Home | Pictures | Links | Contact Info
Iserloh Webdesign

John P. Richard

Education & Positions | Research Interests | Professional Activities & Honors

:: Education

  • B.S., Biochemistry, Ohio State University, 1974
  • Ph.D., Chemistry, Ohio State University, 1979

Professional Experience

  • Wright Patterson Air Force Base Polymer Lab, Technician, 1971-1972
  • Postdoctoral Fellow (with William P. Jencks), Graduate Department of Biochemistry, Brandeis University, 1979-1982
  • Research Associate (with Irwin Rose), Institute for Cancer Research, Fox Chase Cancer Center, 1982-1984
  • Herchel Smith Fellow in Organic Chemistry, University Chemical Laboratory, Cambridge University, United Kingdom, 1984-1985
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of Kentucky, 1985-1990
  • Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of Kentucky, 1990-1993
  • Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, University at Buffalo, SUNY, 1993-1995
  • Professor, Department of Chemistry, University at Buffalo, SUNY, 1995-present.

:: Current Research Interests

Mechanisms for Enzyme-Catalyzed and Nonenzymatic Reactions of Small Molecules in Solution

  • Physical Organic Chemistry
  • Bioorganic Chemistry
  • Mechanistic Enzymology

Mechanism for Nucleophilic Substitution Reactions

  • Structure-reactivity effects on nucleophilic addition reactions to unstable carbocations
  • Marcus intrinsic barriers to the formation and reaction of carbocations
  • General base catalysis of carbocation capture by hydroxylic solvents
  • Reactivity of carbocation-anion pairs in water

Mechanisms for Reactions of Simple Quinone Methides

Mechanisms for Aldol Condensation Reactions

Proton Transfer Reactions at Carbon

  • Models for enzyme-catalyzed deprotonation at carbon
  • Mechanism for metal ion catalysis of proton transfer
  • Formation and stability of enolates of esters, thiolesters, and a-amino acid derivatives
  • Origin and nature of the Marcus intrinsic barrier to proton transfer reactions at carbon

Mechanism for Hydride Transfer at Carbon

Mechanisms for Enzyme-Catalyzed Reactions

  • β-Galactosidase
  • Triosephosphate Isomerase
  • Isopentenylpyrophosphate isomerase

:: Professional Activities

  • Member of the American Chemical Society
  • Member of FASEB
  • Ad Hoc Member of Physical Biochemistry NIH Study Section: February 1997, February 2001, October 2001
  • Member of the Editorial Board of Bioorganic Chemistry, 1998-present
  • Member of Editorial Board of the Journal of Physical Organic Chemistry 2004-2009
  • Co-editor of Annual Reports on the Progress of Chemistry: Organic Chemistry, 1996- 2002
  • Co-editor of Advances in Physical Organic Chemistry, 2000-present
  • Section Editor, Mechanisms, Current Opinion in Chemical Biology, 2003
  • Guest Editor, Journal of Physical Organic Chemistry, 2004
  • Secretary, Division of Biological Chemistry, American Chemical Society, 2003-2005

:: Honors

  • Herchel Smith Fellowship, Cambridge University, United Kingdom, 1984-1985
  • Walton Visitor, University College, Dublin, 2003
  • Top 100 Federal Grant Recipients, UB
  • UB Award for Sustained Achievement, 2003
  • Visiting Professor of Chemistry, Departamento de Química Física, Facultad de Química, Universidad de Santiago


>> Back to top