Donald J. Darensbourg

Professor

Department of Chemistry
Texas A&M University,
College Station, TX 77843-3255

Email: djdarens@mail.chem.tamu.edu
Tel: (979)-845-5417
Fax: (979)-845-0158

Department Website

PROFESSIONAL INTERESTS

Organometallic/Inorganic Chemistry of transition/main group metals, homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis(including polymerization and biphasic processes), and applications of infrared spectroscop

EDUCATION

• Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry: University of Illinois (June, 1968).
Thesis title: Infrared Intensities in Substituted Metal Carbonyls 
under the direction of Professor Theodore L. Brown.

• B.S. in Chemistry: California State University at Los Angeles (June, 1964).

WORK EXPERIENCE

Professor of Chemistry, Texas A&M University (July, 1982 - present).

Assistant-Full Professor of Chemistry, Tulane University, (January 1973 to July, 1982).

Assistant Professor of Chemistry, State University of New York at Buffalo (September, 1969 to January, 1973).

Research Chemist (Infrared Spectra of Adsorbed Molecules with Dr. R. P. Eischens) Texaco Research Center, Beacon, New York (September, 1968 to June, 1969).

Teaching/Research Assistant in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Illinois (June, 1964 to June 1968), NIH Fellowship recipient (1967)

PUBLICATIONS

325. Copolymerization of Epoxides and Carbon Dioxide. Evidence Supporting the Lack of Dual Catalysis at a Single Metal Site, Donald J. Darensbourg, Shawn B. Fitch, Inorg. Chem. 2009 324. (Salen)Co(II)/n-Bu4NX Catalysts for the Coupling of CO2 and Oxetane: Selectivity for Cyclic Carbonate Formation Prior to Polycarbonate Production, Donald J. Darensbourg and Adriana I. Moncada Macromolecules 2009, 42, 4063–4070. 323. An Exploration of the Coupling Reactions of Epoxides and Carbon Dioxide Catalyzed by Tetramethyltetraazaannulene Chromium(III) Derivatives: Formation of Copolymers vs Cyclic Carbonates, Donald J. Darensbourg, Shawn B. Fitch, Inorg. Chem. 2008, 47, 11868-11878. 322. Mechanistic Insight into the Initiation Step of the Coupling Reaction of Oxetane or Epoxides and CO2 Catalyzed by (salen)CrX Complexes, Donald J. Darensbourg, A. I. Moncada, Inorg. Chem. 2008, 47, 10000-10008. 321. X-ray Crystal Structures of Five-Coordinate (Salen)MnN3 Derivatives and Their Binding Abilities Towards Epoxides. Chemistry Relevant to the Epoxide/CO2 Copolymerization Process, Donald J. Darensbourg, Eric B. Frantz, Dalton Trans. 2008, 5031-5036. 320. Studies of the Carbon Dioxide and Epoxide Coupling Reaction in the Presence of Fluorinated Manganese(III) Acacen Complexes: Kinetics of Epoxide Ring-Opening, Donald J. Darensbourg, Eric B. Frantz, Inorg. Chem. 2008, 47, 4977-4987. 319. Ring-Opening Polymerization of Cyclic Monomers by Complexes Derived from Biocompatible Metals. Production of Poly(lactide), Poly(trimethylene carbonate) and Their Copolymers, Donald J. Darensbourg, Wonsook Choi, Osit Karroonnirun, and Nattamai Bhuvanesh, Macromolecules 2008, 41, 3493-3502. 318. Mechanistic Studies of the Copolymerization Reaction of Oxetane and Carbon Dioxide to Provide Aliphatic Polycarbonates Catalyzed by (Salen)CrX Complexes, Donald J. Darensbourg, Adriana I. Moncada, Wonsook Choi, and Joseph H. Reibenspies J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008, 130, 6523-6533. 317. A Phase Separable Polycarbonate Polymerization Catalyst, Chayanant Hongfa, Jianhua Tian, Jeremy Andreatta, Donald J. Darensbourg, David E. Bergbreiter Chem. Commun. 2008, 975-977. 316. Switchable-Polarity Solvents Prepared with a Single Liquid Component, Lam Phan, Jeremy R. Andreatta, Loel K. Horvey, Colin F. Edie, Aimée-Lee Luco, Anish Michandani, Donald J. Darensbourg, Philip G. Jessop J. Org. Chem. 2008, 73, 127-132. 312. Manganese(III) Schiff Base Complexes. Chemistry Relevant to the Copolymerization of Epoxides and Carbon Dioxide, Donald J. Darensbourg and Eric B. Frantz, Inorg. Chem. 2007, 46, 5967-5978. 311. (Tetramethyltetraazaannulene)ChromiumCl: A Highly Active Catalyst for the Copolymerization of Epoxides and Carbon Dioxide, Donald J. Darensbourg, Shawn B. Fitch, Inorg. Chem. 2007, 46, 5474- 5476.