Lecturer
Hamilton Hall 15B
402.472.6538
mchatterjee2@unlnotes.unl.edu

Undergraduate General Chemistry Resource Center

Short Biography

Dr. Manashi Chatterjee received her Ph.D. from the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada. She worked as a postdoctoral researcher in Professor David Leigh's Research group at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.

During her Ph.D., she synthesized and studied with some interesting classes of DNA minor groove binding compounds. She moved to Scotland, UK and spent 2 years as postdoctoral researcher at University of Edinburgh. During her postdoctoral work, she synthesized and studied the operation of some new molecular machines.

She worked at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) starting Fall 2006 - as a Lecturer of organic chemistry with the Instructional Division in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. She was involved with undergraduate summer research programs and outreach programs at UCLA.

She moved to UNL in Fall 2008 where she is presently responsible for teaching undergraduate organic courses (Chem 251 , Chem 252) and general chemistry (Chem 109).

She was raised in Pune, India. She received her Masters of Science (M.Sc) degree in Organic Chemistry from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mumbai, India.

Awards and Honors

UNL: UCARE (for research with undergraduate students)

UCLA: Academic Advancement Program (AAP) Award (for being exceptionally receptive to, and supportive of, AAP's tutors' efforts to help AAP students deepen their learning and attain academic excellence)

UCLA: CNSI Staff Achievement Award

University of Edinburgh: Postdoctoral Research Fellowship

University of Saskatchewan: Dr. O. Kenneth Johannson Memorial Scholarship; Herzberg Fellowship; University of Saskatchewan Graduate Teaching Fellowship and University Scholarship .

Publications

1.  J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2006, 128, 4058

Beyond switches: Ratcheting a particle energetically uphill with a compartmentalized molecular machine.
Manashi N. Chatterjee, Euan R. Kay and David A. Leigh

2. World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

Publication Number: (WO/2007/045096); International Application No.:  PCT/CA2006/001724; Title: Oligoheteroaromatic luminescent assemblies as high-affinity DNA sequence directed ligands. M. P. Singh and M. N. Chatterjee

3.  Synthesis 2000, 10, 1380

Synthetic utilities of catalytic Fe (III)/Fe (II) redox cycling towards fused heterocycles: A facile access to substituted benzimidazole, bis-benzimidazole and imidazopyridine derivatives. M. P. Singh, S. Sasmal, W. Lu, and M. Chatterjee.

4.  Res. Chem. Intermed. 1999, 25, 887

Protecting group directed chemo and stereo selective transformations of bis-epoxides and cyclic sulfates derived from hexoses : synthesis of 2,5-dihydroxymethyl-3,4-dihydroxypyrrolidine. B.B. Lohray, Vidya Bhushan, M. Chatterjee, Y. Jayamma and G. Prasuna

5.  Synthetic Communications 1997, 27, 1711

A Practical approach to the synthesis of dianhydro sugars: Effect of protecting groups on the course of the reaction. B. B. Lohray, M. Chatterjee, Y. Jayamma

6.  J. Org. Chem. 1995, 60, 5958

Unprecedented selectivity in the reaction of 1,2: 5,6- Dianhydro-3, 4-O-isopropylidene hexitols with benzyl amine.  A practical synthesis of 3,4,5,6-tetrahydroxyazepanes. B. B. Lohray, Y. Jayamma, M. Chatterjee

Research Interest

My research interests are in the areas of design and synthesis of novel DNA binding agents and new molecular machines.

Teaching Philosophy

My primary responsibilities are towards undergraduate teaching and improving the learning experience of my students (using interactive web based and traditional methods). I constantly introduce new methods and material so that my students can make real life connections while learning organic chemistry and apply their understanding to solve problems in biology and medicine. I help them understand that the critical thinking and problem solving skills that they develop while they take organic courses will be valuable and recognized in various other fields.