research assignments in Pharmacia and Pfizer following a number of industry mergers/acquisitions.  In 2010, he joined the faculty at UMSL and in 2012 was appointed Assistant Teaching Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry.



 

  

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hamperb@umsl.edu

Office:R 204
Phone: (314) 516-5311
Fax: (314) 516-5342

Research Interests

Our lab investigates continuous flow chemistry for the preparation of biologically relevant target molecules and improvement of reaction processes.  Chemical reactions in continuous flow processes are inherently more efficient than batch processes, and can lead to advantages based on green chemistry principles.  Monoliths and functionalized polymeric beads incorporating specifically designed organic molecules are prepared and evaluated for catalysis of reactions and selective absorption of solute molecules in flow devices.  We employ a number of spectroscopic and chromatographic techniques to determine the nature of intermolecular interactions.  This allows optimal selection of candidate molecules for incorporation into a larger molecular superstructure such as silica monoliths or polymeric materials. 

Direct Uncatalyzed Amination of 2-Chloropyridine using a Flow Reactor

 

Hamper1

 

Chloropyridines are efficiently converted to 2-aminopyridines by uncatalyzed nucleophilic aromatic substitution (SNAr) in NMP, DMF or DMA using a continuous flow reactor.  A variety of secondary amines undergo SNAr with both electron rich and electron deficient 2-chloropyridines to afford 2-aminopyridines in good to excellent yield.  The flow reactor, which provides a short reaction time and high temperatures up to 300 oC, can overcome the activation barrier for reactions with unactivated substrates. Short reaction times result in fewer side products and can afford milligram to multi-gram quantities of product using continuous flow.

Parallel Solid Phase Synthesis and High Throughput 1H NMR Evaluation of a 96-Member 1,2,4-Trisubstituted-pyrimidin-6-one-5-carboxylic Acid Library

Hamper2

We have used a simple malonate resin 7 to prepare a multifunctional pyrimidinone heterocycle by multistep solid phase synthesis.  This system is amenable to flow chemistry allowing synthesis of complex organic compounds without isolation of any of the intermediates. 

We have use solid phase synthesis as a platform for preparation of a number of novel heterocycles and oligomers.  These reaction methods can be used for parallel synthesis of libraries of compounds for a variety of targets.  Compounds can be chosen for pharmaceutical targets, new materials or agrochemicals based on design.  The input for preparation and purification of the targeted compounds is greatly improved over single compound synthesis and allows preparation of sets of compounds having unique information content. 


Selected Recent Publications

"Single-atom catalysis of CO oxidation using Pt1/FeOx ", B. Qiao, A. Wang, X. Yang, L. F. Allard, Z. Jiang, Y. Cui, J. Liu, J. Li and T. Zhang, Nature Chemistry, 2011, 3, 634

"Facile Synthesis of Gold Nanorice Enclosed by High-Index Facets and Its Application for CO Oxidation Y. Zheng, J. Tao, H. Liu, J. Zeng, T. Yu, Y. Ma, C. Moran, L. Wu, Y. Zhu, J..; Liu, and Y. Xia, Small, 2011, 7, (on line)

"Enhanced Catalytic Activity of Sub-nanometer Titania Clusters Confined inside Double-Wall Carbon Nanotubes", H. Zhang, X. Pan, J. Liu, W. Qian, F. Wei, Y. Huang, and X. Bao, ChemSusChem 2011, 4, (on line)

"Advanced Electron Microscopy of Metal–Support Interactions in Supported Metal Catalysts", J. Liu ChemCatChem 2011, 3, 934.

"Synthersis of Pd crystals enclosed by {100} facets with sizes <10 nm for application in CO oxidation", M. Jin, H. Liu, H.  Zhang, Z. Xie, J. Liu and Y. Xia, Nano Research,2011, 4, 83.

"An integrated approach to characterizing ZnO nanostructures by thin-film XRD techniques and SEM", N. Nag and J. Liu, Microscopy and Microanalysis, 2010, 16(Suppl. 2) 1556.

"Gold catalyzed growth of three-dimensional hierarchical ZnO nanobelts", H. Liu, T. Hongyang and J. Liu, Microscopy and Microanalysis, 2010, 16 (Suppl. 2), 1498. 

"Semiconducting metal oxide nanoarchitectures: harnessing solar energy for electricity and hydrogen production", J. Liu, Microscopy and Microanalysis, 2010, 16(Suppl. 2), 1366.

"Synthesis and characterization of ZnO nanostructures with macroscopic gel-like morphology", D. Tang, H. and J. Liu, Microscopy and Microanalysis, 2010, 16 (Suppl. 2), 1286.   

"Synthesis and characterization of ZnO encapsulated hematite nanowires and nanobelts", W. C. Lowes and J. Liu, Microscopy and Microanalysis, 2010, 16 (Suppl. 2), 1272.

"Surface-grooved ZnO nanowires and tetrapods by physical vapor deposition". D. Tang, H. and J. Liu,  Microscopy and Microanalysis, 2010, 16 (Suppl. 2), 1264.

"Faceted ZnO nanowire supported Pd catalyst for the methanol steam reforming". H. Liu and J. Liu, Microscopy and Microanalysis, 2010, 16 (Suppl. 2), 1206.

"Surface channeling in aberration-corrected STEM of nanostructures", J. Liu and L. F Allard, Microscopy and Microanalysis, 2010, 16 (Suppl. 2), 110.   

"New insights into the growth mechanism and surface structure of palladium nanocrystals", B. Lim, H. Kobayashi, P.-H. C. Camargo, L. F. Allard, J. Liu and Y. Xia,Nano Research 2010, 3, 180. 

 "Chemically deposited Sb2S3 thin films for optical recording", S. Shaji,A. Arato, J. J. O'Brien, J. Liu, A. G. Castillo, M. I. M. Palma, T. K. Das-Royl and B. Krishnan. J. Physics D. 2010, 43, 075404.