Donna Nelson

Donna Nelson obtained her B.S. degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1974, and her Ph.D. degree in chemistry from the University of Texas at Austin with M. J. S. Dewar in 1980. She did her postdoctorate at the Purdue University with H. C. Brown (1980–1983), and joined the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Oklahoma in 1983. She was a Faculty Fellow at the OU Provost’s Office (1989-1990), a Visiting Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2003, and an Assistant to the American Chemical Society President Dr. Ann Nalley in 2005. Moreover, she is the Chair-Elect of the ACS INOR Nanoscience Subdivision in 2009. Her group functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) and characterized their reaction products by 1H NMR. There were few NMR studies of SWNTs suspended in solution, although it should be extremely useful for identity and regiochemistry determinations. In order to develop this capability, facilitate analysis, and reveal aromatic spin-spin coupling, her group obtained 2D correlation spectroscopy (COSY) spectra, which appears to be the first reported for SWNTs with covalently-functionalized sidewalls, suspended in solution. Before researching SWNTs, she developed a new synthetically useful technique for gathering mechanistic information on addition reactions of alkenes; this technique used pattern recognition and often permitted selection of one mechanism from several proposed ones. She then applied these patterns to functionalizing SWNTs, which have applications in biological, energy, and environmental research. Both of the Journal of Organic Chemistry cover (2005) and the Division of Organic Chemistry calendar (2006) featured her research. Her awards include Fulbright Scholar (2007), NSF ADVANCE Leadership Award (2006), AAAS Fellow (2005), Ford Foundation Fellowship (2003), Guggenheim Award (2003), and NSF Creativity Extension (1989). She has over 90 publications. In the last 3 years, she has spoken at over 100 national meetings of professional societies and organizations, US Congressional briefings, DC National Press Club briefings, teleconferences, universities, and radio and TV programs, such as the McNeil-Lehrer News Hour.

Biography Updated on 10 December 2008

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