UMERC Faculty Member

Andrei N. Vedernikov, Assistant Professor
Chemistry and Biochemistry
Chemical and Life Sciences

Phone: 301.405.2784
Email: avederni@umd.edu  |  website

Statement of energy interests and expertise

Research Interests and Areas of Expertise include development of new bond breaking and bond making processes, manipulation with kinetically inert molecules, such as methane and other alkanes, experimental and computational organotransition metal chemistry, design of new ligands and catalysts for organic reactions. In addition to regular experimental studies we use quantum chemical calculations to model, design and explore new molecules and materials.

One of our recent achievements is a development of new platinum- and palladium-based systems that allow for facile aerobic transformation of alkyl ligands such as methyl, ethyl etc. attached to the metal center to alcohols, methanol, ethylene glycol etc. The systems work in water as a solvent. We also were able to carry out facile CH activation of methane, and a number of other alkanes to produce corresponding organoplatinum complexes. In a number of cases the reactions can be carried out in biphasic hydrocarbon-water systems. The mentioned efforts and achievements may be of crucial importance for developing new technologies for natural gas and oil processing and transport, for the design of efficient fuel-cell systems.