July 2024
We are excited to announce that our newest paper is currently availble in ACS Chemical Neuroscience! New analogs of the natural product fraxinellone were synthesized by the Martin lab and found to have neuroprotective effects by our collaborators in the Doorn lab. Congrats to everyone involved in this endeavor, including our collaborators, Anna and Dr. Doorn, past Martin group members, Mersad and Isabella, and current Martin group members Clarence and Dr. Martin! Link: ACS Chem. Neuro.

May 2024
Welcome to our newest post-doctoral scholar, Alexander Ramos! Alex joins us after finishing his PhD with Prof. Steven Castle at BYU and a research position in Prof. Florence William's group at UIowa. We look forward to creating a new Iron (catalysis) Man!

May 2024
Congratulations to Tommy Phillips on graduating with your B.S. in Chemistry! We will see you around as you transition to the UIowa Chemistry PhD program in the fall!

May 2024
Congratulations to the members of the Martin Lab for winning "The Most Supportive Research Group" at the Chemistry Awards Banquet! Keep up the good work everyone!

May 2024
Congratulations to Cory for winning the "Best 3-Month Seminar" at the Chemistry Awards Banquet! We are proud of your hard work and amazing presentation!

April 2024
Congratulations to Ebuka for passing his comprehensive exam! We are proud of your hard work and look forward to seeing what you accomplish as you move forward in the program!

March 2024
We are excited to announce that our newest paper is currently availble in ACS Catalysis! Detailed in the paper are new techniques for functionalizing diamantanes and other nanodiamond strucutures, which have useful properties in medicinal chemistry, materials science, and ligand design! Congrats to Hoang, Henry, Mikayla, and Jennifer on this awesome paper! Link: ACS Catalysis

January 2024
Welcome to our new graduate student Nicholas West! Nick will be working on one of our photocatalysis projects. "I am so excited to be working with radical mechanisms in this group! I got my bachelors degree in biochemistry from Saint Mary's University of Minnesota. I am a fan of Taylor Swift, Playing Piano, Gaming, and Karaoke."

January 2024
Welcome to our new graduate student, Matteo Mannara! Matteo will be working with the natural product group to synthesize new targets. Matteo graduated from College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA in 2019, where then worked in industry for 4 years as a Medicinal Chemist. Matteo likes hiking, lifting, anime, and growing plants

December 2023
Farewell to Isiaka! He finished his post doc in our lab and has accepted a postion with the USDA. Isiaka will be missed, and we appreciate all of your guidance and friendship. Good luck at your new position; we are excited to see you do great things!

November 2023
Congratulations to Hoang for completing his thesis defense and officially becoming Dr. Hoang Dang! We will miss you and your guidance, but we are excited to see you take your next steps as an independent scientist. We're proud of all your hardwork and are excited to read your upcoming publication. Congrats again!!

November 2023
Congratulations to Emmanuel on passing his comprehensive exam and officially becoming a PhD candiadte! We look forward to seeing your progress over the next few years as you continue your development as a scientist and scholar!

August 2023
Congratulations to Logan for passing his comprehensive exam and officially becoming a PhD candidate! We look forward to seeing your progress over the next few years as you continue your development as a scientist and scholar! Congrats again!!

August 2023
Welcome to our newest post-doc, Jacob Hackbarth! Jacob will be working with the cobalt subgroup to expand our research on photocatalytic cobalt systems. Jacob hails from the Friestad lab here at UIowa, where he worked on the synthesis of bastimolide A. Jacob enjoys coffee, rock climbing, and listening to audiobooks. We are excited to have you with us!

August 2023
We would like to give a farewell to Shalini, our outgoing post-doctoral scholar. She was a great labmate and helped her peers grow and expand their own lab skills. Shalini will be returning to India to further her career in chemistry, and we cannot wait to hear about the great things she accomplishes! Thank you for your work and contributions to the Martin Lab and good luck in your future endeavors!

May 2023
Introducing Thomas Branstad Phillips, our exceptional new Undergraduate Researcher! With a passion for chemistry, he is embarking on his remarkable fourth year as a dedicated chemistry major, accompanied by a minor in Spanish. Outside the lab, Thomas indulges in his hobbies of fishing, participating in triathlons, and honing his culinary skills. Tommy has joined the prestigious Martin Group, where he is currently contributing his expertise to a groundbreaking project on lignin degradation. Simultaneously, he is actively exploring graduate school opportunities, driven by his enthusiasm to expand his knowledge and skills in organic chemistry. We are thrilled to have Tommy on board, as he brings not only his impressive academic achievements but also a fervent desire to enhance his communication abilities. His commitment to personal growth and his enthusiasm for developing his organic chemistry prowess make him a true asset to our research team. (Written by ChatGPT)

May 2023
Huge congratualtions to our senior graduate student, Hoang, for winning the best 3 month seminar in the chemistry department at the Chemistry Appreciation and Awards Night! Hoang spoke about his research over the past five years and we are incredibly proud of his accomplishments! He has grown into a fantastic chemist and we are excited to see where the next chapter in his life takes him! Congrats again, Hoang!!

April 2023
Congratulations to Henry for passing his comprehensive exam and officially becoming a PhD candidate! We look forward to seeing your progress over the next few years as you continue your development as a scientist and scholar! Congrats again!!

January 2023
Welcome to our new Undergraduate Research student Lily Poci! This will be updated soon to include more information about our new scientist, but in the meantime please help us welcome Lily!!

November 2022
Please join us in welcoming our new graduate student Ebuka Onyeyilim! Ebuka earned a Bachelors of Science in Pure and Industrial Chemistry at University of Nigeria, Nsukka and went own to earn his Masters in Organic Chemistry at the same university. Ebuka will be joining the Martin Lab to work on the natural product synthesis project, where he will be synthesizing new limenoid derivatives to test their biological function! Ebuka is excited to broaden his research skills and become more familar with cutting edge techniques. In his free time, Ebuka enjoys sharing his knowledge with others and helping people learn! We are excited to welcome Ebuka to the group!!

October 2022
Join us Friday, October 21st for the ACS Midwest Regional Meeting, hosted by the UIowa Chemistry Department, at the Graduate Hotel here in Iowa City! The Graduate Fair will be from 8:00AM to 5:00PM and will host a variety of talks and posters, including several appearances by members of our group! Join Logan to hear about some of our lactonization reactions, Zetandro and Emmanuel for our work on synthesizing natural products, Cory for our Cobalt Chemistry, and more! Hope to see you there!

September 2022
Welcome to our new post doc Shalini! She completed her Ph.D. from Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, India. Her research area focused on synthetic medicinal chemistry, where she synthesized molecular hybrids to target tropical diseases. In her free time, she watches movies, web-series, music, or does nothing at all. Born and raised in a small town Kapurthala, she is proud of being a Punjabi girl.

August 2022
Hoang and Isiaka will be presenting their research at the 2022 ACS National Conference in Chicago IL. Congrats on your acceptance to present, and good luck!

August 2022
To celebrate a productive summer, the Martin Group and Williams Group had a joint party at Dave and Florrie's house! We all had a great time, thank you for hosting us!

April 2022
Dave is honored to receive the 2022 Ronald T. Pflaum Outstanding Chapter Advisor Award for his work with Alpha Chi Sigma, the professional chemistry fraternity. Ronald Pflaum was a faculty member in the chemistry department at the University of Iowa from 1956-1992 and the University of Iowa chapter advisor for many years. Dave is the first advisor of the Alpha Theta chapter to receive this award established in honor of a fellow Hawkeye in 1992.
Link: Dave Martin Awarded Pflaum Outstanding Chapter Advisor Award

June 2022
We welcome incoming 1st year student, Abby Carlin, to the Martin lab for an early summer rotation. We're happy to have you with us!

June 2022
Welcome to our to new Post Doc, Ayesha Khan! Ayesha was born in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, where she attened PMAS Arid Agriculture University, and recieved her M. Phil. in Envrionmental Studies. Ayesha then traveled to Warsaw, Poland to complete her Ph.D. at the Institute of Physical Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences. Ayesha's research centered around the synthesis of nanophotocatalysts and their applications in heterogenous photocatalysis for biomass valorization. In her free time, Ayesha enjoys watching cricket matches and learning patisserie skills. Welcome Ayesha, we are excited to have you with us!

May 2022
The Martin group would like to welcome Emmanuel, our newest group member, to the lab! Emmanuel received his B.S. and a M.S. in Natural Product Synthesis, from the University of Ghana. In his free time, Emmanuel enjoys watching soccer, playing the piano, and listening to music. He plans to work in industry once he completes his time at Iowa. We are excited to have you! Welcome Emmanuel!

May 2022
Congrats to Hoang on being selected for the Merck Research Award for Underrepresented Chemists of Color! Hoang will have a chance to travel to Merck's New Jersey site to present his research and network with other winners and top researchers at Merck! Along with this, he will also be invited to several career development programs hosted by Merck for the award winners. Huge congrats to Hoang!!

April 2022
Another huge congratulations to Dave on officially receiving his promotion to Associate Professor and being granted tenure! We are all proud of you and excited to see what comes next in your journey! Go Dave!

April 2022
Huge congratulations to Cory on being selected to present his research at the ACS Research Symposium! Cory will travel to UC Santa Barbara to not only present, but to network with leaders in our field at this prestigious event! To view the original article, check out the link below! Congrats again Cory!
Link: Cory Ludwig Selected for the ACS Research Symposium!

February 2022
We are pumped to share that Dave has been recommended for tenure by both the Iowa Chemistry Department and the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Science! Dave is an integral part of our development in and out of the lab and has been a great mentor to us all; we are all excited to see him being rewarded for all his hard work!. Congrats Dave!

January 2022
As a new semester begins, the Martin Group welcomes two new undergraduate researchers to the lab! Seth Patterson, a junior chemistry major, enjoys watching any sports and The Office. He plans to attend graduate school for chemsitry following his graduation from Iowa and is currently the Student Manager at the Iowa House Hotel. Jennifer Suarez, our other new recruit, had this to say about herself, “Hi! I’m Jennifer. I am a third year undergraduate student studying for my B.S in Chemistry and a minor in philosophy. In my free time I love to go on runs with friends, play intramural volleyball, and cook. A fun fact about me is that I am a triplet (:” Welcome to both Jennifer and Seth!

December 2021
The Martin Lab is eager to officially announce the addition of two new graduate students to the group! Henry O’Callaghan is joining the group to work on our C-H functionalization of diamondoids project. Henry received his B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Nebraska Lincoln, also minoring in Biochemistry and Mathematics. Henry has a background in synthesis, developing substrates for the inhibition of human serine racemase during his undergrad. We are also excited to welcome Logan Evans to the group! Logan hails from Monmouth College, where he received his B.S. in Biochemistry. While in undergrad, Logan developed reverse-phase separation techniques for alpha and beta acids from hops to isolate the natural compounds. Welcome to both Henry and Logan!

October 2021
Our latest paper is out in Organic and Biomolecuar Chemistry, a review on the direct radical functionalization of adamantane and other diamondoids. A real tour-de-force of mechanism and synthetic applications of radical chemistry with some historical context. Congrats Bill, Hoang and Abby on this awesome review!
Link: Org. Biomol. Chem.

August 2021
Welcome to the new class of graduate students at the University of Iowa! We look forward to having you rotate through the Martin lab this fall and welcoming some of you into the group!

June 2021
We welcome incoming 1st year students, Zetandro Benarjee and Logan Evans, to the Martin lab for early summer rotations. We're happy to have each of you with us!

May 2021
The Martin Group welcomes our newest graduate student Clarence Peiris to the group. After a semester on Zoom, we look forward to seeing you in the lab this summer!

We want to congratulate Maddie Parker for earning her M.S. in Chemistry! We wish you the best on your post-graduate life!

April 2021
While at UC Riverside, Dave and Taylor collaborated with Prof. Haofei Zhang's group on studying the complex ozonolysis pathways of α-pinene by synthesizing specific precursor molecules. This work was just published in Environmental Science and Technology. Many thanks and congratulations to all our co-authors!
Link: Environ. Sci. Technol.

The group welcomes Vaani Gupta as a visiting undergraduate researcher from Grinnell College, our second this year. We hope you learn a lot during your time at the University of Iowa!

March 2021
Former graduate student Taylor Alexander is now a doctor! Congratulations on completing your PhD in the Kou group at UCR and good luck at your new industry position!!

December 2020
Our visiting scholar, Bella, has earned an internship at the National Institutes of Health for this upcoming summer. We're very proud of and excited for you!

Dr. Isiaka Owolabi, our newest post-doctoral fellow, has joined the Martin group to work on some cobalt chemistry. Excited to have you, Isiaka!

Welcome to our new first years: Mikayla and Anayah. So looking forward to having you on board!

November 2020
Congratulations to Hoang for earning the post-comprehensive fellowship for Spring 2021!

August 2020
Bill defended his Ph.D. thesis remotely from the University of California, Riverside and has earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry! We will sincerely miss you, Dr. Weigel, and we wish you the best on your academic endeavors!

Bella has joined the Martin lab as an undergraduate visiting scholar from Grinnell College. Welcome aboard, Bella!

Cory has passed his comprehensive exam and is now a PhD candidate at UIowa. Not even a derecho storm can hold him back. Congratulations Cory!

July 2020
Hoang has passed his comprehensive exam and is now a PhD candidate at UIowa. Great work, Hoang! You can finally relax.

Bill, Hoang, and Hai-bin's paper "Synthesis of amino-diamondoid pharmacophores via photocatalytic C–H aminoalkylation" has been published in Chemical Communications. Well done gentlemen.

June 2020
The lab swings back into action and research resumes (with proper social distancing).

February 2019
Comps season has finally arrived! Good luck to Hoang and Cory on putting together what we're sure will be awesome proposals.

December 2019
The first annual Wil-Mart joint group holiday party was a great success. Thanks to Dave and Florrie for hosting and thanks to everyone for bringing an awesome collection of food!

Cory's turn to give his department seminar finally arrived. He gave a great overview of lactonization methods used in natural product synthesis and briefly covered some exiting new work in the Martin lab. Good job!

Dana's paper, "C–O Bond Cleavage of Alcohols via Visible Light Activation of Cobalt Alkoxycarbonyls" has been published in Organometallics. Awesome work!

The Martin Lab welcomes our newest graduate student, Madeline Parker, to the group. We are exited to have you with us for your gradschool adventure!

October 2019
Hoang gave a fantastic presentation for his department seminar on C-H fuctionalization and recent work in the Martin group. Great job!

Our first UIowa undergraduate student researcher, Darrell Smith, has joined the lab. Welcome Darrell!

Dave's review on natural product inhibitors of matrix metalloproteinases was published in MedChemComm with co-author Jeff Perry. Check it out!

September 2019
The Martin Lab welcomes our PostDoc Mersad Raeisi, joining us from Ohio University where he worked with Eric Masson on polymeric Cucurbituril assemblies. We are happy to have you!

August 2019
The Lab begins settling into the new space in Iowa!
The website has been given a fresh new coat of Hawkeye .css paint.

July 2019
The Martin Lab packs up and departs Riverside and heads to its new home at the University of Iowa . Bill, Hoang, and Cory will be making the move and are looking forward to finally working in the same building as the Williams Lab ! Thanks to UCR for being a good home for many years, goodbye we will miss you!

May 2019
Abby and Haibin's paper "Catalyst-Controlled C–H Functionalzation of Adamantanes Using Selective H-Atom Transfer" has been published in ACS Catalysis. Amazing job!

February 2019
Abby's work involving the synthesis and structural reassignment of a newly discovered earthworm metabolite has been published in the Journal of Natural Products. This work was part of a collaborative effort between the Martin lab and Prof. Cynthia Larive and Corey Griffith from the Environmental Toxicology Graduate Program. Well done everyone!

Taylor, Travis, Bryan, and Johny's work with copper-catalyzed γ-arylation of silyloxy furans using hypervalent iodonium salts has been accepted by Tetrahedron. Congratulations gentleman!

January 2019
Haibin Yang departs UCR to begin his independent career at Guangdong University of Technology . Congratulations Haibin and good luck! Thank you for the time spent with the group, we learned a lot from you.

Dave, Bill, and Hoang travel to a local elementary school as science fair judges and had the opportunity to look over some really neat experiments.

December 2018
The annual christmas party at Dave's place went on without fail and was a filled with good food, fun, and old and new faces. Thanks for coming everyone!

October 2018
Just in time for the fall quarter, Robert Crowley joins the Martin Lab. Welcome Robert!

Abby and Bill travel up north to Stanford to attend the 33rd annual Johnson Symposium. The trip was long but the chemistry was well worth it!

September 2018
Bill's paper involving a versatile Heck-based strategy for the synthesis of phenolic lipids was accepted for publication in Organic Letters. Way to go Bill!

August 2018
Partho shares his poster featuring his synthetic work on anacardic acid derivatives at the 31st annual MSRIP Symposium at UCR as well as the UC Irvine Socal Undergraduate Research Symposium.

July 2018
The lab welcomes Cory from SUNY Oswego who has joined us as a new incoming student. Teach us everything you know about rugby please! 

New recruit Hoang from CalState Long Beach has also joined us this summer. Welcome to the group Hoang! 

Thanks to the Vanderwal Group for making the journey out to Riverside for the 2nd Vandermartin Meeting. Darius and Haibin gave great presentations on thier recent reserch endeavours and Bill organized a great Chemistry Jeopardy session!

Ellen departs from the group with her shiny new B.S. in Biology. Congratulations Ellen! Thanks for all your hard work in lab and as a dedicated SI leader. We wish you the best in all your future endeavors.

June 2018
Taylor passes his Oral Examination. Awesome job Taylor!

Ellen departs from the group with her shiny new B.S. in Biology. Congratulations Ellen! Thanks for all your hard work in lab and as a dedicated SI leader. We wish you the best in all your future endeavors.

May 2018
Abby and Lauren's paper titled “Unexpected Alkene Isomerization During Iterative Cross-Coupling To Form Hindered, Electron-Deficient Trienes” was accepted for publication in Organic Letters. Many congratulations on a job well done ladies!

Partho gave a presentation featuring his recent work with Bill on the use of click reactions for the synthesis of anacardic acid derivatives at the UCR Undergraduate Research Symposium. Nice job!

April 2018
Abby and Bill have been awarded Graduate Research Mentorship Fellowships by UCR to support their graduate research next year. Congratulations both of you!

Partho Paul has been accepted into the prestigious UC LEADS program that will support his undergraduate research through the next two summers. Congratulations Partho!

March 2018
The lab’s work on the development of cobalt photocatalysts for the activation of alcohols is funded by an NSF CAREER award. Thank you to the NSF for the opportunity and congratulations Dave!

Abby's work with unexpected triene isomerization was submited for publication. Awesome, way to go!

Some great Martin Lab presentations/posters were spotted at the 2018 UC Chemical Symposium in Lake Arrowhead. Dana gave a research talk while Abby and Bill presented posters. Bill's poster won in the Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry category. Congratulations!

Abby and Bill join the Harman Lab on an adventure to Calico Ghost Town.

February 2018
Despite the meager snowfall this season, the Martin lab still continued its annual ski trip tradition and hit the slopes in Big Bear for the weekend. Thanks to everyone for pitching in, it was a blast!

January 2018
Congratulations to Travis for achieving his Master’s degree in chemistry. Good luck with your future adventures as a Highlander Graduate!

The group participates in its first Spartan Race. Great teamwork everyone!

December 2017
The annual gathering at Dave's place for the holiday party was once again a great success! Thanks to everyone for all the great food and gifts.

November 2017
Congratulations to Taylor for passing his Second Year Research Examination; good job Taylor!

New website overhaul goes live.

September 2017
Welcome to the new undergrads Bryan, Partho, and Blake! Also, a warm welcome to our new Post-Doc, Dr. Haibin Yang!

June 2017
Congratulations to our graduates! A big shout out to Johny (Chemical Engineering/Chemistry), Lauren (Biochemistry/Psychology), Brian (Chemistry) and Le (Chemistry) for completing your Bachelor's degrees, you will be missed. Good luck on your next adventures!

Bill passes his Oral Examinations, way to go!

May 2017
Dave is named a Thieme Lecturer to present at the Canadian Society for Chemistry's 100th annual conference in Toronto, ON. Many thanks to Sophie Rousseaux and Steve Newman for the invitation and for organizing a great symposium on transition metal catalysis. 

Lauren and Ellen present posters on their research at the 2017 UCR Undergraduate Research Symposium. Come to the HUB on Wednesday May 3rd and Thursday May 4th to see all the exciting research and creative activities going on across campus. Also look for the Martin Lab on posters around campus advertising the event. 

April 2017
The group's first paper is accepted for publication in Organometallics. Congratulations Dana and Ray! 

March 2017
Johny and Dave attend the UC LEADS Symposium at UCLA where Johny presents his research from a summer of research in the Sarpong Group at UC Berkeley. Congratulations Johny for your achievements in this prestigious program!  

January 2017
The Martin Group treks up to Big Bear for our third annual snowboarding trip, there was plenty of food, drink, musical interludes, snow, shreding, and falling.

December 2016
The group gathers once again at Dave's for a night of food, gifts, laughter and cheer. Thanks to everyone in the group for a fun year and all the hard work!

Dave was chosen by the editorial boards of Synlett, Synthesis, and Synfacts as one of the Thieme Chemistry Journal Awardees for 2017. Awardees are described as promising young Professors near the beginning of their career. 

Dana, Esmat, Taylor and Dave attend SoCal Organometallics Meeting hosted at UCLA. Many thanks to Alex, the Spokoyny Group and UCLA for hosting a great conference. 

The Martin Group travels to UC Irvine to participate in the second Vander-Martin joint group meeting, sadly we didn't win the squirrel (the contest was rigged!). 

October 2016
The group expands in community outreach participation with Bill and Travis helping to kick off ACS National Chemistry Week at Taft Elementary.

The group's work on the development of new photocatalysts for the direct activation of alcohols in radical chemistry is funded by the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund (PRF). Many thanks to the PRF for their support!

Esmat Sodagar joins the group as our first Post-doctoral researcher. Esmat completed her Ph.D with Prof. Issa Yavari at Tarbiat Modares University in Tehran, Iran, and performed a research internship with Prof. Gary Molander​ at the University of Pennsylvania. Welcome Esmat!

July 2016
Taylor Alexander from the Indiana University, Bloomington joins the group as a summer research student. Welcome Taylor!

New undergraduate student Le Nguyen joins the group. Welcome Le!

June 2016
Congratulations to Jack on completing his Bachelor's degree! Jack is off to Prof. David Baker's lab for the summer and on to graduate studies at Yale University. Best of luck!

May 2016
Congratulations to undergraduate Jack Wang, winner of the 2016 ACS Division of Organic Chemistry Undergraduate Award at UC Riverside. Well done!

April 2016
Congratulations to Jake for earning his Masters degree. Jake is off to pursue medical school. Good luck!

New undergraduate student Ellen Gao joins the group. Welcome Ellen!

February 2016
Our second annual Martin group ski trip to Big Bear had great snow thanks to El Nino and plenty of sunshine, resulting in good times and only a few sunburns. 

January 2016
New undergraduate student Brian Petrone joins the group. Welcome Brian!

December 2015
The group celebrates the upcoming holidays in style at Dave's place. Thanks everyone for the delicious food, cool gifts and a great year of fun and hard work! 

Dana, Ray and Dave attend the Late 2015 SoCal Organometallics hosted at UC Riverside. Many thanks to Hill and Vince for organizing such an awesome, stimulating meeting. 

November 2015
Johny presents his work toward the synthesis of limonoid natural products at the Southern California Conference for Undergraduate Research at Harvey Mudd College. Well done Johny! 

August 2015
The Martin Group travels to UC Irvine to participate in the first Vander-Martin joint group meeting. Many thanks to the Vanderwal group for being such great hosts! 

July 2015
Travis Clay, Josiah Jackson and Bill Weigel join the group as summer research students. Welcome gentlemen!

The Vanderwal Group celebrates 10 years at UC Irvine with a reunion celebration. Congratulations Chris, and thank you to Chris and Danielle from all the Vanderwal group alumni!  

May 2015
Website goes live! Thank you Ray!

September 2014
Welcome to new graduate student Jacob McClinton. 

July 2014
The adventure begins! Welcome to new graduate students Dana Anderson, Abigail Feceu and Raymond Sullivan.