K. Brent Venable currently holds a joint appointment as associate professor of computer science at Tulane University and research scientist at IHMC. Her main research interests are within artificial intelligence and regard, in particular, constraints, preferences, temporal reasoning and computational social choice. In particular, her research is dedicated to providing a solid framework for the design and deployment of intelligent systems able to reason about preferences. Before joining Tulane and IHMC, she was a tenured assistant professor of computer science at the University of Padova, Italy. She received her doctorate in computer science and also the Laurea Magna cum Laude in Mathematics from University of Padova. Dr. Venable is the co-author of a book, “A Short Introduction to Preferences: Between Artificial Intelligence and Social Choice”, Morgan & Claypool (2011), and has published over seventeen journal papers and sixty conference papers. Dr. Venable maintains a lively collaboration with several research centers, among which NICTA and NASA Ames.

Research Interests

Preferences in AI: compact preference representation formalisms, such as, soft constraint problems and CP-nets, uncertainty in preferences, preference elicitation; Computational Social Choice: computational aspects of multi-agent preference aggregation; Temporal Reasoning: quantitative temporal constraint-based models for handling uncertainty and preferences in scheduling; Stable matching Problems in the context of AI: local search approaches, incomparability in the preferences; Constraint-based optimization.

Publications

2012

[c52] Local Search for Designing Noise-minimal Rotorcraft Approach Trajectories. R. Morris, M. Pegoraro, K.B. Venable, J. Lindsay. Emerging Application paper at {\em Twenty-Fourth Annual Conference on Innovative Applications of Artificial Intelligence (IAAI-12)}. Toronto, Ontario, Canada. July 24 -26, 2012.

[c51] Influence and aggregation of preferences over combinatorial domains. N. Maudet, M.S. Pini, F. Rossi, K.B. Venable. Short Paper to appear in AAMAS 2012. Valencia, Spain. June 4-8, 2012.

[c50] Bribery in voting over combinatorial domains is easy. N. Mattei, M.S. Pini, F. Rossi, K.B. Venable. Short Paper to appear in AAMAS 2012. Valencia, Spain. June 4-8, 2012.

[w10] Bribery in Voting Over Combinatorial Domains Is Easy, N. Mattei, M.S. Pini, F. Rossi, K.B. Venable. International Symposium on Artificial Intelligence and Mathematics (ISAIM 2012), Fort Lauderdale, January 2012.

[c49] Automated Design of Noise-Minimal, Safe Rotorcraft Trajectories, J. Lindsay, R.A. Morris, K.B. Venable. 68th American Helicopter Society Annual Forum & Technology Display on May 1-3, 2012 in Fort Worth, Texas.

[c48] Simulation to Support Local Search in Trajectory Optimization Planning, J. Lindsay, R.A. Morris, K.B. Venable. IEEE Aerospace Conference. Big Sky Montana. March 3-10, 2012.

2011

[c47] Temporal preferences, K.B. Venable. Invited contribution to TIME 2011, Luebeck, Germany, September 2011. PDF

[b1] A Short Introduction to Preferences: Between Artificial Intelligence and Social Choice, F. Rossi, K.B. Venable, T. Walsh, Morgan & Claypool Publishers, 2011.

[w9] Weights in stable marriage problems increase manipulation opportunities, M.S. Pini, F. Rossi, K.B. Venable, T. Walsh, Proc. IJCAI 2011 workshop on social choice and AI, Barcelona, July 2011. PDF

[w8] Influencing and aggregating agents' preferences over combinatorial domains, N. Maudet, M.S. Pini, F. Rossi, K.B. Venable, Proc. IJCAI 2011 workshop on social choice and AI, Barcelona, July 2011. PDF

[c46] Weights in stable marriage problems increase manipulation opportunities, M.S. Pini, F. Rossi, K.B. Venable, Toby Walsh, Proc. TARK 2011. PDF

[w7] Designing Noise-Minimal Rotorcraft Trajectories, R.A. Morris, K.B. Venable, J. Lindsay, 7th International Workshop on Planning and Scheduling for Space (IWPSS-11) June 8th - 10th, 2011. ESOC/ESA, Darmstadt, Germany. PDF

[c45] The next best solution, R. Brafman, E. Pilotto, F. Rossi, D. Salvagnin, K.B. Venable, T. Walsh, Nectar paper in Proc. AAAI 2011. To appear. PDF

[c44] Multi-agent soft constraint aggregation via sequential voting, G. Dalla Pozza, M.S. Pini, F. Rossi, K.B. Venable, Proc. IJCAI 2011. To appear. PDF

[c43] Procedural fairness in stable marriage problems, M. Gelain, M.S. Pini, F. Rossi, K.B. Venable, T. Walsh, Proc. AAMAS 2011. To appear. PDF

[c42]Possible and necessary winners in voting trees: majority graphs vs. profiles, M.S. Pini, F. Rossi, K.B. Venable, T. Walsh, Proc. AAMAS 2011.To appear. PDF

[c41] Stable marriage problems with quantitative preferences,M.S. Pini, F. Rossi, K.B Venable, T. Walsh, Proceedings the 3rd International Conference on Agents and Artificial Intelligence (ICAART 2011), SciTePress, to appear. PDF

[c40] A local search approach to solve incomplete fuzzy and weighted CSPs, M. Gelain, M.S. Pini, F. Rossi, K.B Venable, T. Walsh,Proceedings the 3rd International Conference on Agents and Artificial Intelligence (ICAART 2011), SciTePress, to appear.PDF

[c39]Multi-agent soft constraint aggregation: a sequential approach, G. Dalla Pozza, K.B. Venable, F. Rossi, Proceedings the 3rd International Conference on Agents and Artificial Intelligence (ICAART 2011), SciTePress, to appear.PDF

[j15]Manipulation complexity and gender neutrality in stable marriage procedures, M.S. Pini, F. Rossi, K.B. Venable, T. Walsh, Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems 22(1): 183-199 (2011). PDF

2010

[w6] Multi-agent soft constraint aggregation: a sequential approach, G. Dalla Pozza, K.B. Venable, F. Rossi, Proceedings of the CP'10 Workshop on Preferences and Soft Constraints (SOFT 2010), St Andrews, Scotland, September 2010. PDF

[w5] A local search approach to solve incomplete fuzzy and weighted CSPs, M. Gelain, M.S. Pini, F. Rossi, K.B Venable, T. Walsh, Proceedings of the CP'10 Workshop on Preferences and Soft Constraints (SOFT 2010), St Andrews, Scotland, September 2010. PDF

[w4] Stable marriage problems with quantitative preferences. M.S. Pini, F. Rossi, K.B Venable, T. Walsh, Proceedings of the Third International Workshop on Computational Social Choice (COMSOC 2010), Dusseldorf, Germany, September 2010. PDF

[w3] Local Search for Stable Marriage Problems. M. Gelain, M.S. Pini, F. Rossi, K.B Venable, T. Walsh, Proceedings of the Third International Workshop on Computational Social Choice (COMSOC 2010), Dusseldorf, Germany, September 2010. PDF

[w2] Finding the next solution in constraint- and preference-based knowledge representation formalisms, R. Brafman, F. Rossi, D. Salvagnin, K. B. Venable, and T. Walsh, Proceedings of the ECAI'10 Multidisciplinary Workshop on Advances in Preference Handling (MPREF 2010), Lisbon, Portugal, August 2010.PDF

[w1] Local search for stable marriage problems with ties and incomplete lists. M. Gelain, M.S. Pini, F. Rossi, K.B Venable, T. Walsh, Proceedings of the ECAI'10 Multidisciplinary Workshop on Advances in Preference Handling (MPREF 2010), Lisbon, Portugal, August 2010.PDF

[c38] Male optimal and unique stable marriages with partially ordered preferences. M. Gelain, M.S. Pini, F. Rossi, K.B Venable, T. Walsh, In Proceedings of the International Workshop on Collaborative Agents - REsearch and development (CARE 2009/2010), Springer LNAI 6066, to appear. PDF

[j14] Uncertainty in bipolar preference problems, S. Bistarelli, S. Pini, F. Rossi, K.B Venable, In Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Artificial Intelligence, Taylor & Francis, to appear. PDF

[j13] Incompleteness and Incomparability in Preference Aggregation: Complexity Results, S. Pini, F. Rossi, K.B Venable, Y. Walsh, In Artif. Intell.- Special Issue on Representing, Processing, and Learning Preferences: Theoretical and Practical Challenges, Elsevier, to appear. PDF

[c37] Male optimality and uniqueness in stable marriage problems with partial orders. M. Gelain, M.S. Pini, F. Rossi, K.B Venable, T. Walsh, Proceedings of AAMAS 2010, pag.1387-1388, IFAAMAS, 2010. PDF

[c36] Local search algorithms on the Stable Marriage Problem: Experimental Studies. M. Gelain, M.S. Pini, F. Rossi, K.B Venable, T. Walsh, Proceedings of ECAI 2010, pag. 1085-1086, Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence and Applications vol.215, IOS Press, 2010. PDF

[c35] Finding the Next Solution in Constraint- and Preference-Based Knowledge Representation Formalisms. R.I. Brafman, F. Rossi, D. Salvagnin, K.B. Venable, T. Walsh, Proceedings of KR 2010, AAAI Press, 2010. PDF

[c34] Local Search for Stable Marriage Problems with Ties and Incomplete Lists, M. Gelain, M.S. Pini, F. Rossi, K.B Venable, T. Walsh, Proceedings of PRICAI 2010, LNCS 6230, pag. 64-75, Springer, 2010. PDF

[j12] Interval-valued soft constraint problems, M.S. Pini, F. Rossi, K.B Venable, N. Wilson, Ann. Math. Artif. Intell. 58(3-4): 261-298 (2010). PDF

[j11] Elicitation strategies for soft constraint problems with missing preferences: Properties, algorithms and experimental studies, M. Gelain, M.S. Pini, F. Rossi, K.B Venable, T. Walsh, Artif. Intell. 174(3-4): 270-294 (2010). PDF

[j10] From soft constraints to bipolar preferences: modelling framework and solving issues, S. Bistarelli, M.S. Pini, F. Rossi, K.B. Venable, J. Exp. Theor. Artif. Intell. 22(2): 135-158 (2010).PDF

[j9] Soft constraint problems with uncontrollable variables, M.S. Pini, F. Rossi, K.B. Venable, J. Exp. Theor. Artif. Intell. 22(4): 269-310 (2010). PDF

2009

[c32] Manipulation and gender neutrality in stable marriage procedures. M.S. Pini, F. Rossi, K.B. Venable, T. Walsh, Proceedings of AAMAS 2009, pag. 665-672, IFAAMAS, 2009. PDF

[c31] Compact Preference Representation in Stable Marriage Problems. E. Pilotto, F. Rossi, K.B. Venable, T. Walsh, Proceedings of ADT 2009, LNCS 5783, pag. 390-401, Springer, 2009. PDF

[c30] Preference Aggregation over Restricted Ballot Languages: Sincerity and Strategy-Proofness. U. Endriss, M.S. Pini, F. Rossi, K.B. Venable, Proceedings of IJCAI 2009, pag. 122-127, IJCAI, 2009. PDF

[j8] Aggregating Partially Ordered Preferences, M.S. Pini, F. Rossi, K.B. Venable, T. Walsh, J. Log. Comput. 19(3): 475-502 (2009). PDF

2008

[c29] Elicitation Strategies for Fuzzy Constraint Problems with Missing Preferences: Algorithms and Experimental Studies, M. Gelain, M.S. Pini, F. Rossi, K.B. Venable, T. Walsh, Proceedings of CP 2008, LNCS 5202, pag. 402-417 , Springer, 2008. PDF

[c28] Robust Solutions in Unstable Optimization Problems, M.S. Pini, F. Rossi, K.B. Venable, R. Dechter, CSCLP 2008, pag. 116-131, LNCS 5655, Springer, 2008. PDF

[c27] Dealing with Incomplete Agents' Preferences and an Uncertain Agenda in Group Decision Making via Sequential Majority Voting, M.S. Pini, F. Rossi, K.B. Venable, T. Walsh, Proceedings of KR 2008, pag. 571-578, AAAI Press, 2008. PDF

j[7] Preferences in Constraint Satisfaction and Optimization, F. Rossi, K.B. Venable, T. Walsh, AI Magazine 29(4): 58-68 (2008). PDF

j[6] Comparing the notions of optimality in CP-nets, strategic games and soft constraints. K.Z. Apt, F. Rossi, K.B. Venable, Ann. Math. Artif. Intell. 52(1): 25-54 (2008). PDF

j[5] Fuzzy conditional temporal problems: Strong and weak consistency, M. Falda, F. Rossi, K.B. Venable, Eng. Appl. of AI 21(5): 710-722 (2008). PDF

2007

c[26] Dealing with Incomplete Preferences in Soft Constraint Problems, M. Gelain, M.S. Pini, F. Rossi, K.B. Venable, Proceedings of CP 2007, LNCS 4741, pag.286-300 , Springer, 2007. PDF

c[25] Uncertainty in Bipolar Preference Problems, S. Bistarelli, M.S. Pini, F. Rossi, K.B. Venable, Proceedings of CP 2007, LNCS 4741, pag. 782-789, Springer, 2007. PDF

c[24] Strong Controllability of Disjunctive Temporal Problems with Uncertainty, B. Peintner, K.B. Venable, N. Yorke-Smith, Proceedings of CP 2007, LNCS 4741, pag. 856-863, Springer, 2007. PDF

[c23] A comparison of notions of optimality in Soft Constraints and Graphical Games, K. Apt, F. Rossi, K.B. Venable, CSCLP 2007, LNCS 5129, pag. 1-16, Springer, 2007. PDF

[c22] Winner Determination in Sequential Majority Voting, J.Lang, M.S. Pini, F. Rossi, K.B. Venable, T. Walsh, Proceedings of IJCAI 2007, pag. 1372-1377, Morgan Kaufmann, 2007. PDF

[c21] Incompleteness and Incomparability in Preference Aggregation, M.S. Pini, F. Rossi, K.B. Venable, T. Walsh, Proceedings of IJCAI 2007, pag. 1464-1469, Morgan Kaufmann, 2007. PDF

[j4] Solving and learning a tractable class of soft temporal constraints: Theoretical and experimental results, L. Khatib, P.H. Morris, R. Morris, F. Rossi, A.Sperduti, K.B. Venable, AI Comm. 20(3): 181-209, 2007. PDF

2006

[j3] Uncertainty in Soft Temporal Constraint Problems: A General Framework and Controllability Algorithms for the Fuzzy case, F. Rossi, K.B. Venable, N. Yorke-Smith, JAIR 27: 617-674, 2006. PDF

[c20] Bipolar Preference Problems: Framework, Properties and Solving techniques, S. Bistarelli, M.S. Pini, F. Rossi, K.B. Venable, CSCLP 2006, LNCS 4651, pag. 78-92, Springer, 2006. PDF

[c19] Computing possible and necessary winners from incomplete partially-ordered preferences, M.S. Pini, F. Rossi, K.B. Venable, T. Walsh, Proceedings of ECAI 2006, IOS Press, 2006. PDF

[c18] Bipolar preference problems, S. Bistarelli, M.S. Pini, F. Rossi, K. Brent Venable, Proceedings of ECAI 2006, IOS Press, 2006.PDF

[c17] Strategic voting when aggregating partially ordered preferences, M.S. Pini, F. Rossi, K.B. Venable, and T. Walsh, Proceedings of AAMAS'06, pag. 685-887, ACM .PDF

[j2] Hard and soft constraints for reasoning about qualitative conditional preferences, C. Domshlak, S. Prestwich, F. Rossi, K. B. Venable, T. Walsh, Journal of Heuristics, Special issue on preferences, 12: 263-285, Springer, 2006.PDF

2005

[j1] Aggregating preferences cannot be fair, F. Rossi, K.B. Venable and T. Walsh, Intelligenza Artificiale 2(1): 30-38 (2005). PDF

[c16] Uncertainty in Soft Constraints Problems, M.S. Pini, F. Rossi and K.B. Venable, Proceedings of IAWTIC' 2005, IEEE, 2005.PDF

[c15] CP-nets and Nash equilibria, K. R. Apt, F. Rossi, K.B. Venable, Proceedings of CIRAS'05, Elsevier, 2005.PDF

[c14] Disjunctive temporal planning with uncertainty, K.B. Venable, N. Yorke-Smith, Proceedings of IJCAI'05, Morgan Kaufmann, 2005.PDF

[c13] Aggregating partially ordered preferences: possibility and impossibility results, M.S. Pini, F. Rossi, K. B. Venable, T. Walsh, Proceedings of TARK 2005, ACM Digital Library, 2005.PDF

[c12] Constraint-based Preferential Optimization, S. Prestwich, F. Rossi, K. B. Venable, T. Walsh, Proceedings of AAAI 2005, Morgan Kaufmann, 2005 .PDF

[c11] Possibility Theory for Reasoning about Uncertain Soft Constraints, M. S. Pini, F. Rossi, K. B. Venable, Proceedings of ECSQARU'05, LNCS 3571, Springer, 2005. PDF

2004

[c10] Softly Constrained CP-nets, S. Prestwich, F. Rossi, K. B. Venable, T. Walsh, Proceedings of CP 2004, LNCS 3258, Springer, 2004. PDF

[c9] Controllability of Soft Temporal Constraint Problems, F. Rossi, K. B. Venable, N. Yorke-Smith, Proceedings of CP 2004, LNCS 3258, Springer, 2004. PDF

[c8] mCP nets: representing and reasoning with preferences of multiple agents, F. Rossi, K. B. Venable, T. Walsh, Proceedings of AAAI 2004, AAAI Press / MIT Press, 2004. PDF

2003

[c7] Alpha-dynamic controllability for Simple Temporal Problems with Preferences and Uncertainty, K.B. Venable, Proceedings of CP 2003, Springer LNCS 2833, 2003. PDF

[c6] Soft Constraints for Handling Temporal Preferences, F. Rossi, K.B. Venable, Recontres Francophones sur la Logique Flue et ses Applications Cepadues Editions, 2003.

[c5] Temporal Reasoning with Preferences and Uncertainty, F.Rossi, K.B. Venable, N. Yorke-Smith, Proceedings of IJCAI 2003, pag. 1289-1294, Morgan Kaufmann, 2003. PDF

[c4] Tractable Pareto Optimization of Temporal Preferences,L. Khatib, P. Morris, R. Morris and K.B. Venable, Proceedings of IJCAI 2003, pag. 1289-1294, Morgan Kaufmann, 2003. PDF

[c3] Reasoning about soft constraints and conditional preferences: complexity results and approximation techniques, C. Domshlak, F. Rossi, K.B. Venable and T. Walsh, Proceedings of IJCAI 2003, pag. 215-220, Morgan Kaufmann, 2003. PDF

2002

[c2] Ceteris Paribus Statements Represented as Soft Constraints, K.B. Venable, Proceedings of CP 2002,LNCS 2470, pag. 779, Springer Verlag, 2002.

[c1] Solving and Learning Soft Temporal Constraints: an experimental study, F. Rossi, K.B. Venable, A. Sperduti, L. Khatib, P. Morris, R. Morris, Proceedings of CP 2002, LNCS 2470, pag. 249-263, Springer Verlag, 2002. PDF

Carola Wenk is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Tulane University. She also holds an adjunct appointment in the Mathematics department. Her research area is in algorithms and computational geometry, with a focus on shape matching algorithms and interdisciplinary applications. Dr. Wenk has won research, teaching, and service awards, including an NSF CAREER award. Previously, she has headed an NIH-funded computational core facility for computational biology. Her research interests include a wide range of application areas including, but not limited to, geospatial data analysis, intelligent transportation systems, geographic information science, computational biology, and medical informatics.

Research Interests

My research interests are Algorithms and Data Structures, in particular Computational Geometry and Shape Matching, as well as Discrete Mathematics and applied areas such as Computational Biology and Intelligent Transportation Systems.

Professor Mislove is chairman of the Computer Science department. He is also Pendergraft Herbert Buchanan Professor of Mathematics. Professor Mislove's interests include domain theory, category theory, logic and the foundations of mathematics on the mathematical side, and in computer science, his interests include programming language theory, computational models, especially models of probabilistic systems, and applications to security. Professor Mislove has been a member of the Tulane faculty since 1970; he received his PhD from the University of Tennessee, and he has held visiting positions at the University of Oxford, the University of Paris VII, the University of Tuebingen, Germany, and the Technische Hochschule, Darmstadt, Germany. He is a former Fulbright scholar and a former Stipendiat of the alexander von Humboldt Stiftiung.

Professional Background

• 1979 – Present: Professor, Tulane University
• 1982 – 1984: Chairman, Department of Mathematics Tulane University
• 1975 – 1979: Associate Professor, Tulane University
• 1970 – 1975: Assistant Professor, Tulane University

Visiting Positions

• 1995 , 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001: Professeur Associe, Universite de Paris VII
• 1991: Visiting Professor, Programming Research Group University of Oxford, England
• 1988,1989,1990 (Summers): IBM Summer Faculty, Yorktown Heights, NY
• 1984: Senior Visitor, Mathematical Institute University of Oxford, England
• 1978,1982 (Summers): Technische Hochschule Darmstadt, Germany
• 1976: Gastprofessor, Mathematisches Institut Universitat Tubingen, Germany
• 1970: Visiting Assistant Professor
• 1970: University of Florida, Gainesville

Research Interests

Mathematics: Topological Algebra, Domain Theory, Ordered Structures, Category Theory, Non-well-founded Set Theory

Theoretical Computer Science: Semantics of High-level Programming Languages, Concurrency Theory, Process Algebra and Probabilistic Models
 

Areas of current interest:

• Study of Complex Product Chemistries Using Molecular Beams

Discipline

Physical Chemistry

Select Publications

Yan, J., Karpovych, V. and Sulkes, M., 2021. Pulsed laser surface heating: A tool for studying pyrolysis product chemistry in molecular beams. Chemical Physics Letters, 762, p.138122.

Kozliak, E., Sulkes, M., Smoliakova, I.P., Alhroub, I., Nespor, B., Yao, B. and Kubátová, A., 2020. Pathways toward PAH Formation during Fatty Acid and Triglyceride Pyrolysis. The Journal of Physical Chemistry A, 124(37), pp.7559-7574.

Kozliak, E.; Sulkes, M.; Alhroub, I.; Kubátová, A.; Andrianova, A.; Seames, W. Influence of early stages of triglyceride cracking on the formation of PAHs as coke precursors. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 2019, 21, 20189-20203.

Alhroub, I.; Kozliak, E.; Kubatova, A.; Sulkes, M. PAH/Aromatic Tar and Coke Precursor Formation in the Early Stages of Triglyceride (Triolein) Pyrolysis. The Journal of Physical Chemistry A 2018, 122 (12), 3238-3249.

Mark Sulkes, “Measurement of Luminescence Decays: Methods and Instrumentation”, Encyclopedia of Luminescence, 2017.     http://www.lumipedia.org/index.php?title=Measurement_of_Luminescence_De…

Luning He and Mark Sulkes, "Chemical intermediate detection following corona discharge on volatile organic compounds:  general method using molecular beam techniques", J. Phys. D, 44, 274006 (2011).

Luning He and Mark Sulkes, "Post Discharge Chemistry of Aromatic Molecules in Rare Gas", Plasma Chemistry and Plasma Processing,  DOI 10.1007/s11090-011-9324-1, 2011.

Mark Sulkes and Zoe Sulkes, "Measurement of luminescence decays: High performance at low cost", Am. J. Phys. 79, 1104 (2011).

Wei Shen and Mark Sulkes, "High Temperature Pulsed Solenoid Valve, Rev. Sci. Instr.",  Rev. Sci. Instrum. 81, 016101 (2010).

Luning He, Wei Shen and Mark Sulkes,  "Early Chemical Intermediates Following Corona Discharge on Benzene Derivatives:  CH Addition Favored Products", Chem. Phys. Lett., 471, 210 (2009).

R. Subramanian, M. Sulkes, "Production of a slit skimmer for use in cold supersonic molecular beams",  Review of Scientific Instruments, 79 (1), 016101 (2008).

   

Areas of current interest:

Light Harvesting
Chemists can play a significant role in the search for new sources of renewable energy to help meet future world energy needs. Of all the prospective renewable energy sources, solar offers the greatest potential return (as much as ten times the world energy needs expected at the end of this century). One area of solar energy related research for chemists is the study of photochemical reactions of molecules that absorb visible light.

Our research includes considerable organic and inorganic synthesis. Our recent efforts have focused on preparing clusters of visible light absorbing chromophores that may be used to "harvest" light. Such light harvesting arrays can be used to channel energy into electrochemical cells designed to convert light to electrical energy (photoelectrochemical cells). The types of chromophores we have examined include porphyrins , phthalocyanines and a variety of transition metal complexes. Through a combination of synthetic and laser spectroscopic investigations, our group studies the factors that influence the reactivity and stability of these classes of visible chromophores.

Photocatalysts
Another area of research in our group, related to solar energy conversion to chemical energy, is the study of what is referred to as one photon-two electron reactions. Using transition metal complexes that undergo two electron redox processes (i.e. Pt(II) to Pt(IV)), we are attempting to develop photochemical systems that can undergo redox cycling to serve as photocatalysts for the production of useful reagents.

Materials
Many of the N-heterocyclic ligands we prepare for light harvesting systems are strongly luminescent and are related to materials used for the development of organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). The ligands have emission that can be tuned to span the visible spectrum.

We are currently exploring the luminescence behavior of these complexes in solution and on surfaces. By gaining control of surface morphology via various surface deposition techniques, we hope to prepare highly luminescent surface bound chromophores that can be used in OLEDs or sensing applications. We study surface marpology using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and (TEM).

Discipline

Photochemistry, Materials, Transition Metal Chemistry

Selected Publications

2023

Martinez, K, Koehne, SM, Benson, K, Paul, JJ, Schmehl, RH    Bimolecular Excited-State Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer within Encounter Complexes. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2023, 145, 8, 4462-4472.  DOI: 10.1021/jacs.2c10165.

2019

Martinez, Kristina; Stash, Jacqueline; Benson, Kaitlyn; Paul, Jared; Schmehl, Russell "Direct Observation Of Sequential Electron And Proton Transfer In Excited State ETPT Reactions" Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2019, in press,  DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.8b09268.

Liyanage, Nalaka P.;  Yang, Weiwei ; Guertin, Stephen;  Roy, Sayontani Sinha;  Carpenter, Casey A.; Adams, Rebecca E.; Schmehl, Russell H.;  Delcamp, Jared H.; Jurss, Jonah W.  “Photochemical CO2 Reduction with Mononuclear and Dinuclear Rhenium Catalysts Bearing a Pendant Anthracene Chromophore” Chemical Communications, 2019, in press. , DOI: 10.1039/c8cc09155b.

2018

Qu, Fengrui; Martinez, Kristina; Arcidiacono, Ashley M.; Park, Seungjo; Zeller, Matthias; Schmehl, Russell H.; Paul, Jared J.; Kim, Yonghyun; Papish, Elizabeth T. “Sterically demanding methoxy and methyl groups in ruthenium complexes lead to enhanced quantum yields for blue light triggered photodissociation” Dalton Transactions, 2018, 44,  pp .  DOI: 10.1039/c8dt03295e.

Huckaba, Aron J, Shirley, Hunter; Lamb, Robert W. ; Guertin, Steve ; Autry, Shane; Cheema, Hammad; Talukdar, Kallol; Jones, Tanya; Jurss, Jonah W. ; Dass, Amala; Hammer, Nathan I.;  Schmehl, Russell H.; Webster, Charles Edwin; Delcamp, Jared H. “A Mononuclear Tungsten Catalyst for Hydrogen Production” ACS Catalysis, 2018, 8, 4838, 4847. DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.7b04242.

Adams, Rebecca E.;  Grusenmeyer, Tod A.; Griffith, Audrey L.; Schmehl, Russell H. “Transition Metal Hydride Complexes as Mechanistic Models for Proton Reduction Catalysis” Coordination Chemistry Reviews, 2018, 362, 44-53. DOI: 10.1016/j.ccr.2018.02.014.

2017

Peddapuram, A.; Cheema, H.; Adams, R. E.; Schmehl, R. H.; Delcamp, J. H., A Stable Panchromatic Green Dual Acceptor, Dual Donor Organic Dye for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells. Journal of Physical Chemistry C 2017, 121 (16), 8770-8780.

Wang, J.; Waters, J. L.; Kung, P.; Kim, S. M.; Kelly, J. T.; McNamara, L. E.; Hammer, N. I.; Pemberton, B. C.; Schmehl, R. H.; Gupta, A.; Pan, S., A Facile Electrochemical Reduction Method for Improving Photocatalytic Performance of alpha-Fe2O3 Photoanode for Solar Water Splitting. Acs Applied Materials & Interfaces 2017, 9 (1), 381-390.

White, J. K.; Schmehl, R. H.; Turro, C., An overview of photosubstitution reactions of Ru(II) imine complexes and their application in photobiology and photodynamic therapy. Inorganica Chimica Acta 2017, 454, 7-20.

2016

Adams, R. E.; Schmehl, R. H., Micellar Effects on Photoinduced Electron Transfer in Aqueous Solutions Revisited: Dramatic Enhancement of Cage Escape Yields in Surfactant Ru(II) Diimine Complex/ Ru(NH3)(6) (2+) Systems. Langmuir 2016, 32 (34), 8598-8607.

Kaneza, N.; Zhang, J. T.; Liu, H. Y.; Archana, P. S.; Shan, Z. C.; Vasiliu, M.; Polansky, S. H.; Dixon, D. A.; Adams, R. E.; Schmehl, R. H.; Gupta, A.; Pan, S. L., Electrochemical and Spectroscopic Properties of Boron Dipyrromethene-Thiophene-Triphenylamine-Based Dyes for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells. Journal of Physical Chemistry C 2016, 120 (17), 9068-9080.

Yue, Y. K.; Grusenmeyer, T.; Ma, Z.; Zhang, P.; Schmehl, R. H.; Beratan, D. N.; Rubtsov, I. V., Electron transfer rate modulation in a compact Re(I) donor-acceptor complex (vol 44, pg 8609, 2015). Dalton Transactions 2016, 45 (2), 842-842.

We are developing novel methods for measuring 3D structures of molecules in solution at physiological temperatures. We are also interested in applying these new structural methods and target the mechanisms of protein and enzyme biological functioning. Three-dimensional structure arrangement and dynamics of structural fluctuations play key roles in enzymes functioning. Nonlinear femtosecond spectroscopy methods, such as two-dimensional IR spectroscopy, permits measuring quick snapshots of the structural distribution of molecules in solution.

Discipline

Multidimensional Infrared Spectroscopy, Biophysics, Ultrafast Laser Spectroscopy

Selected Publications

Alexander L. Burin, Igor V. Parshin, Igor V. Rubtsov, Maximum propagation speed and Cherenkov effect in optical phonon. J. Chem. Phys. (2023), 159, 5, 054903. DOI: 10.1063/5.0158201, https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0158201

Tammy X. Leong, Brenna K. Collins, Sourajit Dey Baksi, Robert T. Mackin, Artem Sribnyi, Alexander L. Burin, John A. Gladysz and Igor V. Rubtsov, Tracking Energy Transfer Across a Platinum Center, submitted to J. Phys. Chem. A, (2022) 126(30), 4915-4930. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jpca.2c02017

Lev Chuntonov, Igor V. Rubtsov; Perspective: 2DIR spectroscopy for studies of molecular structure and dynamics on surfaces of noble metals. J. Phys. Chem. C. 2022, 126, 7, 3314-3327. Invited.  https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.1c10817. Identified as the most popular article. 

I. V. Rubtsov, A. L. Burin, Ballistic and diffusive vibrational energy transport in molecules. J. Chem. Phys. Perspective; (2018) 150(2), 020901(1-18) (invited) https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5055670.

Clyde Varner, Xiao Zhou, Zowie K. Saxman, Joel D. Leger, Janarthanan Jayawickramarajah, Igor V. Rubtsov, Azido alkanes as convenient reporters for mobility within lipid membranes. Chem. Phys. (2018) 512, 20-26 (invited); https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemphys.2018.05.020

R. T. Mackin, B. Cohn, A. Gandman, L. Chuntonov, I. V. Rubtsov, Surface-enhanced dual-frequency two-dimensional vibrational spectroscopy of thin layers at the interface; J. Phys. Chem. C (2018) 122 (20), 11015-11023, DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.8b02436 https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jpcc.8b02436

Rubtsova, N. I.; Qasim, L., N.; Kurnosov, A. A.; Burin, A. L.; Rubtsov, I. V., Ballistic energy transport in oligomers. Acc. Chem. Res. (2015), 48, 2547-2555; DOI: 10.1021/acs.accounts.5b00299; http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1021/acs.accounts.5b00299.

N. I. Rubtsova, I. V. Rubtsov; Vibrational Energy Transport Studied by Relaxation Assisted 2DIR; Ann. Rev. Phys. Chem. (2015), 717-738, invited; http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.1146/annurev-physchem-040214-1…

Joel D. Leger, Clara M. Nyby, Clyde Varner, Jianan Tang, Natalia I. Rubtsova, Yuankai Yue, Victor V. Kireev, Grigory I. Rubtsov, Igor V. Rubtsov; Fully automated dual-frequency three-pulse-echo 2DIR spectrometer accessing spectral range from 800 to 4000 wavenumbers; Rev. Sci. Instr., (2014) 85, 083109-16; DOI: 10.1063/1.4892480; http://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/journal/rsi/85/8/10.1063/1.4892480.

Z. Lin, I. V. Rubtsov, Constant-speed vibrational signaling along polyethylene glycol chain up to 60-angstrom distance; Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., (2012) 109(5) 1413-1418; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1116289109.

Rubtsov, I. V.  Relaxation-assisted 2DIR: Accessing distances over 10Å and measuring bond connectivity patterns. Acc. Chem. Res. (2009), 42(9), 1385-1394; DOI: 10.1021/ar900008p.

Z. Lin, C. M. Lawrence, D. Xiao, S. S. Skourtis, J. L. Sessler, D. N. Beratan, I. V. Rubtsov, Modulating unimolecular charge transfer by exciting bridge vibrations; J. Am. Chem. Soc. (2009), 131, 18060-62; DOI: 10.1021/ja907041t; http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ja907041t?source=chemport.  The paper has been recognized in Concentrates of Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN Dec. 7, 2009, p. 41) and in Nature Chemistry, Research  Highlights, on-line at http://www.nature.com/nchem/reshigh/2009/1209/full/nchem.516.html.

Kurochkin, D. V.; Naraharisetty, S. G.; Rubtsov, I. V., Relaxation-assisted 2D IR spectroscopy method. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., (2007) 104, 14209-14214; http://www.pnas.org/content/104/36/14209
 

Dr. Pascal's principal research interests have been in the areas of biochemistry (enzyme mechanisms, design of enzyme inhibitors, and natural product biosynthesis) and physical organic chemistry (strained aromatic molecules, kinetic isotope effects, molecular association, and crystal engineering) with a recent emphasis on the latter.

Discipline

Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry

Selected Publications

Wang, J., E. Izumi, Y. Du, J. T. Mague, and R. A. Pascal, Jr., An Unexpected Synthesis of Crowded Triphenylenes, Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2023, e202300708.

Lima, C. F. R. A. C., J. T. Mague, Y. Du, R. A. Pascal, Jr., and L. M. N. B. F. Santos, How Great is the Stabilization of Polyphenylbiphenyls by London Dispersion?, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2023, 25, 13359-13375.

Kumar, S., M. Selvachandran, C. Wu, Robert A. Pascal, Jr., X. Zhang, T. Grusenmeyer, R. H. Schmehl, S. Sproules, J. T. Mague, and J. P. Donahue, Heterotrimetallic Assemblies with 1,2,4,5-Tetrakis(diphenylphosphino)benzene Bridges: Constructs for Controlling the Separation and Spatial Orientation of Redox-Active Metallodithiolene Groups, Inorg. Chem. 2022, 61, 17804-17818.

Du, Y., A. McSkimming, J. T. Mague, and R. A. Pascal, Jr., The Pursuit of Perphenylterphenyls, Chem. Eur. J. 2022, 28, e202200931. 

Du, Y., J. T. Mague, and R. A. Pascal, Jr., Extremely Crowded Biaryls, Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2021, 3294-3302.

Leong, T. X., L. N. Qasim, R. T. Mackin, Y. Du, R. A. Pascal, Jr., and I. V. Rubtsov, Unidirectional coherent energy transport via conjugated oligo(p-phenylene) chains, J. Chem. Phys. 2021, 154, 134304.

Xiao, Y., J. T. Mague, J. P. Donahue, L. J. Wilson, C. M. Kraml, and R. A. Pascal, Jr., Synthesis and Structures of Polyphenylphenanthrenes, Chem. Eur. J. 2020, 26, 8458-8464.

Dougherty, K. J., Q. Qin, R. Cruz, Y. Cho, J. P. Donahue, J. T. Mague, L. J. Wilson, C. M. Kraml, and R. A. Pascal, Jr., A Simple, Serendipitous Synthesis of Heterohexahelicenes, Eur. J. Org. Chem., 2019, 6534-6538.

Xiao, Y., J. T. Mague, R. H. Schmehl, F. M. Haque, and R. A. Pascal, Jr., Dodecaphenyl-tetracene, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2019, 58, 2831-2833.

 

Our current research activities fall into two areas. The first involves the spectroscopic characterization of self organizing systems such as reversed micelles and organogels as well as the utilization of these systems for the synthesis of nanoparticles, polymers and novel composite materials. Spectroscopic techniques include IR, NMR, EPR, and fluorescence under steady state and time resolved conditions.

The second area of interest involves the environment fate and transport of heavy metals, Pb in particular. The goal of this research is a basic understanding of chemical principals that control the absorption and release of heavy metals in a contaminated environment. Analytical methods include AA, ICP, X-ray fluorescence, and ICP mass spectrometry.

Discipline

Inorganic Chemistry

My current area of interest is in small molecule x-ray crystallography of organic and organometallic compounds.  In addition, we are interested in the structural chemistry of rare earth metal complexes of multifunctional caboxylic acids.

Discipline

Inorganic Chemistry

Selected Publications

244.Y. Yong, P. Chandrasekaran, J. T. Mague, S. DeBeer, S. Sproules and J. P. Donahue, "Redox-Controlled Interconversion between Trigonal Prismatic and Octahedral Geometries in a Monodithiolene Tetracarbonyl Complex of Tungsten", Inorg. Chem,, 51, 346-361 (2012).

245.U. Jayarathne, K. Williams, V. M. Kasyanenko, J. T. Mague, I. V. Rubtsov and J. P. Donahue, "Structural Characterization of [Fe(NO)(mnt)2]1-/2- Salts", Polyhedron, 31, 98-103 (2012).

246.M. Mirzaei, H. Eshtiagh-Hosseini and J. T. Mague, "2-Aminopyridinium bis(pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylato)ferrate(III)", Acta Cryst., E68, m174 (2012).

247.H. Apkinar, J. T. Mague, M. A. Novak, J. R. Friedman and P. M. Lahti, "Radicals Organized by Disk shaped Aromatics - Polymorphism and Co-crystals that Tune Inter-electron Exchange", CrystEngComm., 14, 1515-1526 (2012).

248.G. Seber, R. S. Freitas, J. T. Mague, A. Paduan-Filho, X. Gratens, V. Bindilatti, N. F. Oliveira, N. Yoshioka and P. M. Lahti, "Magnetic Tuning of All-Organic Binary Alloys between Two Stable Radicals", J. Am. Chem. Soc., 134, 3825-3833 (2012).

249.S. Naik, N. Durganna, S. M. Mobin, J. T. Mague and M. S. Balakrishna, "Synthesis and Transition Metal Chemistry of New Bromo- and Alkyl-Substituted Phosphinite Ligands", Polyhedron, 38, 97-102 (2012).

250.S. J. Ferrara, J. T. Mague and J. P. Donahue, "Synthesis and Structures of Cuprous Triptycylthiolate Complexes", Inorg. Chem. 51, 6567-6576 (2012).

251.G. S. Ananthnag, S. Kuntavalli, J. T. Mague and M. S. Balakrishna, "Resorcinol Based Acyclic Dimeric and Cyclic Di- and Tetrameric Cyclodiphosphazanes: Synthesis, Structural Studies, and Transition Metal Complexes", Inorg. Chem. 51, 5919-5930 (2012).

252.L. V. Koplitz, J. T. Mague, M. N. Kammer, C. A. McCormick, H. Renfro and D. J. Vumbaco, "2-Cyano-1-methylpyridinium Nitrate", Acta Cryst., E68, o1653 (2012).

253.S. Sathyamoorthi, J. T. Mague and R. A. Pascal, Jr., "An in-Triphenylaminophane", Org. Letts., 14, 3427-3429 (2012).

254.M. Ahmadi, J. T. Mague, A. Akbari and R. Takjoo, "Dianion N1,N4-bis(salicylidene)-S-allyl-thiosemicarbazide Complexes: Synthesis, Structure, Spectroscopy and Thermal Behavior", Polyhedron, 42, 128-134 (2012).

255.M. N. Kammer, L. V. Koplitz and J. T. Mague, "4-Cyano-1-methylpyridinium Iodide", Acta Cryst., E68, o2514 (2012).

256.M. N. Kammer, L. V. Koplitz and J. T. Mague, "4-Cyano-1-methylpyridinium Bromide", Acta Cryst., E68, o2409 (2012).

257.J. T. Mague, D. J. Vumbaco, M. N. Kammer and L. V. Koplitz, "4-Cyanoanilinium Iodide", Acta Cryst., E68, o2623 (2012).

258.D. J. Vumbaco, M. N. Kammer, L. V. Koplitz and J. T. Mague, "4-Cyanoanilinium Bromide", Acta Cryst., E68, o2884 (2012).

259.S. Y. Ebrahimipour, J. T. Mague, A. Akbari and R. Takjoo, "Synthesis, Characterization, Crystal Structure and Thermal Behavior of 4-Bromo-2-(((5-chloro-2-hydroxyphenyl)imino)methyl)phenol and its Oxido-vanadium(V) Complexes", J. Mol. Struct., 1028, 148-155 (2012).

260.X. Geng, J. T. Mague and R. A. Pascal, Jr., "Synthesis and Chiroptical Properties of Arylimines of Cholest-4-ene-3,6-dione", J. Org. Chem., 77, 10920-10924 (2012).

261.M. V. S. N. Maddipatla, M. Pattabiraman, A. Natarajan, J. T. Mague and V. Ramamurthy, "Regioselective Photodimerization of Pyridyl-butadienes within Cucurbit[8]uril Cavities", Org. & Biomol. Chem., 10, 9219-9222 (2012).

Research efforts in our group revolve around using lasers to initiate and study chemistry. A variety of lasers are employed to investigate problems in areas ranging from gas-phase Doppler spectroscopy to laser-assisted thin-film growth. Mass spectrometers are used extensively for product detection, but materials characterization methods such as x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) are enjoying increasing popularity within our group.

Discipline

Physical Chemistry

Selected Publications

"On the Fluence Dependence of Laser-Induced Metal-Interlayer Formation in Pd-Metallized Polymers" Folasade Faulkner, Steven Simpson, Gilda Miner, Diane Stoakley, Michael Johnson, Shane McGlynn, Xiaodong Zhang, and Brent Koplitz, Applied Surface Science (submitted).

"On the Mechanism of Carbon Assembly in Laser Ablated Plumes of Fullerenes" Xiaodong Zhang, Arun Narayan, Michael Johnson, and Brent Koplitz, Carbon (submitted).

"Using Anisotropy Measurements from A-Band Photodissociation to Interrogate the Excited States of H2Se"Xiaodong Zhang, Michael Johnson, and Brent Koplitz, Journal of Physical Chemistry A 117, 11963-9 (2013).

"Double Beam Pulsed Laser Deposition of Composite Films of Poly(methylmethacrylate) and Rare Earth Fluoride Upconversion Phosphors"
Abdalla M. Darwish, Michael Tavita Sagapolutele. Sergey Sarkisov, Darayas Patel, David Hui, and Brent Koplitz, Composites: Part B, 55, 139-46 (2013).

"Laser-Induced Fabrication of Metallic Interlayers and Patterns in Polyimide Films" G. Miner, D. Stoakley, G. Gaddy, S. Simpson, M. Lynch, S. Ruffner, and B. Koplitz, NASA-Langley and Tulane University, patent # 7,758,927, awarded July 20, 2010.