Chemistry at Brown University

Brown has vigorous programs in organic, inorganic, physical, and bio-chemistry as well as in related areas. Within the broad field of organic chemistry, there are research groups pursuing the total synthesis and the biosynthesis of natural products, the development of new synthetic methodology, the application and mechanisms of organometallic reactions, the intricacies of biochemical reaction mechanisms, and the dynamics of photochemical and free radical reactions. The research in inorganic and physical-inorganic chemistry spans the gamut from inorganic glasses, bioinorganic polymers and metalloenzyme models to work with multimetallic molecules, electrochemistry, and models for hydrodesulfurization. Research in biochemistry includes studies of enzyme mechanisms; the relationship between DNA sequence, conformation, and biological properties; the insertion of non-natural amino acids into proteins; and the in vivo NMR of biological tissues, organs, and organisms. Finally, physical chemistry and chemical physics are represented by theoretical and experimental programs focusing on surfaces, clusters, and liquids as well as on the development of state-of-the-art spectroscopic and ultrafast-electron-diffraction techniques.