College of Science Assistant Professor of Chemistry Andrey Rogachev Speaks at University of Kentucky

Andrey Rogachev, assistant professor of chemistry, was the Brown and Williamson Distinguished Guest Speaker last month in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Kentucky- Louisville. Rogachev’s talk on “Quantum Chemistry at IIT” outlined his research group activities over the past five years. Among other topics he explored their contribution to the chemistry and physics of polycyclic aromatic compounds with different surface topology, and construction of supramolecular aggregates with pre-determined properties—creating prospective materials for batteries and spintronics.

They have also contributed to the chemistry of early and late transition metals, analyzing and solving the problem of spin-states, which is one of the main problems of modern experimental coordination chemistry. A problem such as this can only be solved by using an efficient combination of experimental and theoretical tools. Rogachev also presented a new area—the construction of a theoretical spectroscopic database for synthetic opioids—his group’s response to the global synthetic drug epidemic.