Informal CCE Seminar

Wednesday, January 22, 2025

2:00pm to 3:00pm

Braun Laboratory 152

Update from year 25 of an odyssey with undergraduate researchers to understand the structure and function of alkane monooxygenase (AlkB)

Rachel Narehood Austin, Diana T. And P. Roy Vagelos Professor of Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Barnard College, Columbia University,

In this talk, I will describe ongoing work in my research laboratory to understand the structure and function of alkane monooxygenase (AlkB). AlkB catalyzes the oxidation of much of the liquid alkanes that enter the environment through both natural and anthropogenic sources. Despite its importance in the global carbon cycle, its three-dimensional structure was not known until 2023, and its molecular mechanism still largely an object of speculation. Our lab has been trying to understand how AlkB catalyzes the activation of molecular oxygen and inert C-H bonds to transform linear alkanes into the corresponding terminal alcohols and also terminal alkenes to epoxides. I will also highlight the significant contributions motivated undergraduate researchers can make to the generation of new scientific knowledge.

Rachel Narehood Austin's profile: https://barnard.edu/profiles/rachel-narehood-austin

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Followed by coffee hour sponsored by WiBBE - bring your questions about working at a primarily undergraduate institution!

For more information, please contact Ann Mao by phone at x6524 or by email at [email protected].

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