Stephenson Lab

We had a great lunch for Olaya's last day! Have a safe trip back to Spain

We had a great time at CSC this year, thank you to the organizers for hosting such a wonderful conference! #CSC2025

Looking forward to #csc2026!

Thank you to all those who came to visit our posters at CSC. Stay tuned for more exciting chemistry! #csc2025

Come check out our group's chemistry at CSC!

Data-Driven Workflow for the Development and Discovery of <italic toggle&#x3D;"yes">N</italic>-Oxyl Hydrogen Atom Transfer Catalysts N-oxyl species are promising hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) catalysts to advance C–H bond activation reactions. However, because of the complex structure–activity relationship within the N-oxyl structure, catalyst optimization is a key challenge, particularly for simultaneous improvement across multiple parameters. This paper describes a data-driven approach to optimize N-oxyl hydrogen atom transfer catalysts. A focused library of 50 N-hydroxy compounds was synthesized and characterized by three parameters─oxidation peak potential, HAT reactivity, and stability─to generate a database. Statistical modeling of these activities described by their intrinsic physical organic parameters was used to build predictive models for catalyst discovery and to understand their structure–activity relationships. Virtual screening of 102 synthesizable candidates allowed for rapid identification of several ideal catalyst candidates. These statistical models clearly suggest that N-oxyl substructures bearing an adjacent heteroatom are more optimal HAT catalysts compared to the historical focus, phthalimide-N-oxyl, by striking the best balance among all three target experimental properties.

Check out our most recent work in collaboration with Maldonado group and Sigman group out now in ACS Central Science!

Congrats to former member Cheng along with Thérèse, and Yulia!

Read more about it here:
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

We were lucky to have our equipment stored close by!

Thank you for the warm welcome! We are envying the eastern snowfall as well, particularly in the mountains. Slopes are getting to be like a skating rink!

Hope we can get a nice balance of both worlds soon 😄

Some more photos of our move!

Moving into our new lab @ubcchem.bsky.social with the Schindlers!

Stay tuned for some upcoming, exciting chemistry!

Skiing with the Schindler group at Cypress Mountain with the added bonus of clear skies to see the beautiful Vancouver skyline at night!

With heavy hearts, we bid farewell to our visiting student Xuli from Santiago de Compostela. We hope you had a great time with us and have a safe trip back home!

Happy Holidays from the Stephenson and Schindler labs! Wishing everyone a well deserved rest and successful reactions in the new year to come!