The Blakemore Laboratory
Inspired by sustainability and stewardship, our group synthesizes new compounds and studies reactivity involving actinides, lanthanides, and light gases. We draw on perspectives from inorganic/organometallic chemistry, molecular electrochemistry, and surface science.
RECENT BLAKEMORE GROUP NEWS
7-13 June 2026 – This week, James made an extended research visit to Los Alamos National Laboratory. On Tuesday, he presented our surface-immobilized uranium complexes to the Institute for Materials Science (IMS) and on Thursday, he presented our uranyl crown ether and heterobimetallic chemistry to the Chemistry Division. Thanks to our collaborators Ben Heiner and Miles Beaux for invitation to visit IMS, Ayush Gupta for the invitation to visit C Division, and Tom Sheridan and Dave Clark for their hospitality over the course of the week. So exciting to learn about the tremendous research capabilities at LANL, plan new collaborations, and have the opportunity catch up with so many friends. And, so wonderful to see James's mentees Ayush, Tom, and Riddhi Golwankar thriving as scientists at LANL!
12 May 2026 – Continuing the Parisian adventure, James visited the ITODYS laboratory at Université Paris Cité today and delivered an invited seminar on our proton-dependent neptunium redox chemistry. It is exciting to be back in the Bâtiment Lavoisier and walking the hallways of the former home of the Laboratoire d’Electrochimie Moleculaire (LEM). James was last here in 2019 for the Cyclic Voltammetry International School. Thanks to Benedikt Lassalle-Kaiser for the invitation and everyone at ITODYS for the very warm welcome!
11 May 2026 – Today, James visited the Laboratoire d’Chimie Moleculaire (LCM) at École Polytechnique and delivered an invited talk on our group’s collaborative work with Dr. Richard Wilson on neptunium chemistry, as well as our work on uranyl crown ether redox chemistry. Thanks to Dr. Cédric Tard for the invitation to visit l’X, and Grégory Nocton for taking time for discussions. Wonderful to have the chance to brainstorm about future experiments focused on molecular electrochemistry—and thanks for all the advice, Cédric!
16-17 April 2026 – This week, James was thrilled to visit Prof. Charlotte Williams and the Williams Research Group at the University of Oxford. Although motivated by different goals, the Williams Group and our own have kindred interests in chemistry. On Thursday, we discussed quantifying the effective Lewis acidity of metal cations, as well as the concept of Lewis acidity as a descriptor in multimetallic chemistry and catalysis. On Friday, James delivered an invited seminar on our approaches to quantification of Lewis acidity and understanding heterometallic effects in platinum-templated macrocycles. Thanks to Charlotte for the invitation—a real pleasure to meet and discuss the bright future of multimetallic chemistry!