Professor Liviu M. Mirica received his B.S. degree in Chemistry from California Institute of Technology in 1999, and his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Stanford University in 2005. After working as an NIH postdoctoral fellow at University of California, Berkeley, in 2008 he started his independent career in the Department of Chemistry at Washington University in St. Louis. In January 2019 he joined the faculty of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Illinois.

synthetic inorganic and organometallic chemistry applied to renewable energy catalysis and oxidative organic transformations; development of bifunctional therapeutic and diagnostic agents for amyloid peptide disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease; study of the role of transition metal ions in neurodegenerative diseases

Our group’s research program falls under the general areas of synthetic inorganic and organometallic chemistry and chemical biology. The pursued research projects include the synthesis and characterization of novel transition metal complexes that can mediate multi-electron redox processes relevant to energy applications and oxidative organic transformations. Targeted reactions include the aerobic oxidative C-C coupling of hydrocarbons catalyzed by high-valent late transition metal complexes, and catalytic oxidative C-H functionalization and C-C/C-heteroatom bond formation reactions using green oxidants. In addition, we are investigating the role of transition metal ions in the aggregation of amyloid β (Aβ) peptides in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and we develop bifunctional metal-binding and metal-containing bifunctional compounds as potential therapeutic and diagnostic agents for AD.

Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, 2018
BK21–KAIST Lectureship Award, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 2017
Innovation Award, St. Louis Academy of Sciences, 2017
Saint Louis Award, ACS St. Louis Section, 2016
Organometallics Young Investigator Fellowship, ACS Division of Organic Chemistry, 2014
Saltman Lectureship, Metals in Biology Gordon Research Conference, 2014
NSF CAREER Award, 2013
Undergraduate Research Mentor of the Year Award, Washington University, 2012
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Research Fellowship, 2012
Outstanding Faculty Member Nominee, Freshman Class Council & First Year Center, 2011
Sony Electronics Scholarship Award for Excellence in Teaching, Washington University, 2011
Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Award, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, 2010-2011
NIH–NRSA Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2007-2008
Young Investigator Award, Division of Inorganic Chemistry, ACS, 2006
Franklin Veatch Memorial Fellowship, Stanford University, 2004-2005
Stanford Graduate Fellowship, Stanford University, 1999-2003
Taube Prize, Stanford University, 1999
Merck Index Award for Excellence in Chemistry, California Institute of Technology, 1999
Carnation Merit Award, California Institute of Technology, 1997-1998
Silver Medal, International Chemistry Olympiad, Beijing, China, 1995
Gold Medal, International Chemistry Olympiad, Oslo, Norway, 1994

Department of Chemistry
University of Illinois
601 S. Goodwin Avenue
A442 CLSL, MC-712, Box 49-6
Urbana, IL 61801