Resume
Resume:
F ENGRU I QU
****A OAKLAND AVENUE,
SAINT LOUIS, MO 63110, UNITED STATES
*****@*****.***
PROFESSIONAL PROF I L E
Ph.D chemist with several years experience in catalysts development for C-H
activation, C-C and C-heteroatom bond formation. Diverse background in
organic synthesis, inorganic synthesis and a broad range of instrumental
analysis. Proven excellence in teaching and recent pedagogical coursework.
H I G H L IG H TS
• Reported the 1st example of aerobic oxidation of an organometallic PdI I
p recursor to form a well-defined PdIV .
• Discovered for the 1st t ime the aerobic oxidation of PdI I to form an isolable
PdIV -hydroxide complex.
• Designed and studied the reactivities of a series of novel, rare, stable
mononuclear organometallic PdI I I and PdIV complexes which were stabilized
by a newly designed ligand iPrN4.
• Developed a new big binucleating ligand n BuDBFtpa, used for water oxidation
catalysis.
• Established ground work for the study of structure-reactivity-mechanism
r elationship for hydride t ransfer reactions from alcohols to organic
carbocations in the lab.
• Won Graduate Teaching Award for best TA.
E DUCAT IO N
Ph.D. Chemistry, Washington University St. Louis (WUSTL), St. Louis, MO
2013
M .S. Chemistry, Southern I ll inois University Edwardsville (SIUE), Edwardsville,
IL 2008
B.S. Chemical Engineering, Taiyuan University of Technology (TYUT), ShanXi,
China 2002
RESEARCH EXPER I E NCE
Graduate Research Assistant, WUSTL
2008-present
Aiming to address energy related chemical processes, such as methane oxidative
oligomerization and water oxidation, developed and studied the reactivities of a
series of rare and important organometallic complexes which are stabilized by
m ultidentate N-donor ligands.
• Light induced ethane formation from monomethyl Pd complexes.
Two organometallic complexes PdI I R1R2 (R1 = Me, R2 = Me/Cl) stabilized by N,N -di-
isopropyl-2,11-diaza[3.3](2,6)pyridinophane (iPrN4) were synthesized, and oxidized
to PdI I I and PdIV chemically and/or electrochemically. The products were isolated and
f ully characterized by various techniques, including: CV, UV-vis, X-Ray crystography,
ESI-MS and elemental analysis. Interestingly, both Pd I I I and PdIV facilitate the C-C
bond formation via different mechanisms. The Pd I I I MeCl or PdI I I Me2 reactions involve
r adical mechanism when i r radiated with light, which were confirmed by the methyl
r adical t rapping with TMPO. The Pd IV MeCl and PdIV Me2 reactions use reductive
elimination mechanism when heated, as evidenced by the clean formation of MeCl
and ethane. This system allowed us to study the C-C/C-X bond formation mediated
by Pd of different oxidation states in the identical ligand environment for the first
t ime. Particularly remarkable is the observation for the rare ethane formation from
a monomethyl Pd complex. Such t ransformation has direct implications into catalyst
development for oxidative oligomerization of methane in particular and oxidatively-
induced Pd-catalyzed C–C bond formation reactions in general.
• The fi rst well defined PdIV p roducts from aerobic oxidation of Pd I I p recursors.
(Me3tacn)PdI I Me2 ( Me3tacn = N,N ,N -t r imethyl-1,4,7-t r iazacyclononane) was
oxidized by O2 t o form the well defined [(Me3tacn)PdIV Me 3] +, which gave quantitative
formation of C-C bond forming product under elevated temperature. The aerobic
oxidation likely involves an inner sphere oxidation by O 2, as evidenced by the spin
t rapping of oxidized intermediate by DMPO. The palladacycle complex
( Me3tacn)PdI I (CH 2CMe2C6H 4) is readily oxidized by O2 to give the
[(Me3tacn)PdIV (OH)(CH 2CMe2C6H 4)] +. This represents the fi rst example of aerobic
oxidation of PdI I t o form an isolable PdIV -hydroxide complex. Thermolysis of the Pd IV
leads to the selective Caryl -O reductive elimination of 2-tert-butyl-phenol in 55%
y ield, while no Calkyl -O bond elimination products were detected. Overall, this is a
r are example of C-O bond formation initiated by aerobic oxidation of a Pd I I p recursor.
T he work was published as the cover paper in the journal of Organometallics.
• Biometallic water oxidation catalyst development.
This project aims to design bimetallic complexes that can be applicable as catalysts
for water oxidation to produce oxygen. Such metallic catalysts would eventually
p rovide a novel pathway toward using solar energy as a renewable and “green”
energy source and find application in the design of a new type of photovoltaic fuel
cells. To this purpose, 2,8-di-n-butyl-4,6-bis(2-bis(6-methyl-2-
pyridylmethyl)aminomethyl- 6-methyl-4-pyridyl)dibenzofuran, a bimetallic complex
w ith dibenzofuran as linker, was synthesized via a 8 step route. The crystal
s tructure indicates that the dibenzofuran linker projects the two metal ions too far
apart from each other. Computational study (Gaussian) indicates that the energy
barrier to bring the two metal centers close enough for potential synergic effect is
p rohibitively high. This study nevertheless helped us to realize the importance of
computational studies in finding suitable ligands for our water oxidation catalyst
development.
G raduate Research Assistant, SIUE.
2006-2008
Using mechanistic methodologies, we proposed the mechanism for hydride reduction
of NAD + analogues by isopropyl alcohol. Observed pseudo-first-order rate constants
( k obs) of the hydride-t ransfer reactions from isopropyl alcohol (i-PrOH) to two NAD +
analogues, 9-phenylxanthylium ion (PhXn +) and 10-methylacridinium ion (MA +),
were determined at various temperatures in i-PrOH containing various amounts of
MeCN or water. The work was published as the featured article in Journal of
O rganic Chemist ry.
OT H ER EXPER I E NCE
• Attended various TA t raining workshops offered by teaching center,
i ncluding: blackboard, etc.
W USTL, MO
• Maintaining GC in the lab. W USTL,
MO
• Helped review papers for Organometallcs, ChemCatChem, JACS.
W USTL, MO
• Maintaining HPLC and Uv-vis instruments in the lab.
S IUE, I L
• Run NMR service for chemistry department in SIUE. Had experiences on 1H,
13
C, 19F, 2D NMR (including: H MQC, H MBC, etc.)
S IUE, I L
• Group leader in the pilot product line of carbon fiber in the coal science
r esearch institute pilot center.
ShanXi, China
• Ran Fluorescence and IR service for chemistry department. TYUT,
ShanXi, China
• Experienced in TG, DSC, Powder XRD, XPS.
T YUT, ShanXi, China
A DD I T I O NAL SK I L LS
• Inst rument Skills: NMR, HPLC, GC, MS, GC-MS, CV, Glove Box/Schlenk
L ine skill, IR, Uv-vis, Fluorescence, Powder XRD, TG, DSC.
• Computer Skills: MestReNova/Mestrec/Nuts, Ortep/POV-Ray/Mercury,
W INEPR, Spartan, Gaussian, Origin, Chemoffice.
• Language Skills: English, Chinese.
AWARDS AND HONORS
• Graduate Teaching Award for best TA at SIUE
• Bouman Award for best annual student poster at SIUE
• Published one cover paper in Organometallics and one featured article in
Journal of Organic.
M E MBERSH I PS
• American Chemical Society
P UBL ICAT IO NS AND PRESENTAT IONS
• Qu, F.; Khusnutdinova, J. R.; Zhang, Y.; Rath, N. P.; M i r ica, L. M. In Aerobic
oxidation of (Me3tacn)Pd I I complexes and their organometallic reactivity,
A merican Chemical Society: 2013; pp I NOR.
• Tang, F.; Q u, F.; Khusnutdinova, J. R.; Rath, N. P.; M i r ica, L. M., Structural
and reactivity comparison of analogous organometallic Pd I I I and PdIV
complexes. Journal of the Chemical Society, Dalton Transactions 2012.
• Khusnutdinova, J. R.; Q u, F.; Zhang, Y.; Rath, N. P.; M i r ica, L. M., Formation
of the Palladium IV Complex [(Me3tacn)PdIV Me 3] + t hrough Aerobic Oxidation of
( Me3tacn)PdI I Me2(Me3tacn =N,N ,N -Trimethyl-1,4,7-t r iazacyclononane).
O rganometallics 2012, 31 (13), 4627-4630.
• Qu, F.; M i r ica, L. In New iPrN4 Pd complexes, American Chemical Society:
2011; pp MWGL-611.
• Lu, Y.; Q u, F.; Zhao, Y.; Small, A. M.; Bradshaw, J.; Moore, B., Kinetics of the
hydride reduction of an NAD + analogue by isopropyl alcohol in aqueous and
acetonit rile solutions: solvent effects, deuterium isotope effects, and
mechanism. T he Journal of organic chemistry 2009, 74 (17), 6503-10.
• Lu, Y.; Q u, F.; Moore, B.; Endicott, D.; Kuester, W., Hydride reduction of
N AD + analogues by isopropyl alcohol: kinetics, deuterium isotope effects and
mechanism. T he Journal of organic chemistry 2008, 73, 4763-4770.
• Lu, Y.; Q u, F.; Moore, B. In K inetics of the oxidation of isopropanol by a
carbocation via hydride transfer, American Chemical Society: 2008; pp ORGN-
167.
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