Research in the Ekanger lab

  • Research in the Ekanger laboratory is at the interface of inorganic chemistry and biochemistry in the interdisciplinary field of bioinorganic chemistry. Students in the group perform bioinorganic chemistry research using a variety of approaches. Our main area of scholarly interest is non-heme Fe biomimetic chemistry.

    1. Students learn to critically evaluate primary literature and connect their project to existing literature.

    2. Students learn how to create a testable hypothesis, design experiments to test the hypothesis, and use experimental results to inform future experiments.

    3. Students synthesize and characterize inorganic complexes that mimic the active sites of metalloproteins to perform structure-function analyses.

    4. Students perform measurements using UV-Vis, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopies.

    5. Students learn how to record experiments and data using an electronic lab notebook (ELN).

  • Literature club - Students present data and narrative from the primary literature.

    Data club - Students present their own recently acquired research data and connect it to the bigger picture of the Ekanger research group.

Publications at TCNJ
Google Scholar

*Corresponding author, ⁺Equal contributions, Undergraduate co-authors are underlined

Spectroscopic, Electrochemical, and Kinetic Trends in Fe(III)–Thiolate Disproportionation Near Physiologic pH. Ekanger, L. A.;* Shah, R. K.; Porowski, M. E.; Ziolkowski, Z.; Calello, A. J. Biol. Inorg. Chem. 2024, 29, 291–301. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00775-024-02051-3.

The [4Fe4S] Cluster of Yeast DNA Polymerase ε is Redox Active and can undergo DNA-Mediated Signaling. Pinto, M. N.; ter Beek, J.; Ekanger, L. A.; Johansson, E.;* Barton, J. K.* J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2021, 143, 16147–16153.

Ekanger, L. A.;⁺ Chan, B. C.; Gazley, J. L.; O’Connor, A. R.⁺* Promoting Inclusive Excellence in the Inorganic Chemistry Curriculum Through Faculty Culture Shift. Advances in Teaching Inorganic Chemistry Volume 1: Classroom Innovations and Faculty Development. Jones, R. M., Ed.; ACS Symposium Series, Vol. 1370; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2020, Chapter 9, pp 97–116.

Theory of Change to practice: How experimentalist teaching enabled faculty to navigate the COVID-19 disruption. Chan, B. C.;⁺* Baker, J. L.;⁺ Bunagan, M. R.;⁺ Ekanger, L. A.;⁺ Gazley, J. L.;⁺ Hunter, R. A.;⁺ O’Connor, A. R.;⁺ Triano, R. M.⁺ J. Chem. Educ. 2020, 97, 2788–2792.

Publications as a graduate student and postdoctoral scholar
Undergraduate co-authors are underlined

Nitric Oxide Modulates Endonuclease III Redox Activity by a 800 mV Negative Shift upon [Fe4S4] Cluster Nitrosylation. Ekanger, L. A.; Oyala, P. H.; Moradian, A.; Sweredoski, M. J.; Barton, J. K. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2018, 140, 11800–11810.

Electrochemical Investigation of the Eu(3+/2+) Redox Couple in Complexes with Variable Numbers of Glycinamide and Acetate Pendant Arms. Burnett, M. E.; Adebesin, B.; Funk, A. M.; Kovacs, Z.; Sherry, A. D.; Ekanger, L. A.; Allen, M. J.; Green, K. N.; Ratnakar, S. J. Eur. J. Inorg. Chem. 2017, 2017, 5001–5005.

The Role of Coordination Environment and pH in Tuning the Oxidation Rate of Europium(II). Ekanger, L. A.; Basal, L. A.; Allen, M. J. Chem. Eur. J. 2017, 23, 1145–1150.

Spectroscopic Characterization of the 3+ and 2+ Oxidation States of Europium in a Macrocyclic Tetraglycinate Complex. Ekanger, L. A.; Mills, D. R.; Ali, M. M.; Polin, L. A.; Shen, Y.; Haacke, E. M.; Allen, M. J. Inorg. Chem. 2016, 55, 9981–9988.

Evaluation of EuII-based Positive Contrast Enhancement after Intravenous, Intraperitoneal, and Subcutaneous Injections. Ekanger, L. A.; Polin, L. A.; Shen, Y.; Haacke, E. M.; Allen, M. J. Contrast Media Mol. Imaging 2016, 11, 299–303.

A Eu(II)-Containing Cryptate as a Redox Sensor in Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Living Tissue. Ekanger, L. A.; Polin, L. A.; Shen, Y.; Haacke, E. M.; Martin, P. D.; Allen, M. J. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2015, 54, 14398–14401.

Overcoming the Concentration-Dependence of Responsive Probes for Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Ekanger, L. A.; Allen, M. J. Metallomics 2015, 7, 405–421.

Oxidation-Responsive Eu(2+/3+)–Liposomal Contrast Agent for Dual-Mode Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Ekanger, L. A.; Ali, M. M.; Allen, M. J. Chem. Commun. 2014, 50, 14835–14838.