Kathleen M. Morgan, Ph. D.
Professor
Keller Family Foundation Professorship in Science
Associate Director, Xavier Center for Undergraduate Research

Organic Chemistry I and II lecture, lab and drill; Molecular Structure and Organic Synthesis lab; Advanced Organic Chemistry

Dr. Morgan graduated with Honors in Chemistry from Dartmouth College in 1988. Her undergraduate research project, mentored by Prof. David M. Lemal, involved the influence of fluorine substituents on a valence isomerization equilibrium. Dr. Morgan received her Ph. D. in Organic Chemistry from Yale University in 1994. Her thesis, titled “Thermochemistry of Carbonyl Compounds” was directed by Professor Kenneth B. Wiberg. Postdoctoral work from 1994-1995 in the lab of Prof. Joseph J. Gajewski at Indiana University focused on epoxide rearrangement mechanisms. From 1995 - 2001, Dr. Morgan was an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. After being recommended for tenure and promotion, she moved to Xavier in 2001.

Dr. Morgan’s research involves organic thermochemistry and reaction mechanisms. Current projects include using reaction calorimetry and calculations to determine how structural variations (substituents) influence the energy of simple epoxides and aziridines. Substituents can affect the strain of these molecules, which can influence their reactivity, another subject of study. Other work includes a mechanistic study of the influence of substituents on the Cope rearrangement, a stereoselective carbon-carbon bond forming reaction.

NIH MBRS SCORE.

Morgan, K. M.; Brown, G., Jr.; Pichon, M. A.; Green, G. Y. “b-Elimination of an Aziridine to an Allylic Amine: A Mechanistic Study”, J. Phys. Org. Chem.2011, 24, 1144-1150.