Edward E. Fenlon

Associate Professor of Chemistry

Chemistry

717-291-4201

Hackman

Office: HAC-406

Professional Biography

Link to Fenlon CV

Education

B.S. St. Lawrence University, 1990
Ph.D. University of Illinois, 1995

Research Interests

We use organic synthesis to build molecular knots and to make probes that are used to study nucleic acids. Our knot targets include the world's smallest knot, the first stable rotaxaknot, and the first small molecule figure eight knot. Our biochemical research involves using nitrile (R-CN) and azide (R-N3) vibrational probes to investigate the structure and dynamics of DNA and RNA. The probes give valuable information such as the electrostatic potential and the solvent dynamics in different microenvironments of the nucleic acid, i.e., major groove, minor groove, and sugar-backbone regions.

Research Collaborations

   Knot Project
   Dr. Jeffrey Moore

   Nucleic Acid Probes
     Dr. Scott Brewer
   Dr. Steven Corcelli
   Dr. Alex MacKerell

Link to more Research Information

Grants & Awards

NIH grant - "Development and Application of Multi-Spectroscopic, Site-Specific (MS3) Probes of Nucleic Acid Structure." June 2010 through May 2013. $195,895.00

Publications

1999 - Present

Student coauthor bold.

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.

Matthew D. Watson, Xin Sonia Gai, Anne T. Gillies, Scott H. Brewer, Edward E. Fenlon, "A Vibrational Probe for Local Nucleic Acid Environments: 5-Cyano-2-deoxyuridine." J. Phys. Chem. B 2008, 112, 13188-13192.

Edward E. Fenlon, "Open Problems in Chemical Topology." Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2008, 5023-5035.

Edward E. Fenlon, Brandon R. Ito, "The Thread & Cut Method: Syntheses of Molecular Knot Precursors." Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2008, 3065-3068.

Lisa N. Silverman, Michael E. Pitzer, Peter O. Ankomah, Steven C. Boxer, and Edward E. Fenlon. "Vibrational Stark Effect Probes for Nucleic Acids." J. Phys. Chem. B 2007 111, 11611-11613.

Chad M. Rink, Matthew C. Mauck, Irfan Asif, Michael E. Pitzer, and Edward E. Fenlon. "Syntheses of Silatranyl- and Germatranyl-uridines," Org. Lett. 2005, 7, 1165-1168.

Christine A. Black, Jason W. Ucci, Jeremy S. Vorpagel, Matthew C. Mauck, Edward E. Fenlon. "Stereoselective and improved syntheses and anticancer testing of 3'-O-silatranylthymidines," Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 2002, 12, 3521-3523.

Bianca R. Sculimbrene, Raymond E. Decanio, Brandon W. Peterson, Emily E. Muntel, Edward E. Fenlon. "Silatranyl-nucleosides: transition state analogues for phosphoryl transfer reactions," Tetrahedron Lett. 2001, 42, 4979–4982.

Sergei V. Kolotuchin, Paul A. Thiessen, Edward E. Fenlon, Scott R. Wilson, Colin J. Loweth, Steven C. Zimmerman. "Self-Assembly of 1,3,5-Benzenetricarboxylic (Trimesic) Acid and Its Analogs," Chemistry–A European Journal 1999, 5, 2537-2547.

Course Information

Dr. Edward Fenlon teaches the following courses:

Chem 112 - General Chemistry II
Chem 211/212 - Organic Chemistry I and II
Chem 376 - Medicinal Chemistry

Franklin & Marshall College

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