Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
School of Green Chemistry and Engineering
University of Toledo
The most important asset of any group or organization are the team members, and as PI, I have been fortunate to advise a great group of undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral researchers over the years. Current group members are noted below and a list of former group members can be found at the Former Mason Group Members link above.
CURRENT GROUP MEMBERS
Mark R. Mason
Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Director, School of Green Chemistry and Engineering
B.S. in Chemistry, Bowling Green State University, 1985
Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry, Iowa State University, 1991
Postdoctoral Associate, Harvard University, 1991-1993
Curriculum Vitae
Morteza Jandaghi
6th year Ph.D. student
B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, Iran, 2009
M.Sc. in Biochemical Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Iran, 2011
Morteza.Jandaghi@rockets.utoledo.edu
Curriculum Vitae
Morteza's research has focused on aluminum-based polymerization of epoxides and other polar monomers using a new proprietary catalyst system developed in our lab. He also participated as Entrepreneurial Lead our NSF I-Corps Team which focused on customer discovery in support of our patent issued in 2013. As a result of the NSF I-Corps interviews, Morteza landed a full-time position at Altera Corporation where he has been looking a polymeric materials in support of the automobile industry. He is finishing his dissertation writing in-absentia and will graduate in December of 2019.
Fatemeh (Yasaman) Saleh Ghasab Mahaleh
5th year Ph.D. student
B.S. in Applied Chemistry, University of Tehran, Iran, 2008
M.S. in Inorganic Chemistry, Damghan University, Iran, 2010
Curriculum Vitae
Yasaman's main research emphasis has been on the aerobic oxidation of bulky dipyrromethanes to dipyrromethenes without the use of DDQ or other oxidants. The Mason group uses bulky dipyrromethenes as ligands for main group and transition metals, and Yasaman has applied her aerobic oxidation approach to the synthesis of some sample BODIPY derivatives. The manuscript for that work is in preparation and publication is anticipated in the near future. Yasaman has also contributed to the synthesis and characterization of some potential C2-symmetric dipyrromethene ligands and constrained geometry ligands in support of our patent issued in 2013.
Christine Jette
3rd year M.S. student
B.S. in Biochemistry, Stony Brook University, 2016
Christine.Jette@rockets.utoledo.edu
Christine's research is focused on the synthesis and characterization of constrained geometry catalysts using transition metals from groups IV through VI.
Mollie Enright
2nd year Ph.D. student
B.S. in Chemistry, Gordon College, 2015
Mollie.Enright@rockets.utoledo.edu
After her undergraduate research experience at Gordon College and REU experience at Michigan State University, Mollie served as Program Manager at Beyond Benign prior to joining the Mason Group in the fall of 2018. She is currently leading the new group initiative on iron-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions.
Tim Beaudry
Senior B.S. Chemistry Major
Graduation in December of 2019
Curriculum Vitae
Tim returned to college after serving in the Navy as a corpsman on the hospital ship, the USNS Mercy. As an undergraduate researcherin the Mason Group, Tim has worked on several short projects, including the preparation of 2-arylpyrroles using published palladium-catalyzed procedures, biomass-derived monomers for ring-opening polymerizations, and the synthesis of constrained geometry ligands in support of an alkene polymerization project. He is currently working towards making C2-symmetric transition metal complexes using substituted NacNac ligands. Tim plans to pursue graduate studies in chemistry after completion of his B.S. degree.
Alex Vick
Senior B.S. Chemistry Major
Graduation in May of 2020
Curriculum Vitae
Alex is the most recent addition to the group. He is currently synthesizing some NacNac and diimine ligands for use with main group and transition metals. He will be collaborating with Tim Beaudry and some of the graduate students on coordination chemistry. Alex has some industrial experience prior to joining the Mason group, have completed chemical engineering internships at Freudenberg-NOK in Findlay, Ohio and Chemours Co. in Belle, WV. Alex plans to attend graduate school and pursue his Ph.D. in synthetic organic chemistry and drug design.