Chemistry - Senior Projects - Hamilton College

SENIOR PROJECTS

During the senior year, chemistry students work collaboratively with faculty members on research projects as part of the Senior Program. Students must complete one semester of thesis to fulfill the requirement but most students elect to work for the entire year. Thesis projects are almost always laboratory research-based and result in the production of a written thesis. In addition, students make oral presentations at the beginning, middle and end of their projects.

RECENT SENIOR PROJECTS

Kim Bogardus '14 (Biochemistry, Advisor: Cotten) Pore Formation and Membrane-Binding Effects of Piscidins 1 and 3 in Bacterial Membrane Mimics

Tori Bogen '14 (Biochemistry, Advisor: Cotten) Examining the Mechanism of Pore Formation of Piscidin 1 in Cancer Cell Membrane Mimics

Jeremy Brendle '14 (Biochemistry, Advisor: Cotten) Thermodynamic Investigations of Piscidins 1 and 3 Bound to Cell Membrane Mimics

Peter Campbell '14 (Chemistry, Advisor: Brewer) Excitation and Emission Dynamics in Upconverting Lanthanide-Doped Nanophosphors

Jill Chipman '14 (Chemistry, Advisor: Nellutla) Spin Networks of Polyoxometalate – Organic Hybrids

Philip Conkling '14 (Chemistry, Advisor: Nellutla) Polyoxotungstates and –Molybdates: Introduction of Lindqvist Gadolinium(III) Complexes

Gabrielle Fleming '14 (Chemistry, Advisor: Rosenstein) Radical-Mediated Ring Expansion via Nickel Catalyzed Suzuki Coupling at 2° Alkyl Halides

Gina Goldberg '14 and Rob Hayden '14 (Biochemistry, Advisor: Cotten) Piscidin Binding to Bacterial DNA: A Novel Mechanism of Action

Cam Ha '14 (Chemistry, Advisor: Kinnel) Synthesis of Cryptomaldamide and Derivatives: Towards the Enhancement of their Anticancer Activity

Tara Hansen '14 (Chemistry, Advisor: Kinnel) Alpha Fetoprotein (AFP) Peptidomimetics as Anticancer Agents

Shakil Hossain '14 (Chemistry, Advisor: Kinnel) Carbon Linkers for the Alpha-Fetoprotein Peptidomimetics

Hannah Jaiven '14 (Chemistry, Advisor: Brewer) Luminescence Behavior of Sol-Gel-Derived Hybrid Materials Resulting from Covalent Grafting of a Chromophore Unit to Different
Organically Modified Alkoxysilanes

Leah Krause '14 (Chemistry, Advisor: Van Wynsberghe) A Study of the Trajectories of Influenza Neuraminidase Binding using MM/GBSA FreeEnergy Calculations

Daniel Mermelstein '14 (Chemistry, Advisor: Van Wynsberghe) Investigation of Oseltamivir Binding Kinetics to N1 Influenza Neuraminidase

Clare O’Grady '14 (Chemistry, Advisor: Van Wynsberghe) The Development, Implementation, and Assessment of a Molecular Docking Laboratory Exercise in Chem 125 and 270

Christopher Richardson '14 (Chemistry, Advisor: Rosenstein) Explorations Toward a Tandem Dowd Beckwith Ring Expansion and Subsequent Suzuki Cross Coupling

Duy Vo '14 (Chemistry, Advisor: Rosenstein) Radical-driven Suzuki Cross Coupling of an Alkyl Halide, Olefin, and Vinyl Boronic Acid

Kaitlyn Weinert-Stein '14 (Chemistry, Advisor: Majireck) A Straightforward Approach for Construction of Indolizidines via Transannular Hydroamination

Christopher Whiting '14 (Chemical Physics, Advisor: Majireck) Early Work Toward a Transition Metal-Catalyzed Transannular Hydroamination Synthesis of Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids

Miles Blackburn '13 (Chemistry, Advisor: Rosenstein) Competitive Ring Opening of a Series of 2,3-Diaryl-substituted Cyclopropylcarbinyl Radicals

Daniel Brimberry '13 (Chemistry, Advisor: Rosenstein) Radical Cascade Synthesis of Substituted Bicyclo[3.3.0]octane Derivatives via Nickel(II)-catalyzed Cross Coupling Reactions of sp³ Carbon Centers

Leah Cairns '13 (Biochemistry, Advisor: Cotten) Investigating the Mechanism of Action of Antimicrobial Piscidin-3 in Mammalian Lipid Membrane Mimics

Lennox Chitsike '13 (Biochemistry, Advisor: Cotten) Structural and Mechanistic Studies of Piscidin in the Presence of Cancer Cell Membrane Mimics

Elizabeth Costello '13 (Chemistry, Advisor: Hershberger) Development of New Oxygen-Mediated C-C Coupling Reactions

Aaron Danilack '13 (Chemistry, Advisor: Kinnel) The Untapped Resource of Marine Natural Products: Cyanobacteria & Microorganisms & Attempts at the Synthesis of the (E)-11,16-Dichlorohexadec-4-enoic Acid of Dichlorobouillonamide for Chiral Characterization

Hillary Langat '13 (Chemistry, Advisor: Rosenstein) Formation of 5,5,5-Tricyclic Ring Systems from [3.0.1]-Bicyclic Ring Systems via Radical Cascade Reaction

Joseph Lobel '13 (Chemistry, Advisor: Cotten) Expression and Purification of Isotopically Labelled Piscidin-1 for NMR Studies

Allison Martella '13 (Chemistry, Advisor: Brewer) “Synthesis of Nanocrystalline Eu(TTA)₃•3H₂O and Incorporation in to Sol-Gels

Deric Mei '13 (Chemistry, Advisor: Brewer) Salicylate Chelates of Europium and Terbium Incorporated into Sol-Gel Silica Glasses

Jonathan Michel '13 (Chemistry, Advisor: Kinnel) Towards the Synthesis of Cryptomaldamide, Diastereomers, and Analogs: The Algorithm for Tripeptide Formation

Carmen Montagnon '13 (Chemistry, Advisor: Van Wynsberghe) Investigation of the Effects of Electronic Desolvation on Oseltamivir Binding Kinetics to N1 Influenza Neuraminidase

Akritee Shrestha '13 (Chemistry, Advisor: Cotten) Study of Piscidin 1 in Models of Cancer Cell Membranes and Healthy Mammalian Cell Membranes

Joshua Snyder '13 (Chemistry, Advisor: Sandusky) The Diurnal Variation of Biomarkers in Human Urine

Alexander Thompson '13 (Chemistry, Advisor: Rosenstein) Radical-Mediated Ring Expansion to 7-5 Bicyclic Systems: The Synthesis of Bicyclo[4.2.1]nonane Derivatives via Endocyclic Cyclopropane Fragmentation and Cyclization onto External Olefins

Bret Turner '13 (Chemistry, Advisor: Silversmith) Lanthanide Complex-Doped Sol-Gel Glasses Prepared by Post Annealing Immersion

Kathleen Vaughan '13 (Chemistry, Advisor: Kinnel) The Synthesis of Both Enantiomers of 2-((tert-Butoxycarbonyl)(methyl)amino)-3-methoxypropyl Acetate: New Serinol Derivatives & A Brief Review of Anticancer Drug Agents Derived from Cyanobacteria Secondary Metabolites

Kailee Williams '13 (Biochemistry, Advisor: Elgren) Analytical Assessments of Human Exposure to Bisphenol-A and Perfluoroctanoic Acid

Alvin Wu '13 (Biochemistry, Advisor: Van Wynsberghe) Investigating the Favored Binding Paths of Sialic Acid into the Active Site of Neuraminidase

Larry Zhang '13 (Chemistry, Advisor: Ning) Synthesis of Dinitrogen Molybdenum Complex Using Nitrogen-Based Ligands: A Pre-catalyst for Olefin Metathesis

Shawon Akanda '12 (Chemistry, Advisor: Snyder) Enhancing the Selectivity of β-L-Rhamnosidic Linkages Using Sulfonate Directing Groups

Peter Benedict '12 (Biochem, Advisor: Elgren) Explorations of the Protective Qualities of Calcium Alginate Beads for Encapsulated Enzymes

Chris Boisvert '12 (Biochem, Advisor: Snyder) Carbohydrate Functionalized Stable Protein-1 Metal Hybrids as Nanotheranostics

Connor Brown '12 (Chemistry, Advisor: Snyder) Progress on the Synthesis of a Repeating Unit of Pneumococcal Serotype 31

Alex Dao '12 (Biochem, Advisor: Cotten) Cholesterol Effects on Membrane-bound Piscidin 1: A Structure-Function Study

Eric Kuenstner '12 (Chemistry, Advisor: Snyder) Progress on the Synthesis of Tri-, Tetra- and Pentasaccharide Derivatives of Trehalose for Preservation Studies

Erica Losito '12 (Biochem, Advisor: Van Wynsberghe) Role of Neuraminidase Electrostatics in the Binding of Ligands

Jason McGavin '12 (Chemistry, Advisor: Cotten) How do the Molecular Features of Neuropeptide Y and Lipid Bilayers Affect Each Other?

Sara Miller '12 (Chemistry, Advisor: Brewer) Synthesis and Luminescent Properties of Eu(TTA)₃•3H₂O Nanocrystallites in Sol-gel Derived Materials

Kate Otley '12 (Chemistry, Advisor: Rosenstein) Radical-Mediated Ring Expansion to Seven-Membered Bicyclic Systems

Rachel Rothbarth '12 (Chemistry, Advisor: Snyder) Progress on the Synthesis of Carbohydrate-Porphyrin Conjugates Using Click Chemistry

Andrew Scott '12 (Biochem, Advisor: Elgren) A Study of Pore Formation of Calcium-Alginate Beads in Polyacrylamide Gels

Talia Steiman '12 (Chemistry, Advisor: Rosenstein) Formation of Tricyclic Systems via Radical Cascade Reactions

Cara Vennari '12 (Chemistry, Advisor: Rosenstein) Competitive Ring Opening of a Diaryl-Substituted Cyclopropylcarbinyl Radical

Max Williams '12 (Chemistry, Advisor: Chapp) Synthesis of P-‐Stereogenic Water-‐Soluble Phosphines for Enantioselective Liquid-‐Liquid Extraction

Alex Wood '12 (Biochem, Advisor: Elgren) Investigating Oxidative Dehalogenation of p-Halophenols by Horseradish Peroxidase Immobilized in Calcium Alginate

Todd Woodworth '12 (Chemistry, Advisor: Kinnel) Synthesis of the Serinol Portion of Dichlorobouillonaminde