Gretchen Peters, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Organic Chemistry
Year Started at JMU: 2018
peter3gm@jmu.edu
Contact Info
Research Description
Supramolecular chemistry depends upon the development of systems that can selectively recognize small biomolecules. Furthermore, optimizing these receptors and materials for the sensing and targeted drug delivery is of great importance. Diol-containing molecules are ubiquitous both in natural systems and pharmaceuticals. Because of this, the design of supramolecular systems that can selectively bind, detect and transport diol-rich structures is a research area of growing interest. Our research utilizes the self-assembly and molecular recognition properties of both biomolecules and synthetic organic receptors in conjunction with boronic acids to develop new sensors and transporters for small biomolecules and functional soft materials.
Related Scholarship
- Boron chemistry
- Self-assembly and molecular recognition
- Soft materials and gels
Education
- PhD in Chemistry, 2015, University of Maryland, College Park
- BA in Chemistry, 2010, Lutheran College
Select Publications
- Peters, G. M.; Chi, X.; Brockman, C.; Sessler, J. L. “Polyvinyl Alcohol-Boronate Gel for NaOH Extraction.” Chem. Commun. 2018, 54, 5407-5409.
- He, Q.; Peters, G. M.; Lynch, V. M.; Sessler, J. L. “Recognition and Extraction of Cesium Hydroxide and Carbonate using a Neutral Multitopic Ion-Pair Receptor.” Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2017, 56, 13396–13400.
- Peters, G. M.; Davis, J. T. “Supramolecular Gels Made from Nucleobase, Nucleoside, and Nucleotide Analogs.” Chem. Soc. Rev. 2016, 45, 3188-3206.
