Research Guides

Mechanistic studies of structure and function by EPR Spectroscopy

Research in the Centre for Advanced Electron Spin Resonance, CÆSR, focuses on bridged metal clusters, biophysical distance measurements, transient organic radicals, electron transfer processes, and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) instrumentation and methods development, among many other projects from groups across the Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences (MPLS) division.  My role is that of the Scientific Applications Manager of CAESR.  Academic activities of this post involve research collaborations, unofficial supervision of Part II, D. Phil and PDRA research, co-authorship of publications and grants, organization of the undergraduate EPR practical, and serving as a reviewer.

My background is in bioinorganic chemistry, often involving novel biomimetic metal complexes, but also projects on transition metal and f-element complexes that are decidedly non-biological.  High-spin Co(II) and other complexes with unquenched orbital momentum have been an ongoing interest, both as a surrogate of the ubiquitous Zn(II) metalloenzymes and on the side of basic studies in transition metal magnetic properties,  electronic structure, and coordination chemistry. 

Figures. Left to right are rapid-passage Q-band CW-ENDOR of bistrispyrazolylboratecobalt(II) measured at 1.6 Kelvin, an electron spin echo field sweep at D-band of the first photo-excited state (S2) of photosystem II, and a finite integral method calculation of the microwave magnetic field amplitude in a transverse electric mode (011) Ka-band ENDOR resonator.

Current funding: UCB Celltech (CÆSR), Chemistry Dept., Bruker-BioSpin (CÆSR), SAB Miller (C. Timmel), ERC CoSuN (H. Anderson), and EPSRC (CÆSR)

A full publication list is available (link,link).

“A Protein Fold Switch Joins the Circadian Oscillator to Clock Output in Cyanobacteria”. Yong-Gang Chang, Susan E. Cohen, Connie Phong, William K. Myers, Yong-Ick Kim, Roger Tseng, Jenny Lin, Li Zhang, Joseph S. Boyd, Yvonne Lee, Shannon Kang, Sheng Li, R. David Britt, Michael J. Rust, Susan S. Golden, Andy LiWang, Science 2015, 349 (6245), 324-328.

“The HydG Enzyme Generates an Fe(CO)2(CN) Synthon in the Biosynthesis of [FeFe] Hydrogenase”. Jon M. Kuchenreuther†, William K. Myers†, Daniel L. M. Suess, Troy A. Stich, Vladimir Pelmenschikov, Stacey A. Shiigi, Stephen P. Cramer, James R. Swartz, R. David Britt, Simon J. George, Science 2014, 343, 424-427.
“Radical Intermediate in Tyrosine Scission to the CO and CN− Ligands of [FeFe] Hydrogenase”.  Jon M. Kuchenreuther^†, William K. Myers^†, Troy A. Stich, Simon J. George, Yaser NejatyJahromy, James R. Swartz, and R. David Britt, Science 2013, 342, 472-475.

“EPR–ENDOR Characterization of (17O, 1H, 2H) Water in Manganese Catalase and Its Relevance to the Oxygen-Evolving Complex of Photosystem II”. Iain L. McConnell, Vladimir M. Grigoryants, Charles P. Scholes, William K. Myers, Ping-Yu Chen, James W. Whittaker, and Gary W. Brudvig, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2012, 134 (3), 1504–1512