Biography
View Edward Fenlon's CV
Education
B. S., St. Lawrence University
Ph.D., University of Illinois
Research
We use organic synthesis to build molecules for practical purposes. Research projects
involve:
-
- The synthesis of nucleotides and proteins with pairs of vibrational reporters (azides,
nitriles, and selenocyanates) to measure the distance between them via vibrational
coupling observed by 2D IR spectroscopy.
- The design and synthesis of air-stable, water-soluble organic radicals such as polarizing
agents for dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP). A related project seeks to synthesize
bowl-shaped hydrocarbons.
- The history of organic chemistry.
- Molecular knots.
- Collaborative work to prepare GM3 synthase to help Amish children.
Research Collaborations:
Nucleic Acid Probes
Scott Brewer
Robert Griffin
Ronald Micura
Tim Swager
Matthew Tucker
History of Organic Chemistry
Dr. Brian Myers
Grants & Awards
Brewer, S. H.; Fenlon E. E. Use of Vibrational Reporters to Measure Dynamics in RNA
and Proteins. National Institutes of Health. National Institute of General Medical Sciences: Academic
Research Enhancement Award (2R15GM093330-04), (6/1/24-5/31/27).
Brewer, S. H.; Fenlon E. E. Investigating Protein and RNA Structure and Dynamics with
Vibrational Reporters. National Institutes of Health. National Institute of General Medical Sciences: Academic
Research Enhancement Award, June 2019 through June 2023. $425,256.
National Institute of Health R01 Award (R01GM051501-18A1) to Alexander MacKerell (PI,
University of Maryland, Baltimore). Subaward to F&M (Edward Fenlon, Scott Brewer),
7/1/17-6/30/19.
NIH AREA grant - "Investigating Protein Hydration and Structure with Azide Probes." 2014 to 2017. $272,300.
NIH grant - "Development and Application of Multi-Spectroscopic, Site-Specific (MS3) Probes
of Nucleic Acid Structure." June 2010 through May 2013. $195,895.
Publications
(Undergraduate student coauthor are in bold.)
Mallon, C. J.; Hassani, M.; Osofsky, E. H.; Familo, S. B.; Fenlon, E. E.; Tucker, M. J. Unraveling Hydration Shell Dynamics and Viscosity Effects
Around Cyanamide Probes via 2D IR Spectroscopy. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2024. doi.org/10.1021/jacs4c12716
Hassani, M.; Mallon, C. J.; Monzy, J. N.; Schmitz, A. J.; Brewer, S. H.; Fenlon, E.E.; Tucker, M. J. Inhibition of Vibrational
Energy Flow Within an Aromatic Scaffold via Heavy Atom Effect. Journal of Chemical Physics, 2023, 158, 224201.
Lee, B. L.; Papoutsis, B. M.; Wong, N. Y.; Piacentini, J.; Kearney, C.; Huggins, N. A.; Cruz, N.; Ng, T. T.; Hao, K. H.; Kramer, J. S.; Fenlon, E. E.; Nerenberg, P. S.; Phillips-Piro, C. M.; Brewer, S. H. Unraveling Complex Local Protein Environments with 4-Cyano-L-phenylalanine. Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 2022, 126, 8957-8969.
Edward E. Fenlon Double, double trefoil and trouble, Nature Synth. 2022, 1, 586-587. doi.org/10.1038/s44160-022-00103-7
Margolis, E. A.; Keyes, R. J.; Lockey, S. D., IV; Fenlon, E. E.; Design and Synthesis of a Bis-macrocyclic Host and Guests as Building
Blocks for Small Molecular Knots. Beilstein J. Org. Chem., 2020, 16, 2314-2321.
Chalyavi, F.; Schmitz, A.; Fetto, N. R.; Tucker, M. J.; Brewer, S.; Fenlon, E. E.
Extending the Vibrational Lifetime of Azides with Heavy Atoms. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phs., 2020, 22, 18007-18013.
Chalyavi, F.; Adeyiga, O.; Weiner, J.; Monzy, J.; Schmitz, A.; Nguyen, J.; Fenlon, E. E.; Brewer, S.; Odoh, S.; Tucker, M. J. 2D-IR
Studies of Cyanamide (NCN) as a Spectroscopic Reporter of Dynamics in Biomolecules:
Uncovering the Origin of Mysterious Peaks. Journal of Chemical Physics, 2020, 152, 074201.
Schmitz, A. J.; Pandey, H. D.; Chalyavi, F.; Shi, T.; Fenlon, E. E.; Brewer, S. H.; Leitner, D. M.; Tucker, M. J. Tuning Molecular Vibrational
Energy Flow within an Aromatic Scaffold via Anharmonic Coupling. Journal of Physical Chemistry A, 2019, 123, 10571-10581.
Luo, M.; Eaton, C. N.; Hess, K. R.; Phillips-Piro, C. M.; Brewer, S. H.; Fenlon, E. E. Paired Spectroscopic
and Crystallographic Studies of Proteases. Chemistry Select, 2019, 4, 9836-9843.
Schmitz, A. J.; Hogle, D. G.; Gai, X. S.; Fenlon, E. E.; Brewer, S. H.; Tucker, M. J. Two-Dimensional Infrared Study of Vibrational
Coupling between Azide and Nitrile Reporters in a RNA Nucleoside. Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 2016, 120, 9387-9394.
Levin, D. E.; Schmitz, A. J.; Hines, S. H.; Hines, K. J.; Tucker, M. J.; Brewer, S. H.; Fenlon, E. E. Synthesis and Evaluation of the Sensitivity
and Vibrational Lifetimes of Thiocyanate and Selenocyanate Infrared Reporters. RSC Advances 2016, 6, 36231-36237.
Tookmanian, E. M.; Philips-Piro, C. M.; Fenlon, E. E.; Brewer, S. H. Azidoethoxyphenylalanine as a
Vibrational Reporter and Click Chemistry Partner in Proteins. Chem. Eur. J. 2015, 21, 19096-19103.
Tookmanian, E. M.; Fenlon, E. E.; Brewer, S. H. Synthesis and protein incorporation of azido-modified
unnatural amino acids. RSC Advances 2015, 5, 1274-1281.
Fenlon, E. E.; Myers, B. J. Profiles in Chemistry: A Historical Perspective on the
National Organic Symposium, Journal of Organic Chemistry 2013, 78, 5817-5831.
Lipkin, J.S.; Song, R.; Fenlon, E.E.; Brewer, S.H. Modulating Accidental Fermi Resonance: What a Difference
a Neutron Makes. Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters 2011, 2, 1672-1676.
Gai, X.S.; Coutifaris, B.A.; Brewer, S.H.; Fenlon, E.E. A Direct Comparison of Azide and Nitrile Vibrational
Probes. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 2011, 13, 5926-5930.
Tucker, M.J.; Gai, X.S.; Fenlon, E.E.; Brewer, S.H.; Hochstrasser, R.M. 2D IR Photon Echo of Azido-Probes
for Biomolecular Dynamics.Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 2011, 13, 2237-2241.
Gillies, A.T.; Gai, X.S.; Buckwalter, B.L.; Fenlon, E.E.; Brewer, S.H. 15N NMR Studies of a Nitrile-Modified
Nucleoside. Journal of Physical Chemistry B 2010, 114, 17136-17141.
Fenlon, E.E. Tying Up Some Loose Ends. Nat. Chem. 2010, 2, 156-157.
Gai, X.S.; Brewer, S.H.; Fenlon, E.E. A Sensitive Multispectroscopic Probe for Nucleic Acids.
J. Phys. Chem. B 2010, 113, 7958-7966.
Watson, M. D.; Gai, X. S.; Gillies, A. T.; Brewer, S. H.; Fenlon, E. E. A Vibrational Probe for Local Nucleic Acid Environments:
5-Cyano-2-deoxyuridine. J. Phys. Chem. B 2008, 112, 13188-13192.
Fenlon, E. E. Open Problems in Chemical Topology. Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2008, 5023-5035.
Fenlon, E. E.; Ito, B. R. The Thread & Cut Method: Syntheses of Molecular Knot Precursors. Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2008, 3065-3068.
Silverman, L. N.; Pitzer, M. E.; Ankomah, P. O.; Boxer, S. C.; Fenlon, E. E.. Vibrational Stark Effect Probes for Nucleic Acids.
J. Phys. Chem. B 2007 111, 11611-11613.
Courses Taught
Chem 211: Organic Chemistry I: Structure and Function of Carbon-Containing Compounds,
Lecture & Lab
Chem 212: Organic Chemistry II: Reactivity and Synthesis of Organic Molecules, Lecture
& Lab
Chem 323 - Medicinal Chemistry
CNX 230 - Mars & Venus on the Pill
In the News
A Day in the Life: Summer Research at F&M
Under the tutelage of chemistry professors Ed Fenlon and Scott Brewer, F&M student
Aayat Tahir spent a summer on campus as an organic chemistry research lab assistant.
Her particular research is synthesizing isotopically labeled nitrile-nucleotides for
ribonucleic acid (RNA) studies. "I was a student of Professor Fenlon’s organic chemistry
class and have always liked the subject, but his teaching crystallized my interest,"
Tahir said. "I knew Professor Fenlon would make a perfect mentor, and I got to learn
so much during my time in his lab."
Read More »
Studying the Synthesis of New Molecules
Biochemistry and molecular biology student James Conway was busy at work in the laboratory
studying the synthesis of new molecules. “The steps can be tedious and require patience
and persistence, but James has made terrific progress. I'm looking forward to working
with him more during the academic year,” said Edward Fenlon, professor of chemistry.
Read More »
