Kass Research Group
Welcome to the Kass group website! We are primarily interested in the development and application of environmentally friendly Bronsted acid and base catalysts for organic reactions. Other projects include the development of non-coordinating cations, molecular recognition, and using HPLC to determine enantiomeric ratios.
Left to right: Casey Lee-Foss, Josiah Nisly, Cal Mergendahl, Alex Lovstedt, Dr. Steve Kass, Sofía Ramírez
Group News
Congratulations Cal!
January 24, 2024
Cal Mergendahal successfully passed their OPE, becoming the newest PhD candidate of the Kass group. Congrats!
COGS Career Development Grant recipient!
November 3, 2023
Sofía Ramírez was selected as a recipient for the COGS Career Development grant, which fully funded her participation in the 2023 MACTLAC Meeting in Naperville, IL. Congrats!
Summer students arrive. Welcome Kevin and Tianyue!
June 5, 2023
Kevin Schill (right), undergraduate from St. Norbert College and Tianyue Chen (left), undergraduate student of University of Minnesota, have joined the Kass group for 10 weeks as a part of the Lando/ NSF -Summer Research Program. Welcome everyone!
Internship in Vertex Pharmaceutical
Summer 2023
Alex Lovstedt goes to Boston to do a summer internship in Vertex Pharmaceutical. Have a great experience, Alex!
Congratulations to Dr. Dan Blechschmidt!
April 26, 2023
Dan Bleschschmidt successfully defended his thesis: Metallocenium Incorporated Lewis and Brønsted Acid Catalysts: Synthetic Routes and Catalytic Applications.
Congratulations to Dr. Stephen Dempsey!
February 15, 2023
Stephen Dempsey successfully defended his thesis: Evaluation and Development of Weakly Coordinating Cations and Their Application to Charge-Enhanced Base Organocatalysis.
Summer students arrive. Welcome Daneasha, Elijah and Gabriella!
June 9, 2022
Gabriella White (left) from Oxford University, England, Elijah Shore (middle) from Carleston College and Daneasha Zachery (right), year zero grad student of University of Minnesota, have joined the Kass group for 10 weeks as a part of the Lando/ NSF Summer Research Program. Welcome everyone!
Congratulations to Dr. Ted Riegel!
January 4, 2022
Ted Riegel successfully defended his thesis: Charge-Enhanced Organocatalysts: Synthesis and Application Toward Symmertric and Asymmetric Reactions.
Congratulations to Dr. Curtis Payne!
June 11, 2020
Curtis Payne successfully defended his thesis: Charge-Enhanced Brønsted Acids: Catalyst Designs and Analytical Methods.
Congratulations to Dr. Jie Ma!
June 12, 2018
Jie Ma successfully defended his thesis entitled "Electrostatically Enhanced Phosphoric Acids and Their Applications in Brønsted Acid Catalysis." Congratulations Jie!
Congratulations to Dr. Yang Fan!
May 22, 2018
Kass group member Yang Fan successfully defended his thesis, "Electrostatically Enhanced Thioureas: Synthesis, Reactivity and Selectivity." Congratulations Yang!
Chemistry Catalyst 2016
August 24, 2016
The Kass group started off the fall 2016 semester by sharing our research with first-year graduate students at the departmental poster session and then heading to Minnehaha Falls for the Chemistry Catalyst 2016 picnic.
Summer Lando student arrives. Welcome, Nilay!
June 13, 2016
Nilay Kanova from Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey, has joined the Kass group for 10 weeks as a part of the Lando/ NSF Summer Research Program. Welcome, Nilay!