Biography
Jeff was born and raised in Las Cruces, NM. He attended Washington University in St. Louis, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Chemistry with a minor in English. After a short stint in the biomedical engineering industry, Jeff obtained his Ph. D. in Inorganic Chemistry from the California Institute of Technology under the guidance of Prof. John E. Bercaw. He then completed his training with a postdoctoral position in Organic Chemistry in the laboratory of Prof. Timothy F. Jamison at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Jeff started his independent career at Boston College in the summer of 2011, where he is currently an Associate Professor of Chemistry. In addition to his passion for chemistry, Jeff enjoys classic literature and film, is an avid sports fan, and enjoys spending time outdoors.
Publications
1. “Engineering Second Sphere Interactions in a Host-Guest Multicomponent Catalyst System for the Hydrogenation of Carbon Dioxide to Methanol.” Rayder, T.M.; Bensalah, A.T.; Li, B.; Byers, J.A., Tsung, C.-K. Journal of the American Chemical Society. 2021, 143(3), 1630-40.
2. “Rational Design of an Iron-Based Catalyst for Suzuki-Miyaura Cross-Couplings Involving Heteroaromatic Boronic Esters and Tertiary Alkyl Electrophiles.” Crockett, M.P.; Wong, A.S.; Li, B.; Byers, J.A. Angewandte Chemie, International Edition. 2020, 59(13), 5392-97.
3. “Electrochemically Switchable Ring-Opening Polymerization of Lactide and Cyclohexene Oxide.” Qi, M.; Dong, Q.; Wang, D.; Byers, J.A. Journal of the American Chemical Society. 2018, 140(17), 5686-90.
4. Biernesser, Ashley B.; Delle Chiaie, Kayla; Curley, Julia B.; Byers, Jeffery A.* “Block Copolymerization of Epoxides with Lactide Facilitated by Redox Switchable Iron Polymerization Catalysis” Angewandte Chemie, International Edition, 2016, 55, 5251-5254, DOI: 10.1002/anie.201511793.