April 9th 2024
The Speed lab's first NSERC Discovery Grant renewal was successful. Here's to 5 more years of research!
Nov 24th 2023
The Speed lab was successful in obtaining CFI-JELF Funding and matching funding from Research Nova Scotia. This will provide infrastructure to advance our work in asymmetric catalysis and phosphorus chemistry.
September 8th 2023
Congrats to Ryan for winning the Douglas E. Ryan prize for Excellence in Graduate Studies in Chemistry, and Emily for winning the Gerry Dauphinee Graduate Scholarship in Chemistry!
August 30th 2023
Congrats to Emily for winning one of the best MSc oral presentation awards at the Maritime Natural Products Conference.
August 4th 2023
Congrats to Erin on her PhD defense. Dr. Welsh is now the group's second PhD graduate!
March 23rd 2023
Erin gives the group's second Seminar II, on the next generation of diazaphospholene catalysis. Great job Erin!
March 20th 2023
Our paper on arylphenothiazine synthesis was awarded the Canadian Journal of Chemistry Paper Award.
Congrats Erin, Kathy, and Alex!
December 26th 2022
Our work on the synthesis and functionalization of naphthothiophenes is accepted in Synthesis. This project started as Emily Burke's summer research project way back in 2019. Congrats Emily, Erin, and Kathy! This will be part of the special memorial issue for David A. Evans, who was Alex's PhD advisor.
September 1st 2022
Welcome to Ryan Warren, a new PhD student. Ryan did his MSc in the Bodwell group at the Memorial University of Newfoundland, and comes to us with NSERC doctoral funding! Also welcome back to Emily Burke, who is starting her MSc degree funded by NSERC CREATE Bioactives, and an NSERC CGS-M scholarship!
July 28th 2022
Erin's paper on phenyl phenothiazine synthesis is accepted for publication in the Canadian Journal of Chemistry! Congrats Erin and Kathy!
May 18th 2022
Rob's MSc work is accepted for publication in Angewandte! Congrats Rob, Blake, and Karlee!
May 3rd 2022
Farewell to Izabella, who returns to Europe, and Emily (who will be back in the Fall).
May 3rd 2022
Welcome to Jack and Victoria, our two summer USRA students.
April 2nd 2022
Congrats to Emily for being awarded an NSERC CGS-M Scholarship!
March 31st 2022
Congrats to Izabella and Emily for wrapping up their Honours projects with awesome defenses!
December 3rd 2021
Congrats to Rob on his MSc defense! Another bottle on the shelf. Stay tuned for Rob's radical paper in 2022!
December 2nd 2021
Congrats to Emily and Izabella for successful first-semester Honours presentations.
August 26th 2021
We celebrate the end of a what seemed like a very short summer with a nice group dinner.
August 23rd 2021
Congrats to Blake on his PhD defence. Dr. Huchenski is now the Speed group's first PhD graduate!
June 21st 2021
Paper #14, showing that alkali metal phosphides react with sulfur hexafluoride is accepted in Chemical Communications. Congrats to Blake!
May 1st 2021
Welcome back to Emily Burke, who is rejoining the group for a summer research project.
April 29th 2021
Congrats to Erin for being awarded an NSERC PGS-D Doctoral Scholarship, and to Robert for being awarded an African Nova Scotian Graduate Scholarship. Excellent recognition for the achievements of both students!
Feb 25th 2021
Blake gives the group's first Seminar II, on our soon to be published sulfur chemistry, which was very well received by the Chemistry Department!
Feb 9th 2021
Paper #13, showing a very convenient synthesis of 1-dibenzothiophene derivatives is accepted in Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry. Congrats to Erin and Kathy!
December 3rd 2020
Congratulations to Adam Beckett for an excellent Master's defence. A socially distanced celebration will be had in due course!
September 8th 2020
Congratulations to the Speed group's two PhD students for winning departmental awards: Blake won a Gerry Dauphinee Graduate Scholarship for excellence in both research and teaching, and Erin won an Anna Wilson Scholarship for Chemistry based on performance in class work, research, the preliminary oral examination, and demonstrating duties.
September 1st 2020
Welcome to Robert Riley, a new MSc student in the Speed group. Robert did his honours BSc just down the street at Saint Mary's university, working on catenated bismuth compounds in Prof. Jason Clyburne's lab.
August 28th 2020
Congratulations to Erin for passing her qualifying exam and becoming the Speed group's second PhD candidate!
The Speed group returns to research in the new normal! Already we found nice crystals (Update, see publication #13), and some exciting results.
July 1st 2020
Paper #11, concerning the radical chemistry of diazaphospholene dimers is accepted to European Journal of Organic Chemistry. Congrats to Blake and Kathy! Happy Canada Day!
May 28th 2020
Congratulations to Erin for receiving an NSGS scholarship!
April 7th 2020
Alex's application for Tenure and promotion to Associate Professor is successful, effective July 1st 2020. Thanks to all Speed group members and collaborators past and present for their hard work that made this possible.
March 17th 2020
Our lab is shuttered up for the time-being to encourage social distancing, but stay tuned for more exciting papers/pre-prints (and reviews) coming from the Speed lab in the following months, including a completely new project!
March 4th 2020
Paper #10, on air and water stable diazaphospholene precatalysts is accepted to Chemical Communications. Congrats Travis and Tien, and thanks to Kathy for the X-Ray Crystal Structures.
Feb 28th 2020
Another bottle of Veuve (the logo sort of looks like a benzene ring if you have enough of it) goes up on the shelf as we bid farewell to our first postdoctoral associate, Dr. Travis Lundrigan. We're looking forward to seeing what you do in the Stradiotto group!
Nov 24th 2019
Alex answers some questions for the CBC on why your rubbing alcohol might have peroxides in it (but probably doesn't).
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/danger-rubbing-alcohol-explained-1.5371014
Nov 1st 2019
Alex presents the group's work on asymmetric phosphenium catalysis at the University of Calgary.
Oct 17th 2019
Erin gives a well received Seminar I on applications of lanthanum to organic chemistry.
Oct 10th 2019
Adam gives a well received Seminar I on the potential of biocatalysis in organic synthesis.
Sept 6th 2019
Congratulations to Blake and Erin for winning Douglas E. Ryan prizes for Excellence in Graduate Studies in Chemistry!
Aug 23rd 2019
Paper #9 on the reduction of cyclic imines, which was our longest-standing project is accepted to JACS! Congrats to Travis, Erin, Toren, Tien, Matt, and Lani; and thanks to Dr. Kathy Robertson for the X-Ray structures!
Aug 22nd 2019
We celebrate the end of a successful summer with a nice group dinner!
July 25th 2019
Alex (who is 1/4 Scottish) gives a presentation on the group's asymmetric phosphorus chemistry at the University of Edinburgh.
Fun Fact: Dalhousie University was founded in 1818 by George Ramsay, the 9th Earl of Dalhousie, who was from Scotland. It was modelled after the principles of the University of Edinburgh, where education was open to all, regardless of religion or nationality.
July 7th 2019
Alex presents a poster on the group's work at the Organometallics Gordon Conference at Salve Regina in Rhode Island.
June 12th 2019
Congrats to Blake for being awarded one of the top three student oral presentations in the Main Group symposium at CCCE 2019 in Québec city!
June 4th 2019
Congrats to Blake and Cheyenne! Paper #8 is accepted for publication. This is our first X-ray crystallography collaboration with Dr. Katherine Robertson at Saint Mary's University.
June 3rd 2019
After a long hiatus updating our group news, the Speed group travels to Québec city for the 2019 CCCE Conference. Blake, Erin and Travis will be giving presentations, while Adam will be presenting a poster. Already a couple of Speed group Alumni have been spotted!
November 6th 2018
Congrats to Blake! Paper #7 accepted for publication.
September 6th 2018
Welcome to Dr. Travis Lundrigan, our first postdoc, and Adam Beckett, an incoming MSc student from Mount Allison University. Welcome back to Erin Welsh, who will be starting her MSc!
August 24th 2018
Congratulations to Toren, who won one of the best BSc oral presentation awards (Sponsored by the Biological and Medicinal Chemistry Division of the Canadian Society for Chemistry) at the Maritimes Natural Products Conference!
July 19th 2018
Congrats to Blake, who successfully passed his Prelim, and will be the Speed lab's first PhD student!!!
July 11th 2018
The Speed group's investigations into chiral diazaphospholene catalysis are funded by an NSERC I2I Phase I grant. Congratulations to all those whose hard work made this possible!!
June 27th 2018
Alex presents on diazaphospholene chemistry in a talk at the 16th Boron in the Americas conference in Boston.
June 25th 2018
Alex presents on diazaphospholene chemistry in a talk at the University of Rhode Island.
June 13th 2018
Alex wins the Dalhousie University President's Research Excellence Award for an Emerging Investigator. Next order of business, buying longer pants!!
June 8th 2018
Erin, Blake, and Toren present at the ChemCon 2018 Conference, held at Saint Mary's University down the street.
June 5th, 2018
Congratulations to Alex Gatien on an excellent Master's defence. The defence was interrupted by a fire alarm, but Alex G. did not miss a beat!
June 1st 2018
Matt, Tien, and Erin receive their degrees at Dalhousie's Convocation. Congratulations to all. Tien was recognized with the Governor General's Gold Medal for most outstanding Master's graduate in Natural Sciences and Engineering, while Erin was recognized with the Spirit of Chemistry award for her outstanding contributions to the Chemistry Department.
May 29th 2018
Blake and Alex present at the 2018 CSC in Edmonton.
May 1st 2018
Congrats to Alex G. and co-workers! Our collaboration with the Stradiotto group is accepted for publication in ACS Catalysis.
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acscatal.8b01005
April 12th 2018
Congratulations to Erin and Blake for receiving NSGS entrance scholarships, and to Blake for receiving a Level 2 Killam Predoctoral scholarship (One of Dalhousie's most prestigious internal scholarships). The group had a nice dinner at A Mano to celebrate these successes, and Tien and Matt's recent MSc defenses.
April 5th 2018
Erin Welsh gives a great defense for her fourth year honours project on chiral diazaphospholenes!
March 21st 2018
Matt Adams becomes the second MSc graduate of the Speed group, with another excellent defence. Awesome job Matt! Our collection of Veuve Clicquot bottles is growing!
March 8th 2018
Chieh Hung Tien becomes the first MSc graduate of the Speed group with an excellent defence! Great job Tien! Proper PPE is recommended when popping the Champagne!
Feb 28th 2018
Diazaphospholenes work just as well on the West coast as the East coast! The Wulff group at UVic uses diazaphospholenes for a tough reduction:
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.macromol.7b02750
Feb 27th 2018
Alex has a very enjoyable trip to UWO in London Ontario to serve as Dr. Cameron Graham's external examiner. Great job Cam!
Feb 21st 2018
Congratulations to Toren for receiving a Faye Sobey Undergraduate Research Award to support his summer research into asymmetric catalysis.
Feb 15th 2018
Blake gives a great Seminar I on organocalcium chemistry!
Feb 12th 2018
Our fifth paper is accepted. Congrats Toren and Erin!
Feb 9th 2018
Alex is profiled in the Synform Young Career Focus:
https://www.thieme.de/statics/dokumente/thieme/final/en/dokumente/tw_chemistry/CFZ-Synform-Alexander-Speed-YCF.pdf
Dec 7th 2017
Tien gives a well received Seminar I on asymmetric reactions catalyzed by Cinchona Alkaloids.
Dec 4th 2017
Erin gives a great fall presentation for her fourth year honours project.
Nov 3rd 2017
Our fourth paper is accepted. Congrats Matt and Tien!
Nov 2nd 2017
Matt gives a well received Seminar I on Photoredox Metal Catalysis.
Octobet 11th 2017
Paper #3 is in press:
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.orglett.7b02695
October 3rd 2017
Our third paper is accepted. Congrats Tien and Matt! Stay tuned for more exciting results!
October 2nd 2017
Alex travels to Sackville, New Brunswick, to give a talk at Mount Allison university.
September 16th 2017
Speed group members present at the Dalhousie Research Symposium.
September 15th 2017
Alex's post-doc mentor Amir Hoveyda visits to give a rockin' (literally thanks to a concert next door) Chute lecture.
Dinner with mentors Amir Hoveyda and Jean Burnell.
September 8th 2017
Congrats to Tien, Blake, and Alex G. for winning departmental awards.
September 5th 2017
Welcome Lani! The semester starts, and the Speed group has a busy and productive semester ahead.
August 29th 2017
Congrats to Blake, Tien, Matt, and Alex G. for presenting their first advisory committee meetings with flying colours!
August 1st 2017
Congrats to Blake for being awarded a NSGS graduate scholarship!
June 5th 2017
Welcome Erin!
May 28th 2017
Matt, Blake, Tien and Alex travel to Toronto for the 100th Canadian Society for Chemistry Conference.
May 1st 2017
Welcome to Mostafa and Toren!
April 12th 2017
The Speed group is awarded an NSERC Discovery grant! Plenty of discoveries await, so stay tuned.
April 5-6th 2017
Cheyenne, Michael, Dianne, and Kristen successfully defend their honours theses! The Speed group continues to impress the chemistry department with our productivity. Best of luck to you in your exams!
"Almost all of us, minus a few exceptions (MC, AG, AS)"
April 2nd 2017
Our recent Angewandte Chemie Publication is highlighted in Synfacts.
https://www.thieme-connect.com/products/ejournals/html/10.1055/s-0036-1590097
March 20th 2017
Alex has an enjoyable trip to the University of New Brunswick to present the group's first invited lecture! Less fun, spraining his ankle on his way home :(
March 16th 2017
Our recent Angewandte Chemie publication is highlighted in Organic Process Research and Development March issue.
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.oprd.7b00057
Feb 1st 2017
Our second paper, on diazaphospholene precatalysts, appears in Angewandte early views. Congrats Matt, Tien and Blake!
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.201611570/full
Jan 12th 2017
Our second paper is accepted. Stay tuned!
Nov 27th 2016
Alex is a "Thieme Chemistry Journal Awardee" for 2017. Thanks to the editorial boards of Synlett, Synthesis, and Synfacts for the encouragement!
September 8th 2016
Welcome to Dianne and Kristen, and welcome back Cheyenne and Michael.
September 7th 2016
Our first publication is accepted and in press! Congrats Blake and Matt!
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.organomet.6b00654
August 16th 2016
We attended the Maritime Natural Products Conference in Halifax, and enjoyed learning all about natural product isolation, characterization, classification, and uses.
July 27th 2016
Welcome to Alex G., our collaborator on ligand design in the Stradiotto group!
July 2nd 2016
Happy 1st birthday to our research group.
June 25th 2016
Happy 45th birthday to our nasties glovebox.
June 20th 2016
Congrats to Matt for receiving a Nova Scotia Black and First Nations Graduate Entrance Scholarship!
June 1st 2016
Congrats to Matt and Tien on their graduation! On to bigger, and better.... and the same.... things :)
May 2nd 2016
Michael joins the group as a summer researcher. Welcome!
April 27th 2016
Our move is complete and chemistry has resumed in our new lab. Check out all the space!
April 14th 2016
The group gets its first crystal structure. Stay tuned for what it is! (Update: Check out publication #1!)
April 13th 2016
We're moving from the third floor to the fourth floor of the chemistry building. Photos of our new lab will be posted as soon as set-up and cleaning is done. For now, here is a teaser:
April 5th 2016
Congratulations to Blake for receiving an NSERC CGS-M, Tien for receiving a Master's Nova Scotia Graduate Entrance Scholarship and a Killam Scholarship, and Matt for receiving an NSERC USRA.
Feb 16th 2016
Alex takes advantage of an unwanted vacation due to a curling accident to launch his group's web presence.
Jan 5th 2016
Cheyenne joins the group as an experiential learning student. Welcome!
Oct 23rd 2015
Alex walks down the street to give a talk at Saint Mary's University.
Sept 24th 2015
Alex visits Wolfville N.S. to give a talk at Acadia University.
Sept 7th 2015
Blake, Tien and Matt join the group. Welcome!
Aug 14th 2015
Group is temporarily back to one. Thanks for the help setting up, and starting chemistry Alex R!
August 4th 2015
July 27th 2015
Chemistry is full "Speed" ahead:
July 19th 2015
We do our first air free reaction.
July 15th 2015
Our glovebox is reassembled and operational.
Alex R. Joins the group. First project, get set up!
July 2nd 2015
Speed lab is open for business. Thanks to Dalhousie University Chemistry Department and Faculty of Science for start-up funding, and to many chemistry faculty for generous sharing of equipment and chemicals.
