James M. McCormick
Associate Professor of Chemistry
Truman State University
Image Copyright: Berkeley Breathed

 

Contact Information

Office: Magruder 3110
Laboratory: Magruder 3117
Phone: 660-785-4315
Fax: 660-785-4045
E-mail: jmccormi@truman.edu
Current Schedule: Click here
 
Mailing Address:
Chemistry Department
Truman State University
100 E. Normal
Kirksville, MO 63501

 

Education

Ph. D. Inorganic Chemistry, 1991, Stanford University
Research Advisor: Professor Edward I. Solomon
Thesis Title: "Spectroscopic Studies of Mixed-Valent Binuclear Non-Heme Iron Active Sites"
 
B. S. Chemistry with Honors (Summa Cum Laude), 1985, Saint Lawrence University
Research Advisor: Professor Kenneth C. West
Honors Project Title: "Electron Transfer Across a Liquid-Liquid Interface"

 

Professional Experience
2003-Present Associate Professor of Chemistry, Truman State University
 
1999-2003 Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Truman State University
 
1998-1999 Instructor, Chemistry Department, University of Kansas
 
1996-1998 Staff Scientist and Assistant to the Director in the "Design, Function and Dynamics of Supramolecular Materials" NSF EPSCoR project, Chemistry Department, University of Kansas under Professor Daryle H. Busch
 
1995-1996 Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Chemistry, University of California Berkeley with Professor Kenneth N. Raymond
 
1992-1993 Alexander von Humboldt Fellow, Ruhr-Universität, Bochum, Germany with Professor Karl Wieghardt
 
1991-1995 N. I. H. Research Fellow, Department of Chemistry, University of California Berkeley with Professor Kenneth N. Raymond

 

Professional Societies:

American Chemical Society
Sigma Xi

 

Honors and Awards:

Vigil Honor, Nampa Tsi Lodge, Order of the Arrow, Boy Scouts of America, 2009
District Award of Merit, Thousand Hills District, Boy Scouts of America, 2006
Alexander von Humboldt Fellow, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, 1992
National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California, 1991
Phi Beta Kappa, 1985
Saint Lawrence University Outstanding Senior Chemistry Major Award, 1985
Saint Lawrence University Analytical Chemistry Award, 1984
Chymist Club (Saint Lawrence University Chemistry Honor Society), 1984
Eagle Scout, 1981
Bausch and Lomb Science Award, 1981

 

Courses Taught

(Starting in the Spring of 2010 I am transferring my class web pages to Blackboard.)
CHEM 100: Chemistry for Contemporary Living
CHEM 129: Basic Principles of Chemistry
CHEM 130: Chemical Principles I
CHEM 131: Chemical Principles II
CHEM 245: Sophomore Seminar
CHEM 323: Physical Chemistry I
CHEM 324: Physical Chemistry Laboratory I
CHEM 325: Physical Chemistry II
CHEM 326: Physical Chemistry Laboratory II
CHEM 345: Junior Seminar
CHEM 475: Inorganic Chemistry I
CHEM 476: Inorganic Chemistry II

 

Community Service Activities
Cub Scout Pack 401
K-12 Resources
2007-present Member, Great Rivers Council Boy Scouts of America, Cub Scout Summer Camp Committee
2008-present Member, Great Rivers Council Boy Scouts of America, Boy Scout Summer Camp Committee
2005-present Cubmaster, Pack 401, Kirksville
2003-2007 Den Leader, Pack 401, Kirksville
2001-present Assistant Scoutmaster, Troop 401, Kirksville

 

University Service Activities

2009- present Chair, Environmental Studies Minor Committee
2008- present Member, Environmental Studies Minor Committee
2006 Member, President's Ad Hoc Committee on Academic Reorganization
2006 Member, Undergraduate Council Curriculum Exploratory Committee
2003-2004 Member, Phi Beta Kappa Members in Course Committee
2001-present Member, General Honors Committee
 

Department Service Activities

2007-present Chair, Chemistry Health and Safety Committee
2007-present Chair, Chemistry Assessment Committee
2007-present Member, Chemistry Budget Committee
2007-present Member, Chemistry Curriculum Committee
2004-present Created and Maintain ChemLab.Truman (click here to go to ChemLab, click here to read more about ChemLab)
 
Safety Links
NFPA Labels (PowerPoint file)
Hazardous Waste Forms (PDF file)
Non-Injury Incident Reporting Form (PDF file)
Incident with Injury (Accident) Reporting Form (PDF file)
Laboratory Contact Information (Word document)
 

Research Activities

I have terminated all research activities for the foreseeable future.

 

Current Research Students (* denotes CHEM 443 Students, ‡ denotes students supported by the NSF Next STEP grant )
None at present.
 

Former Research Students (Current Position in Parentheses, * denotes CHEM 443 Students, ‡ denotes Students supported by the NSF Next STEP grant)
Adam Anallah 
Ryan Bethel (chemistry graduate student, Texas A&M)
Rene Buell‡* (graduate school, University of Indiana)
John Bisges (University of Missouri, Columbia Medical School)
Michael Brelsford‡
Chad Cooley (chemistry graduate student, University of Missouri, Columbia )
Kate Finnegan‡* (gainfully employed)
Larissa Gribat
Bec (Hanania) Shane* (physics graduate student, Washington University, St. Louis)
Kyle Hirschman (medical school)
Jennifer Jeffries
Alexi Kanago (pharmacy school)
Pete Kreyling (gainfully employed)
Stephanie Kwon
Sarah Lindahl* (graduate school, University of Indiana)
Jennifer McGinnis (graduate school)
John McGuire
Cara McVicar
Jonathan Midgorden (current Truman student)
Margaret Mudd‡ (current Truman student)
Jason Nguyen (current Truman student)
Eric Null* (chemistry graduate student, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign)
Jason Pelletier (pharmacy school)
Lucas Plummer
Derek Rice
Dan Serber
Jolita Seckute (chemistry graduate student, Cornell University)
Catherine Schmidt* (postdoctoral fellow at the Getty Museum Research Laboratory in Conservation Science)
Caitlin Schupp (EPA)
Melissa Thorstad* (chemistry graduate student, Texas A&M)
Nathaniel Webber (graduate school, University of Indiana)
Sarah Welch (gainfully employed)
Stephanie Kohlmeier Wolf*
Nathaniel “Woody” Woodrum (U. S. Army)

 

Publications (Undergraduate Contributors are underlined)

1. “Spectroscopic Studies of the Coupled Binuclear Ferric Active Site in Methemerythrins and Oxyhemerythrin: the Electronic Structure of Each Iron Center and the Iron-Oxo and Iron-Peroxide Bonds” Reem, R. C.; McCormick, J. M.; Richardson, D. E.; Devlin, F. J.; Stephens, P. J.; Musselman; R. L. and Solomon, E. I.  J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1989, 111, 4688-4704.
 
2. “Spectroscopic Studies of the Mixed-Valent [Fe(II), Fe(III)] Forms of the Non-Heme Iron Protein Hemerythrin: Iron Coordination Differences Related to Reactivity” McCormick, J. M.  and Solomon, E. I. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1990, 112, 2005-2007.
 
3. “Chemical and Spectroscopic Studies of the Mixed-Valent Derivatives of the Non-Heme Iron Protein Hemerythrin”  McCormick, J. M.; Reem, R. C. and Solomon, E. I. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1991, 113, 9066-9079.
 
4. “Excited State Spectral Features of the Radical Reduced, Native and Fully Reduced Forms of the Coupled Binuclear Non-Heme Iron Center in Ribonucleotide Reductase: Active Site Differences Relative to Hemerythrin” McCormick, J. M.; Reem, R. C.; Foroughi, J.; Bollinger, J. M.; Jensen, G. M.; Stephens, P. J.; Stubbe, J. and Solomon, E. I. New J. Chem. 1991, 15, 439-444.
 
5. “Pulsed EPR Studies of Mixed Valent [Fe(II), Fe(III)] Forms of Hemerythrin and Methane Monooxygenase: Evidence for a Hydroxide Bridge” Thomann, H.; Bernardo, M.; McCormick, J. M.; Pulver, S.; Andersson, K. K.; Lipscomb, J. D. and Solomon, E. I. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1993, 115, 8881-8882.
 
6. “Coordination Chemistry of Bisthiohydroxamic Acids: Synthesis and Characterization of their Lead Complexes, Determination of Their Stability Constants” Rupprecht, S.; Langemann, K.; Lügger, T.; McCormick, J. M. and Raymond, K. N. Inorg. Chim. Acta 1996, 243, 79-90. Abstract
 
7. “Circular Dichroism and Magnetic Circular Dichroism Studies of the Mixed-Valence Binuclear Non-Heme Iron Active Site in Uteroferrin and its Anion Complexes” Yang, Y.-S.; McCormick; J. M. and Solomon, E. I. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1997, 119, 11832-11842.  Abstract
 
8. “The Significance and Relationship of Correlation Coefficients for Stepwise Stability Constants and Cumulative Formation Constants” Raymond, K. N. and McCormick, J. M. J. Coord. Chem. 1998,46, 51-57.
 
9. “Ultra-Rigid Cross-Bridged Tetraazamacrocycles as Ligands: the Challenge and the Solution” Hubin, T. J.; McCormick, J. M.; Collinson, S. R.; Alcock, N. W. and Busch, D. H. J. Chem. Soc. Chem. Commun. 1998, 1675-1676.
 
10. “Synthesis and X-Ray Crystal Structure Determination of the First Transition Metal Complexes of the Tetracycles formed by Tetraazamacrocycle-Glyoxal Condensation: PdL*Cl2 (L = Cyclam-Glyoxal Condensate (1), Cyclen-Glyoxal Condensate (2))” Hubin, T. J.; McCormick, J. M.; Alcock, N. W. and Busch, D. H. Inorg. Chem. 1998, 37, 6549-6551. Abstract
 
11. “Stepwise Crystallographic Characterization in the Parallel Syntheses of Two Novel Cross-Bridged Tetraazamacrocycle Cu2+ Complexes” Hubin, T. J.; McCormick, J. M.; Alcock,  N. W.; Clase, H. J. and Busch, D. H. Inorg. Chem. 1999, 38, 4435-4446. Abstract
 
12. “New Iron(II) and Manganese(II) Complexes of Two Ultra-Rigid Cross-Bridged Tetraazamacrocycles for Catalysis and Biomimicry” Hubin, T. J.; McCormick, J. M.; Collinson, S. R.; Buchalova, M.; Perkins, C. M.; Alcock, N. W.; Kahol, P. K.; Raghunathan, A. and Busch, D. H. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2000, 122, 2512-2522. Abstract
 
13. “Topologically Constrained Manganese(III) and Iron(III) Complexes of Two Cross-bridged Tetraazamacrocycles” Hubin, T. J.; McCormick, J. M.; Alcock, N. W. and Busch, D. H. Inorg. Chem. 2001, 40, 435-444. Abstract
 
14. “Synthesis and X-ray Crystal Structures of Iron(II) and Manganese(II) Complexes of Unsubstituted and Benzyl Substituted Cross-Bridged Tetraazamacrocycles” Hubin, T. J.; McCormick, J. M.; Collinson, S. R.; Alcock, N. W.; Clase, H. J. and Busch, D. H. Inorg. Chim. Acta 2003, 346, 76-86. Abstract
 
15. “Synthesis, Characterization and Solution Properties of a Novel Cross-bridged Cyclam Manganese(IV) Complex having Terminal Dihydroxo Ligands” Yin, G.; McCormick, J. M.; Buchalova, M.; Danby, A. M.; Rodgers, K.; Day, V. W.; Smith, K.; Perkins, C. M.; Kitko, D.; Carter, J. D.; Scheper, W. M. and Busch, D. H. Inorg. Chem. 2006, 45, 8052-8061. Abstract
16. "N, N, N', N'-Tetramethylethylenediammonium tetrachloridocobaltate(II)” Baughman, R. G.; Shane, R. S. and McCormick, J. M. Acta Cryst., 2011, E67, m1. Open access link at IUCr http://journals.iucr.org/e/issues/2011/01/00/issconts.html.

 

Posters and Presentations (Undergraduates are in bold, Presenters are underlined)

1. McCormick, J. M. and Solomon, E. I. "Spectroscopic Studies of the Mixed-Valent [Fe(II), Fe(III)] Forms of the Non-Heme Iron Protein Hemerythrin: Coordination Differences Related to Reactivity," Metals in Biology Gordon Research Conference, 1991.
 
2. McCormick, J. M. and Raymond, K. N. “Solution Thermodynamic Studies of Lead(II) Binding to Peptides,” American Chemical Society Western Regional Meeting, San Diego, 1995.
 
3. McCormick, J. M. and Busch, D. H. “The Center for Supramolecular Materials,” Kansas State EPSCoR Meeting, 1997.
 
4. McCormick, J. M. and Busch, D. H. “Design, Function and Dynamics of Supramolecular Materials,” Kansas State EPSCoR Meeting, 1998.
 
5. Hubin, T. J.; McCormick, J. M.; Collinson, S. R.; Alcock, N. W. and Busch, D. H. "Transition Metal Complexes of Ultra Rigid Cross-bridged Tetraazamacrocycles," American Chemical Society National Meeting, Boston, 1998.
 
6. Busch, D. H.; Hubin, T. J.; Buchalova, M. and McCormick, J. "Topologically Constrained Ultra-stable Transition-metal Complexes for Catalysis: Lipoxygenase Models based on Cross-bridged Tetraazamacrocycles," American Chemical Society National Meeting, Anaheim, 1999.
 
7. Schmidt, C. M. and McCormick, J. M. "Coordination Chemistry of p-Block Metals," Truman State University Undergraduate Research Conference, 2001.
 
8. Afzal, D. and McCormick, J. M. "Integration of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (NMR) in the Chemistry Curriculum: 1," American Chemical Society Midwest Regional Meeting, 2001.
 
9. Schmidt, C. M.; Baughman, R. G.; Patterson, E. V. and McCormick, J. M. "Coordination Geometry of p-Block Metals," Truman State University Undergraduate Research Conference, 2002.
 
10. Schmidt, C. M.; Baughman, R. G.; Patterson, E. V. and McCormick, J. M. "Coordination Geometry of p-Block Metals," National Conference for Undergraduate Research, 2002.
 
11. Schmidt, C. M.; Baughman, R. G.; Patterson, E. V. and McCormick, J. M. "Coordination Geometry of p-Block Metals," Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) Posters on the Hill, Washington D.C., 2002.
 
12. Null, E. L.; Baughman, R. G. and McCormick, J. M. "Crystallographic Studies of Lead Coordination Compounds," Truman State University Student Research Conference, 2004.
 
13. Null, E. L.; Baughman, R. G. and McCormick, J. M. "Crystallographic Studies of Lead Coordination Compounds," National Conference on Undergraduate Research, 2004.
 
14. Yin, G.; McCormick, J. M.; Buchalova, M.; Danby, A. M.; Perkins, C. M.; Kitko, D.; Carter, J. D. and Busch, D. H. "One Novel Manganese Complex with a Cross-bridged Cyclam Ligand: Synthesis, Characterization and Oxidative Reactivity," American Chemical Society National Meeting, Philadelphia, 2004.
 
15. Null, E. L.; Baughman, R. G. and McCormick, J. M. "Crystallographic Studies of Lead Coordination Compounds," Truman State University Student Research Conference, 2004.
 
16. Null, E. L.; Baughman, R. G. and McCormick, J. M. "Crystallographic Studies of Lead Coordination Compounds," American Chemical Society National Meeting, San Diego, 2005.
 
17. Null, E. L.; Baughman, R. G.; Nagan, M. C. and McCormick, J. M. "Crystallographic Studies of Lead Coordination Compounds," Truman State University Student Research Conference, 2005.
 
18. McCormick, J. M. "Adventures in Coordination Chemistry -or- Yes, Virginia You can do Research at an Undergraduate Institution," invited talk, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2006.
 
19. McCormick, J. M. "Structural Studies of Lead Coordination Complexes," invited talk, Truman State University, 2006.
 
20. Thorstad, M. K.; Hall, G.; Null, E. L.; Baughman, R. G. and McCormick, J. M. "Synthesis of Lead Tris- (2-Pyridylmethyl) Amine Chloride," American Chemical Society Midwest Regional Meeting, 2006.

21. Finnegan, K. J. and McCormick, J. M. “Probing the Effects of Sterics and Electronics on Lead’s Coordination Chemistry,” Truman State University Student Research Conference, 2007.

22. Thorstad, M. K.; Hall, G.; Null, E. L.; Baughman, R. G. and McCormick, J. M. “Synthesis of Lead Tris- (2-Pyridylmethyl) Amine Chloride,” Truman State University Student Research Conference, 2007.

23. McCrate, N. E.; Null, E. L.; McCormick, J. M.; Baughman, R. G. and Nagan, M. C. "Computational Study of the Stereochemical Activity of the Lead(II) Inert Electron Pair in Coordination Complexes," Truman State University Student Research Conference, 2007.

24. Buell, R. W.; McCormick, J. M. and Baughman, R. G. "Ozone as an Oxidant for Ruthenium and Chromium Complexes," Truman State University Student Research Conference, 2008. 

25. Bethel, R. D.; McCormick, J. M. and Baughman, R. G. "Reaction of High-Valent Vanadium Complexes with O3 in Aqueous Solution," Truman State University Student Research Conference, 2008.

26. Thorstad, M. K.; McCormick, J. M. and Baughman, R. G. "Synthesis of Lead Tris-(2-pyridylmethyl)amine Compounds with Halides," Truman State University Student Research Conference, 2008. 

27. Mudd, M. A. and McCormick, J. M. "Solution Dynamics of Lead(II) Complexes of Relevance to Protein Active Sites," Truman State University Student Research Conference, 2009.

28. Ingersoll, K. F.; Hirner, J. J. and McCormick, J. M. "Has Hell Frozen Over? A Quantum Mechanical Inquiry," Truman State University Student Research Conference, 2009.