Ian C. Chagunda, PhD

Excited to begin my NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowship at Ruhr University Bochum, working with Prof. @viktoriagessner.bsky.social! I'll be exploring structure–activity relationships of YPhos ligands to advance their use in challenging catalytic transformations. Thrilled to join such a fantastic team!🧪

You can read it for free at tinyurl.com/43ftsxtp. If you'd like a printed copy, just shoot me a message (details at www.ianchagunda.com).

I hope this book resonates with anyone who's navigating/ed grad school, or just appreciates a good story about science and growth.😁
#PhDLife #SciComm #ChemSky

This idea was inspired by Dr. @cryocaro.bsky.social who shared a beautiful photobook version of her PhD thesis a few years ago. I knew as soon as I saw it, that I wanted to make one too; a more creative and personal text than the traditional thesis.

My book, 𝗪𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗹𝘀 & 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝘁 𝗠𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗺𝘀, tells my story of discovery, failure, mass spectrometry, mentorship, family, and finding meaning through four+ years of PhD research through photos and memories.

𝗜 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝗮 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸!🧪📔

What started as a few pages to explain my thesis to friends and family (who I was pretty sure would never read the whole thesis 😝), turned into a deeper reflection on the journey, the science, and everything in between.🔗 tinyurl.com/43ftsxtp

Catalyst Chemistry with Ian Chagunda Beyond the Jargon · Episode

Check out Ian @chagunda.bsky.social's interview on the "Beyond the Jargon" podcast, where he talks about his (recently successfully defended) PhD research. Very accessible chat about a rather intricate topic!
open.spotify.com/episode/5L4s...

Thrilled to have successfully defended my PhD! Such a great moment to finally put my photo up on the graduates' wall of fame.

Big thank you to my supervisor @mcindoe.bsky.social and the exam committee for their insightful questions and engaging discussion of my work.

On to the next adventure! 🛫 🇩🇪

Our work investigating Pd-precatalyst activation mechanisms is featured as a front cover in @pubs.acs.org Organometallics. It was a fantastic experience designing and exploring his work in a creative way!

➡️ pubs.acs.org/toc/orgnd7/4...

#MyACSCover
@mcindoe.bsky.social @leitchlab.bsky.social

Using ESI-MS and some charged phosphines, we identified key intermediates and off-cycle species, and demonstrated low activation barrier for ligand dissociation and rapid formation of active LPd(0) species—key insights as we continue to develop more effective Pd-catalyzed rxns!

Ligand Substitution, Catalyst Activation, and Oxidative Addition Studies of a Stable Dialkyl Palladium Precatalyst Palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions are indispensable in chemical synthesis, but efficient in situ catalyst activation remains a persistent challenge. Current Pd(II) precatalysts often lead to inefficient catalyst activation, necessitating higher catalyst loadings and limiting selectivity. We investigated the ligand substitution and activation mechanism of the stable Pd(II) dialkyl complex (DMPDAB)Pd(CH2SiMe3)2 in real-time using mass spectrometric monitoring. The introduction of charge-tagged phosphine ligands enabled the detection of key catalytic intermediates and identification of off-cycle species. Our findings demonstrate a low activation energy for the ligand dissociation of the DMPDAB ligand and the reductive elimination of (Me3SiCH2)2 resulting in rapid formation of monoligated LPd(0) species, the active catalytic species for oxidative addition. These mechanistic insights offer a path toward developing more efficient and selective Pd-catalyzed processes, offering valuable guidance for the future design of precatalysts with improved performance.

Our latest work is now out in @acs.org Organometallics! 🎉This was a super fun collaboration with @mcindoe.bsky.social
and @leitchlab.bsky.social, where we explored the activation and oxidative addition mechanisms of the dialkyl-Pd precatalyst (DAB)Pd(CH2SiMe3)2. 🔗
doi.org/n2pj

Always great to see the team crushing it come awards time at UVic Chemistry - congratulations to Charlie, Jack, Ian, Harrison & Nick and many thanks to the generosity of the donors!