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• Arnold O. Beckman Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California, Berkeley (2021–2024)
• Ph.D., Harvard (2016–2021)
• B.S./M.S., Caltech (2012–2016)
• Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science, University of North Texas (2010–2012)
Kurtis grew up in Plano near Dallas, TX, and he began his interest in chemistry by researching controlled methane oxidation with Tom Cundari at the University of North Texas (UNT). Kurtis then attended Caltech and received a joint B.S./M.S. in chemistry, where he conducted computational and experimental research on bio-inspired clusters of the oxygen-evolving complex in Photosystem II with Bill Goddard and Theo Agapie. As a Hertz Fellow and a NSF Graduate Research Fellow, Kurtis conducted his Ph.D. research with Ted Betley at Harvard, where he focused on understanding amination catalysis by copper nitrene intermediates through the lens of inverted ligand fields, receiving the Hertz Thesis Prize for his research. Kurtis was subsequently an Arnold O. Beckman Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute for Decarbonization Materials at the University of California, Berkeley, with Jeff Long, where he established organometallic transformations and high-temperature adsorbents in the context of chemical separations.
In 2025, Kurtis will join the Department of Chemistry at The University of Texas at Austin. The Carsch group is actively recuiting new students (high school, undergraduate, and graduate), visiting scholars, and postdoctoral fellows. Please reach out to Kurtis (kcarsch@utexas.edu) if you are interested in this program!
Kurtis Carsch – CV
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The Carsch Group integrates principles from synthetic inorganic and organic chemistry, organometallic catalysis, chemical engineering, and materials science to tailor the electronic structures of reactive transition metal intermediates and coordinatively unsaturated metal ions. By designing and studying these species in both molecular complexes and extended porous materials, we aim to advance the frontiers of catalysis, separations, and material processability. Leveraging bespoke structure-function relationships obtained through physical inorganic and organic techniques, our research provides fundamental insights into longstanding challenges. In our unique interdisciplinary approach, we bridge concepts across diverse fields to address critical unsolved problems at the intersection of chemistry and energy science.
Notably, our research program aims to establish fundamental and practical advances in the fields of organometallic catalysis, small molecule separations, and material processability, pertinent to C–H functionalization, alkane homologation, hyper-low-coordinate metal ions, frustrated metalloradical pair catalysis, carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), liquid-phase chemisorption, MOF gels, liquid porous materials, microporous metallopolymers, multi-gas single-site binding, and ligand field inversion. We are actively recruiting at all levels to address these different challenges.
Please visit our lab website for news and updates!
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For a full list of publications and patents, please see my Google Scholar and my CV.
Representative Publications:
- Rohde, R. C.†; Carsch, K. M.†; Dods, M. N.; Jiang, H. Z. H.; McIsaac, A. R.; Klein, R. A.; Kwon, H.; Karstens, S. L.; Wang, Y.; Huang, A. J.; Taylor, J. W.; Yabuuchi, Y.; Tkachenko, N. V.; Meihaus, K. R.; Furukawa, H.; Yanhe, D. R.; Bustillo, K. C.; Minor, A. M.; Reimer, J. A.; Head-Gordon, M.; Brown, C. M.; Long. J. R. High-Temperature Carbon Dioxide Capture in a Porous Material with Terminal Zinc–Hydride Sites. Science 2024, 386, 814 († denotes equal contribution).
- Carsch, K. M.; Huang, A. J.; Dods, M. N.; Parker, S. T.; Rohde, R. C.; Jiang, H. Z. H.; Yabuuchi, Y.; Kwon, H.; Karstens, S. L.; Chakraborty, R.; Bustillo, K. C. Meihaus, K. R.; Furukawa, H.; Minor, A. M.; Head-Gordon, M.; Long. J. R. Oxygen-Selective Adsorption from Air with a Metal–Organic Framework Featuring Open Copper Sites. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2024, 146, 3160.
- Carsch, K. M.; Iliescu, A.; McGillicuddy, A. D.; Mason, J. A.; Betley, T. A. Reversible Scavenging of Dioxygen from Air by a Copper Complex. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2021, 143, 18346.
- Carsch, K. M.; DiMucci, I. M.; Lukens, J. T.; Iovan, D.A.; Zheng, S.-L.; Lancaster, K. M.; Betley, T. A. Electronic Structures and Reactivity Profiles of Aryl Nitrenoid−Bridged Dicopper Complexes. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2020, 142, 2264.
- Carsch, K. M.; DiMucci, I. M.; Iovan, D. A.; Li, A.; Zheng, S.-L.; Titus, C. J.; Lee, S. J.; Irwin, K. D.; Nordlund, D.; Lancaster, K. M.; Betley, T. A. Synthesis of a Copper-Supported Triplet Nitrene Complex Pertinent to Copper-Catalyzed Amination. Science 2019, 365, 1138.
Representative Patents:
- Carsch, K. M.; Rohde, R. C.; Long, J. R. Isothermal π-Acid Separation with Porous Materials. US Provisional Patent Application filing in progress.
- Carsch, K. M.; Peltier, J. L.; Börgel, J.; Long, J. R. Selective Carbon Monoxide Uptake by Porous Materials with Metal Carbanions. US Provisional Patent 63/516,154 filed on June 13, 2023. File licensing in process.
- Carsch, K. M.; Long, J. R. Direct Capture of Oxygen from Air with Porous Materials. US Provisional Patent 63/460,810 filed on April 20, 2023. File licensing in process.
- Rohde, R. C.; Carsch, K. M.; Long, J. R. Acidic Gas Capture through Metal–Ligand Insertion in Porous Materials at Elevated Temperatures. US Provisional Patent 63/477,976 filed on December 30, 2022. This patent has been licensed to Baker Hughes.
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For a full list of honors and recognitions, please see my CV.
Selected Awards:
- 2022 CAS Future Leader (2022)
- Fannie and John Hertz Thesis Prize (2022)
- Arnold O. Beckman Postdoctoral Fellowship (2021)
- Peter Strauss Fellowship (2021)
- Ludo Frevel Crystallography Scholarship (2020)
- Harvard Distinction in Teaching Award (2019)
- 2016 ACS Undergraduate Award in Inorganic Chemistry (2016)
- Richard P. Schuster Memorial Prize (2016)
- George W. Green Memorial Prize (2016)
- Fannie and John Hertz Foundation Fellowship (2016)
- National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (2016)
- Arie J. Haagen-Smit Memorial Award (2015)
- Copenhagen Scholars Study Abroad Scholarship (2014)
- ACS & Society for Chemical Industry Scholarship (2014)
- Renuka D. Sharma Award (2014)
- Intel Science Talent Search Finalist (2012)
- University of North Texas Dean’s Research Award (2011)
- Texas Academy of Math and Science Summer Research Scholarship (2011)
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Spring 2025 – CH 431, Inorganic Chemistry.
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