The Shaughnessy Group

Kevin Shaughnessy
Kevin Shaughnessy was born in 1970 and raised in Trumbull, Nebraska. He earned his B.S. degree with honors and highest distinction from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1992. While at Nebraska, he worked with Reuben D. Rieke on developing Rieke zinc-promoted reactions. He then joined the group of Robert M. Waymouth at Stanford University, where he developed zirconocene-catalyzed carbometalation reactions. Upon completing his PhD (1998), he moved to Yale to work with John F. Hartwig on palladium-catalyzed enolate arylations and development of high-throughput screening assays. In 1999, he joined the chemistry faculty at The University of Alabama, where he is currently Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry. His research interests have focused on the development of catalytic methodologies and mechanistic studies of these systems.  He served as chair of the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry for ten years (2009-2019).
CV
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  • Professor, University of Alabama (2014-present)
  • Editorial Board Member, Organic Reactions​ (2018-present)
  • Chair, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (2009-2019) 
  • Director of Undergraduate Studies (2007-2009) 
  • Associate Professor, University of Alabama (2005-2014)
  • Assistant Professor, University of Alabama (1999-2005)
  • Post-Doctoral Associate, Yale University (John Hartwig, 1997-1999)
  • PhD, Stanford University (Bob Waymouth, 1998)
  • BS, University of Nebraska-Lincoln (Reuben Rieke, 1992)

Graduate Students

Benjamin Headford

Benjamin earned a Chemistry BS at Murray State University where he did research with former Shaughnessy group member Scott Brown.  Benjamin joined the Shaughnessy group in summer 2013.  His research has focused on the synthesis of novel phosphine ligands.
BS, Murray State University (2013)
PhD, The University of Alabama (2022)
  • Dissertation: Development of Modular Synthetic Pathways Towards Novel P‑Unsymmetric Bidentate Ligands
  • ACS Catal., 2016, 6, 5834-5842

Corrie Burlas

Corrie received a BS in Chemistry at West Virginia University.  She entered the PhD program in fall 2015.  Her research focuses on the use of palladacycle catalysts for hydroalkynylation reactions.
BS, West Virginia University (2015)
PhD, The University of Alabama (2022)
  • Dissertation: An Evaluation of the Ligand Effects on Neopentyl Phosphine Derived Precatalysts for N-Arylation Reactions and for the Cross-Coupling of Aryl Acetylenes with Propargyl Alcohols and Amides
  • Organometallics, ​2020, 39, 3618-3627

Jordan Pierce

Jordan entered the PhD program at UA in fall 2017.  She received a BS degree in Bellarmine University.  Her research focuses on synthesis of novel ligands for bond activation reactions.
​BS, Bellarmine University (2017)

Andrea Nuñez León

Andrea is a native of Ecuador.  She entered the PhD program in chemistry in fall 2018 and joined the Shaughnessy group in spring 2019. Her research is focused on removal of toxic metals from water sources.
BS, University of Stuttgart
​MS, University of Stuttgart

Emily McEachern

Emily joined the PhD program in fall 2019 and began working with the Shaughnessy group at the end of 2019. Emily's research is focused on synthesis of ligands containing acid/base sites applicable to ligand-assisted catalysis.
BS, University of South Carolina (2019)

Makynna Koper

Makynna joined the PhD program in fall 2021, but began her research with the Shaughnessy group earlier that summer.  Makynna's research is focused on the study of palladium-precatalysts for cross-coupling reaction.
BS, Southwestern Oklahoma State University (2021)

Kehinde Ogunmola

Kehinde joined the PhD program in January 2021.  Kehinde's research is focused on developing methods for the functionalization of closo-borate anion cluster compounds.

Undergraduate Students

Jacques VanZyl

Jacques joined the group in spring 2021.  He is a biology major at UA.  Jacques research is focused on the synthesis of ligands with acid/base sights capable of participating in cooperative catalysis.

Geoffrey Alintoff

Geoffrey is a New College major and a University Fellow.  He joined the Shaughnessy group in fall 2021.  His research is focused on synthesizing new ligands for extraction of heavy metal ions from water sources.

Lindsey Hiatt

Lindsey is a Chemical Engineering major.  She joined the Shaughnessy group in fall 2021.  Her research is focused on designing new palladium precatalysts for cross-coupling reactions.

Allison Rhoads

Allison is a chemistry major and joined the Shaughnessy group in fall 2021 as a member of the Emerging Scholars Program.  Allison's research is focused on new ligands for ligand-metal cooperative catalysis.

Trey Vardaman

Trey is a New College major who joined the Shaughnessy group in fall 2021.  Trey's research is focused on the use of palladacycle catalysts for the cross-coupling of alkynes.
Former Group Members