Donald T. Sawyer

Adjunct Professor of Chemistry
Inorganic Chemistry

Office: 102 Chemistry-Physics Building
Phone: (859) 257-5017
FAX: (859) 323-1069
Email: dtsawy2@uky.edu

1953 B.S., UCLA
1956 Ph.D., UCLA
1962-63 John S. Guggenheim Post-doctoral Fellowship, Cambridge University

Oxygen Activation

The focus of our research is the chemistry of dioxygen species (O₂, HOO^., O₂^-., HOOH, and HOO^-). In particular, we seek to understand how transition-metal complexes activate HOOH and O₂ for reaction with organic substrates in biology and in oxygenation process chemistry. Recent work has demonstrated that the primary chemistry of hydroperoxides is nucleophilic. Examples include the generation of acid rain

SO₂ + HOOH = [^-OS(O)OOH(BH⁺)] = ^-OS(O)₂OH(BH⁺)

and several Fenton chemistries (classical, chlorinated, and oxygenated).These processes do not generate free hydroxyl radical, but have reactive intermediates (1 and 5) that transfer a hydroxyl via an inner sphere process.

Iron(II) complexes in the presence of a reductant (DH₂; PhNHNHPh, ascorbic acid, and thiols) activate O₂ for the oxygenation of hydrocarbons (mimics of the cytochrome P-450 oxygenase/reductase protein systems).

Several iron(II) complexes catalytically activate O₂ for the ketonization of the allylic carbons of cyclohexene, and of methyl linolelinate.

Biography

Donald T. Sawyer received his B.S. degree in 1953 and his Ph.D. in 1956, both from UCLA in the field of Chemistry. Since January 1996, he has been Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Chemistry at Texas A&M University, Adjunct Professor in the Institute of Biosciences and Technology, and Adjunct Professor in the Chemistry Department of Rice University and in the Chemistry Department of the University of Kentucky . In 1997 he moved to Oregon for retirement on the West Coast with a continuing interest in oxygen chemistry. As of October 2000 the retirement venue has shifted to Kentucky. From July 1985 he was Distinguished Professor at TAMU, and served as Head of the Department for the 1985-86 academic year. During 1986-87 he was Associate Director of the Institute of Biosciences and Technology. From 1956 until 1986 he was a faculty member in the Department of Chemisty at the University of California, Riverside; and currently is Professor Emeritus. He served as Chairman of the Department from 1966 to 1970, and as Dean of the College of Physical Sciences from 1970 to 1974.

During 1962-63 he was awarded a John S. Guggenheim Fellowship for study at the University of Cambridge, England, and in 1970 was appointed Visiting Research Fellow at Merton College, Oxford, England. He was awarded a Fellowship from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science in 1983. During the past 35 years he has served as a National Tour Speaker for the American Chemical Society on 13 occasions.

Professor Sawyer is the author of 309 research publications in the areas of oxygen chemistry, bioinorganic chemistry, redox chemistry and activation of dioxygen, transition-metal coordination chemistry, electrochemistry, and gas chromatography. He also is the co-author of ten books: Electrochemistry for Chemists, The Activation of Dioxygen and Homogenous Catalytic Oxidation, Oxygen Chemistry, Oxygen Complexes and Oxygen Activation by Transition Metals, Industrial Environmental Chemistry: Waste Minimization in Industrial Processes and Remediation of Hazardous Waste, Chemical Experiments for Instrumental Methods, Experimental Electrochemistry for Chemists, Electrochemical Studies of Biological Systems, Quantitative Analysis, and Experiments for Instrumental Methods, and is a member of the American Chemical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He was Chairman of the 1971 Gordon Research Conference on Analytical Chemistry, has served on advisory panels for NSF, NIH, and the Research Corporation, and was Science Advisor to the Los Angeles District of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration from 1975 to 1982. He has been a member of the Editorial Advisory Boards for Analytical Chemistry and Inorganic Chemistry.

During the past three decades some 45 Ph.D. candidates and 38 postdoctoral associates have studied with Professor Sawyer. Honors include election as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; Special Citation by the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration; award of the Richard C. Tolman Medal by the Southern California Section of the American Chemical Society; and selection as Faculty Research Lecturer for the University of California, Riverside, as Henry Werner Lecturer (University of Kansas), and as Distinguished Visiting Lecturer at the 12th National Meeting of the Chilean Chemical Society.