Chemistry News

Luke Kanies ’96 was never far from his computer throughout his Reed career. In fact, he once explained to me how our financial aid policies supported his computer hobby (it had something to do aid policies for students who lived off campus). Since then Luke has also become well-known to the Portland software community as the founder and chief executive of a local software start-up, Puppet Labs.

Luke reappeared recently in an Oregonian article, “Puppet Labs pairs open source entrepreneur with Microsoft exec” (Jan. 25, 2014). The article describes how Luke brought Bill Koefoed, an ex-Microsoft executive, in as chief financial officer and refers to the two as an “odd couple,” who bring complementary strengths to their joint enterprise.

Phenols, ArOH, are ubiquitous in nature, chemical testimony to the oxidizing power of the air we breathe. But chemists have always stumbled over the laboratory oxidation of arenes, ArH -> ArOH. The phenol products are easier to oxidize than the starting arenes so overoxidation rules the day.

Prof. Dionicio (“Dio”) Siegel ’97 and his collaborators have reported a breakthrough in arene oxidation in “Metal-free oxidation of aromatic carbon–hydrogen bonds through a reverse-rebound mechanism,” Nature 2013 (DOI 10.1038/nature12284). As Dio et al. put it:

“Here we demonstrate that phthaloyl peroxide functions as a selective oxidant for the transformation of arenes to phenols under mild conditions. Although the reaction proceeds through a radical mechanism, aromatic C–H bonds are selectively oxidized in preference to activated Csp3–H bonds. Notably, a wide array of functional groups are compatible with this reaction, and this method is therefore well suited for late-stage transformations of advanced synthetic intermediates.”

The research, which combines experimental work from the Siegel lab at U Texas-Austin with computational studies from the Houk lab at UCLA, is also covered in “Easy access to phenols,” C&E News (News of the Week, July 15, 2013, paywall).

Russ is a familiar name to the many generations of Reed students who relied on his help to get them through Chem 101/102. At 12:34 AM on July 29 he posted this message (head over there for more info and photos):

“Now we are 4. Around 16 years ago Connie and I met. Around 8 years ago we chose to get married. Around 4 years ago our first son was born. And now today, we who were once 2, now we are 4. Powers of two abound! So proud of my lovely wife and my amazing first son. So thankful for the community of support both present with us and sending love from all around. So in awe of how profoundly beautiful and spiritual and grounding birth can be. Working back and forth with mama, born into light in a tub at home: Jalen Piercy Earl Scarola. 8.6 pounds, 22 inches.”

Congratulations! And welcome to Jalen – we are so glad you’re here.

The American Chemical Society established the ACS Fellows program in December 2008 ‘to recognize members of ACS for outstanding achievements in and contributions to science, the profession, and the Society’. The 2013 Fellows add 96 illustrious chemists to this list (C&E News, July 29, 2013, p. 40), among them UC Berkeley chemistry professor Ken Raymond ’64. The Fellows will be honored during a special celebration at the ACS National Meeting in Indianapolis in September.

 If Reedies ‘take the road less traveled’, then Gabe was a true Reedie. He and I learned to Morris dance for Renn Fayre 1990. Two years later he headed off to Africa with the Peace Corps.

Gabe is joining the chemistry faculty at Franklin & Marshall College this summer as a biochemist with teaching responsibilities in general chemistry.

A nice story from Gabe’s Peace Corps period appears on the Franklin & Marshall web page:

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The last time I bumped into Kate Stoll ’04, she was stepping off an escalator at the 2012 AAAS meeting in 2012 (see Bumping into Recent Grads, Feb 28, 2012). Apparently she and husband John Caldwell ’96 have been preparing for a new family member (7/27/13 update: scroll to bottom for news about other family projects) because Kate sent in the following email last week: “We are happy to introduce the latest member of our family, Luke Maximilian Stoldwell! Born July 13th, at 11:20 pm, 7 lbs 2 oz, 20 1/4 inches long, and healthy. love, Kate and John”

Congratulations! We can’t wait until we meet the newest member of our Reed family.

7/27/13 update: Kate wrote to us back in March about life in Washington DC: “John is working at NASA Goddard, where he helps to make cool videos about space science! Check out the latest one here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wceahqjAa7w I’m half way through the second year of my science policy fellowship and loving every minute of it. I just got news this week that I was selected as an American Chemical Society Congressional Fellow, so I’ll be starting a year-long adventure on the Hill next January. We’d love to hear from all of you.“