San Diego, CA – Students and faculty from the Department of Chemistry and Physics at Southwestern Oklahoma State University (SWOSU) recently attended the Spring 2025 National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in San Diego, Calif. The ACS hosts two national meetings each year, bringing together professionals from universities, laboratories, and industry to present research and discuss developments in the chemical sciences. These conferences are among the largest of their kind and provide students with valuable experience presenting original research in a professional setting.

This year, eleven SWOSU students and six faculty members attended the spring meeting. Together, they presented eleven research posters and two oral presentations.

Presentations included the following:

• Audrey Jergensen and Dr. Shawna Ellis: “Investigating the mechanism of a green oxidation reaction.”

• Audrey Jergensen and Dr. Trevor Ellis: “Synthesis and comparison of reactivity of a series of Ni(II) complexed nucleophilic glycine equivalents derived from 2-aminobenzaldehydes.”

• Justin Childress and Dr. Trevor Ellis: “Synthesis and imine stability of a series of Ni(II)

• complexes of glycine under various reaction conditions.”

• Jennifer Saenz, Yuki Matsui, and Dr. Tim Hubin: “Novel ethylene cross-ridged homocyclen ligands and their Cr, Mn, Fe, and Zn complexes.”

• Allison Bond and Dr. Tim Hubin: “High valent manganese, iron, and chromium complexes of cross-bridged tetraazamacrocycles for decomposition of contaminants of emerging concerns.”

• Amelia Kerr, Margaret Larson, Rhealyn Sutliff, and Dr. Tim Hubin: “Developing the coordination chemistry and reactivity of cross-bridged pentaazamacrocycle complexes.”

• Rena Cole, Grant Elam, and Dr. Tim Hubin: “Iron and manganese complexes of cross-bridged tetraazamacrocycles for hydrogen peroxide disproportionation.”

• Eric Estala and Dr. David Martyn: “Halophenol substituted cholesterol derivatives synthesized via the Mitsunobu reaction.”

• Jon Henrikson and Trevor Ellis: “Determination of pKa’s of metal complexed glycine Schiff’s base in an aprotic solvent system by spectrophotometric methods.”

• Grant Elam and Dr. Tim Hubin (oral presentation): “Manganese tetraazamacrocycles as synthetic catalase & peroxidase enzyme mimics.”

• Somrita Mondal and Tim Hubin (oral presentation): “Fabrication of cross-bridged Tetraazamacrocycle based solid phase catalysts for degradation of antibiotics (CECs).”

Attending the ACS meeting gives students the opportunity to share their work with a wider scientific audience, receive feedback, and connect with other researchers. It also allows them to see the scope of current research in chemistry and learn about graduate programs and career paths.

SWOSU Chemistry plans to attend the spring ACS meeting with students and faculty each year. While the number of participants varies, the event provides a consistent opportunity for students to improve their presentation and communication skills while building confidence in their research.

Travel to this meeting was provided through generous funding from the Oklahoma Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (OK-EPSCoR), Oklahoma IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (OK-INBRE), Oklahoma Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (OK-LSAMP), and Southwestern Oklahoma State University.

To learn more about the Chemistry program at SWOSU, visit https://www.swosu.edu/undergraduate/chemistry/index.php.