Paul J. Ragogna

B.Sc. Brock University, 2000
Ph.D. Dalhousie with Prof. N. Burford, 2004
NSERC PDF Toronto with Prof. I. Manners, 2005
Office: B&GS 2022
Labs: B&GS 2004, 2006
Phone (Office): (519) 661-2111 ext. 87048
Phone (Lab): (519) 661-2111 exts. 81474 and 80049
E-mail: pragogna@uwo.ca

Our Research

Current research in the field of Main Group chemistry provides substantial insight into the way molecules are held together (chemical structure and bonding). This greatly assists in the assessment of such compounds as useable materials. Although investigations of this type are primarily an academic study, many of the results have translated into substantial economic benefit. Main group elements are playing increasingly prominent roles in electronic materials, pharmaceuticals and new polymers. The benefits for the construction of new main group element compounds are two fold: (a) an increased understanding of the fundamentals of structure, bonding and reactivity; and (b) this knowledge can be used to assess potential applications for value-added products. In this context, the isolation of new compounds that contain charged main group centres, or main group centres in unconventional bonding arrangements are desirable because of their high reactivity. Our research program centres on investigating the fundamental chemistry of a variety of main group elements, as well as developing the potential new applications of our findings. Within this common theme, three sub areas have emerged and we are defining new directions in (a) The identification and application of unusual chalcogen compounds (Chalcogen = S, Se, Te); (b) Synthesis and applications of ionophilic materials: Ionic liquids with unusual functionalities; and, (c) The synthesis of unprecedented neutral, strained, main group element bridged cobaltoarenophane complexes.

Right now in the lab.....

We are using nanometer or micrometer sized particles to impart artifical roughness into UV-cured thin films of fluorinated phosphonium salts to modify surface wettability.

We've just designed and installed a high pressure PH₃ line to synthesize phosphines in a single step.

Tellurium coordinated by a thiophene-based ligand. Modifying the substitution at the Te centre changes the photophysical properties.

Publications

(Only previous two years are listed; graphical abstracts follow citations)

56. C. D. Martin, P. J. Ragogna* "Reactions of Diiminopyridine Ligands with Chalcogen Halides" Inorg Chem., 2011, (Submitted).

55. J. T. Price, M. Lui, N. D. Jones and Paul J. Ragogna* "Group 15 pnictenium cations supported by a conjugated bithiophene backbone" Inorg. Chem., 2011, (Full Paper, Accepted).

54. J. Weaver, D. Breadner, F. Deng, B. Ramjee, P. J. Ragogna, R. Murray* "Electrochemistry of Ferrocene‐Functionalized Phosphonium Ionic Liquids" J. Phys. Chem. B, 2011, 115, 19379-19385 (Full Paper).

53. C. D. Martin and P. J. Ragogna*, "Substitution Matters: Isolating Phosphorus Diiminopyridine Complexes" Dalton Trans., 2011, 11976-11980 (Full Paper).

52. C. D. Martin and P. J. Ragogna*, "Oxygen, sulfur, selenium, tellurium and polonium" Annu. Rep. Prog. Chem., Sect. A, 2011, 107, 1, 110-124 (Review).

51. P. Chadha and P. J. Ragogna*, "Side Chain Co(I) Polymers Featuring Acrylate Functinalized Neutral 18 Electron CpCoC₄R₄ (R = Ph, Me) Units" Chem. Commun., 2011, 47, 5301-5303 (Communication).

50. A. L. Brazeau, A. S. Nikouline and P. J. Ragogna*, "A Base-stabilized Arsenic(III) Dication" Chem. Commun., 2011, 47, 4817-4819 (Communication).

49. J. L. Dutton and P. J. Ragogna*, "Recent Developments in the Lewis Acidic Chemistry of Selenium and Tellurium Halides and Pseudo-halides" Book Chapter, 2010 (Avilable as of Aug. 29, 2011).

48. J. L. Dutton and P. J. Ragogna*, "Recent Developments in the Synthesis and Isolation of P-block Centered Polycations" Coord. Chem. Rev., 2011, 255, 1414-1425 (Review).

47. P. Chadha, J. L. Dutton and P. J. Ragogna*, "Synthesis and Reactivity of bis-Alkynyl Appended Metallocenes of Ti, Fe and Co" Can. J. Chem., 2010, 88, 1213-1221 (Full Paper).

46. A. L. Brazeau, C. A. Caputo, C. D. Martin, N. D. Jones and P. J. Ragogna*, "A New Approach to Internal Lewis Pairs Featuring a Phosphenium Acid and a Pyridine Base" Dalton Trans., 2010, 39, 11069-11073 (Full Paper).

45. J. L. Dutton and P. J. Ragogna*, "Dicationic Tellurium Analogues of the Classic N-heterocyclic Carbene" Chem. Eur. J., 2010, 16, 12454-12461 (Full Paper).

44. C. D. Martin and P. J. Ragogna*, "The Synthesis and Reactivity of Sulfur(II) Dications Stabilized using Monodentate Ligands" Inorg. Chem., 2010, 49, 8164-8172 (Full Paper).

43. J. J. Tindale, K. Hartlen, A. Alizadeh, M. S. Workentin and P. J. Ragogna*, “Maleimide-Modified Phosphonium Ionic Liquids: A Template Towards (Multi) Task-Specific Ionic Liquids” Chem. Eur. J., 2010, 16, 9068-9075 (Full Paper).

42. C. D. Martin, P.J. Ragogna* “Reactions of a-diimine ligands with the in situ generated “S(OTf)2 synthon” Inorg. Chem. 2010, 49, 4324-4330 (Full paper).

41. J. J. Tindale, K. M. Mouland and P. J. Ragogna, “Thiol Appended, Fluorinated Phosphonium Ionic Liquids as Covalent Superhydrophobic Coatings” J. Mol. Liquids 2009, 1-3, 14-18 Special issue for EUCHEM 2008 conference on ionic liquids.

40. J. L. Dutton, T. L. Battista, M. J. Sgro and P. J. Ragogna “Diazabutadiene Complexes of Selenium as Se²⁺ transfer reagents” Chem. Commun. 2010, 46, 1041 -1043 (Communication).

39. J. J. Tindale, P. J. Ragogna “Ionophilic Phosphonium Appended Carbopalladacycle Catalyst for Suzuki-Miyaura and Heck Cross-Coupling Catalysis” Can. J. Chem., 2010, 88, 27 – 34 (Full paper).

38. Caleb D. Martin, Christine M. Le, P. J. Ragogna “Remarkably Stable Chalcogen(II) Dications” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2009, 131, 15126 – 15127 (Communication).

37. A. Sutrisno, A. Y.H. Lo, J. A. Tang, J. L. Dutton, P. J. Ragogna, S.Zheng, J. Autschbach, Robert W. Schurko, “Experimental and Theoretical Investigations of Selenium Chemical Shielding Tensors in N-Heterocyclic Carbenoids” Can. J. Chem. 2009 , 87, 1546 – 1564 (Full Paper)Special issue in honour of Tom Ziegler.

36. J. L. Dutton, G. F. Farrar, M. J. Sgro, T. L. Battista, P. J. Ragogna “Lewis Base Sequestered Chalcogen Dihalides: Synthetic Sources of ChX₂ (Ch = Se, Te; X = Cl, Br)” Chem. Eur. J. 2009, 15, 10263-10271.

35. J. L. Dutton, H. M. Tuononen, P. J. Ragogna “Tellurium(II) Centered Dications from the Novel Pseudohalide Te(OTf)₂”, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2009, 4409-4413 (Communication).

34. P. A. Rupar, R. Bandyopadhyay, B. F. T. Cooper, M. R. Stinchcombe, P. J. Ragogna, C. L. B. Macdonald, K. M. Baines, “Cationic Crown Ether Complexes of Germanium(II)", Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2009, 5155-5158 (Communication).

33. J. J. Tindale and P. J. Ragogna, “Highly Fluorinated Phosphonium Ionic Liquids: Novel Media for the Generation of Superhydrophobic Coatings” Chem. Commun. 2009, 1831-1833 (Communication).

32. J. L. Dutton, C. D. Martin, M. J. Sgro, N. D. Jones and Paul J. Ragogna. “ Synthesis of N,C Bound Sulfur, Selenium and Tellurium Heterocycles via the Reaction of Chalcogen Halides with –CH₃ Substituted Diazabutadiene (DAB) Ligands” Inorg. Chem. 2009, 48, 3239-3247 (Full paper).

31. C. D. Martin, M. C. Jennings, M. J. Ferguson and P. J. Ragogna, “Dicationic Sulfur Analogues of the N-Heterocyclic Silylene or Phosphenium Cation”, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2009, 2210-2213 (Communication; Featured on the front cover).

30. J. L Dutton and P. J. Ragogna “Donor-Acceptor Chemistry at Heavy Chalcogen Centers” Inorg. Chem. 2009, 48, 1722-1730 (Full Paper).

Please contact PJR for his full C.V.

People

Group Fall 2011

Postdoctoral Fellows


Chris Corkery Born and raised in Winnipeg, Canada, Chris graduated from Kelvin High School and immediately went to the University of Manitoba. After some dallying in philosophy, he decided that science was for him and obtained a degree majoring in chemistry and biology. This was followed by a couple of years working for a drug company, then the return to university (this time the University of Winnipeg) where he did an MSc degree in organometallic and optical polymer chemistry. He then moved to Canberra, Australia to undertake PhD studies at the Australian National University. After finishing his degree (working at the boundary of chemistry and physcs on nonlinear optical materials), he returned to Canada and joined Prof. Ragogna's group to make some water-repelling films. Chris is happiest when making things, although he can be lured away from the lab by good concerts, soccer, camping and beer.

Brad Berven Brad Berven hails from Perth, Western Australia and completed his PhD in Chemistry there in 2006 under Professor George Koutsantonis, at the University of Western Australia. He was creating highly-fluorous transition metal compounds for catalysis in supercritical CO2. A trip to Banff after the PhD gave him a taste of Canada, and after a few years in industry in Perth he took a post-doc in the Ragogna Lab. He now makes fluorinated phosphonium salts and on the way plays with plenty of PH3, which is fun (and safe!). He also dabbles in the art of making polymeric films with a variety of properties. In his spare time he enjoys sampling the best beers that Ontario has to offer, cooking, basketball, snowboarding, and dancing to disco.

Graduate Students


Allison Brazeau After 19 years of living in Cambridge, ON., Allison made the move to our Nation's capital and attended Carleton University for six years. In that time she attained her B.Sc Honours and M.Sc in chemistry working for Seán Barry making group 13 metal complexes as precursors for metal oxide films. After many cold winters in Ottawa, it was time to move back to warmer southern Ontario, which brought her to Western, where she now works on making phosphenium cations and exploring their reactivity. When she is not in the lab, Allison enjoys people watching and busting a move at Downtown Kathy Brown's (one of London's finest nightclubs).
Jackie Price Jackie was born in Richmond Hill, a town just north of Toronto. She obtained her Master's degree at Western working for Dr. Nathan Jones studying the electrochemiluminescence of new thiophene containing compounds and she is currently pursuing her doctorate with pjr. She is currently working on ways to incorporate main group elements into new and unusual bonding arrangements. When not in the lab, Jackie enjoys spinning classes, inner tube water polo and watching The Young and the Restless.
Jonathan Dube Jonathan, aka "Dube", was born and raised way out in the boondocks, Kingsville, Ontario (pop. 6000), Canada’s most southern mainland town. He completed his undergraduate degree under the supervision of Maingroup Professor extraordinaire, Chuck Macdonald at the University of Windsor. Still yearning to break free of the country Jon ventured further than most Kingsvillians ever have: London, Ontario to do research with Professor Paul Ragogna. Over the course of his M.Sc. Jonathan has had his hands full with phosphonium ionic liquids and intends to use them as metal extractants. In addition to rocking one hell of a stache, Jon's non-chemistry interests include music with the volume cranked, Detroit sports, pepsi, playing baseball, bowling, trivia at the grad club, Degrassi Junior High, and the odd weekend pint.
Ryan Guterman Ryan was born in Thornhill, Ontario, just North of Toronto. During his undergraduate years he worked under the supervision of Dr. Oleg Semenikhin working with organic photovoltaics and AFM characterization. For his graduating year he worked under the supervision of Dr. Mark Workentin investigating the properties of excited ketone triplet states in various gold nanoparticles using time-resolved spectroscopy. Currently he is working on his MSc investigating the use of polymerizable fluorinated inoic liquids for hydrophobic coatings using UV light with Dr. Paul Ragogna and Dr. Beth Gillies. In his spare time he enjoys lifting heavy objects, playing various genres of music on guitar and plotting to take over the world.
Maboubeh Hadadpour Mahboubeh is from Tehran, the capital of Iran. She moved to Canada (Toronto) in 2008 as a permanent resident. She got some experience in inorganic chemistry at U of T as a research assistant in Dr. Song's lab. Then moved to London to do M.Sc. in field of material chemistry under the supervision of Prof. Workentin. To touch other aspects of chemistry, she joined Prof. Ragogna's group as a PhD candidate to work on metalopolymers. If later on she can't find a job as a chemist, she will be happy to be professional chef! She enjoys cooking, and loves cats…
Eleanor Magdzinski Eleanor was born in the lively city of montreal. Soon after birth, her family moved to Wilmington Delaware, where she spent the majority of her childhood growing up and playing soccer. At the age of 14, her family moved yet again, this time to the municipality of North Bay, Ontario's real gateway to the north. She attended her four years of highschool there, during which time she sparked an interest in the sciences. After graduating highschool, she head off down south, to the University of Western Ontario. Her interst for the sciences narrowed to the field of chemistry, for which she has a growing passion for. Curently she is continuing in her third year of studies in the Honors Spec. Chemistry major in hopes of one day obtaining her PhD. In her spare time she enjoys reading, going for runs, cooking, and spending time with her roommates dancing to lil wayne.



Undergraduate Students

Melanie Lui After being part of the pjr lab in summer 2010, Melanie is really excited to be back in the group, but this time in a joint undergrad thesis project with Dr. Mark Workentin. Born and raised in the hood of Toronto, this city girl loves ethnic foods, attending festivals and playing boardgames with friends; nevertheless, she also really appreciates the quieter lifestyle (minus Friday/Saturday nights on Richmond row) of London, ON. Don't be surprised if she asks you to tell her a story, because this girl absolutely enjoys hearing and sharing stories. If she's not out for a run or playing sports, Melanie can be found slappin the uke or curled up on the couch with a great novel.

Brian Malbrecht Born and raised in southwestern Ontario, Brian has been in London since grade school. He had his first taste of research with Beth Gillies working for a summer on self-immolative polymers. Having decided that four months was not nearly enough he then took a year off of school to complete an internship with Chemtura Canada Co./Cie working on different synthetic organic projects. Returning to Western, he was co-opted into the world of p-block chemistry and has ensconced himself firmly in Group 13. Aside from chemistry, Brian enjoys rocks, trees, water, and combinations thereof.

Scott Middlemiss Scott is from the lively community of Kirkland Lake, which is located in Northern Ontario. He is in the fourth year of his Honours Specialization in Chemistry degree and is working on synthesizing a cyclopentadienyl-cobalt-cyclobutadiene polymer. His interests away from the lab include shuffleboard, playing hockey, and snowboarding.



Former Graduate Students

Caleb Martin (PhD 2012) Postdoctoral Fellow at University of Southern California, Riverside with Guy Bertrand

Preeti Chadha (PhD 2011) Postdoctoral Fellow at Macmaster University with David Emslie

Jonathan Dube (MSc 2010) PhD Candidate with Paul Ragogna - see above
Jason Dutton (PhD 2010) Lecturer at La Trobe University Melbourne, Australia
Jocelyn Tindale (PhD 2009) Research Scientist with GABAE Developments



Former Undergraduate Students

Anton Nikouline	Katie Mouland
Melanie Lui	Gregory Farrar
Kevin Venus	Annelise Beaton
Sara Accardi	Jason Dutton
Alec Grose	Dan Breadner
Christine Le	Erin Gray
Taylor Battista	Raymond Tabeshi
Michael Sgro	David Hall
Joseph Chan	Eleanor Magdzinski
Brett Lubbock	Liz Wilson
Alisha Greer	Victoria Karner