The Twenty-seventh
Annual Robert W. Murray Lecture
Professor Melanie Sanford
Moses Gomberg Distinguished University Professor of Chemistry
Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Chemistry
University of Michigan
New Synthetic Methods for Carbon-Fluorine Bond Formation: From Fundamental Science to Applications
4:00 PM • Monday, October 12, 2026
103 Benton Hall, University of Missouri – St. Louis
Melanie Sanford is a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Michigan. She grew up in Providence, RI and received her undergraduate degree in chemistry from Yale University in 1996 where she worked with Professor Bob Crabtree studying C–F bond functionalization. She then moved to Caltech where she worked with Professor Bob Grubbs investigating the mechanism of ruthenium-catalyzed olefin metathesis reactions.
After receiving her PhD in 2001, she worked with Professor Jay Groves at Princeton University as an NIH post-doctoral fellow studying metalloporphyrin-catalyzed functionalization of olefins. Melanie has been a professor at the University of Michigan since the summer of 2003. The Sanford group develops new catalytic methods for the selective oxidative functionalization of C–H bonds, alkenes, and alkynes, with applications to complex organic molecules and the synthesis of densely functionalized products. A major focus is the synthesis and mechanistic study of high-oxidation-state late-transition-metal complexes, using insights from organometallic chemistry to design more effective and selective catalysts. The group also investigates direct catalytic transformations of simple hydrocarbons such as methane and benzene, addressing fundamental challenges in sustainable chemical synthesis and industrial feedstock conversion.
Parking available in the West Drive Parking Garage
www.umsl.edu/chemistry
