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Demyan 🇺🇦 Prokopchuk ⌬

@dpro.bsky.social

570 followers 240 following 110 posts

Assistant Professor at Rutgers-Newark. Mildly obsessed with ligand design. Opinions fueled by espresso. 🇨🇦 in the 🇺🇸 (with 🇺🇦 roots). Pronounced “Dem-yahn” depchem.com

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Demyan 🇺🇦 Prokopchuk ⌬ @dpro.bsky.social · Sep 9

Why is Pd often "better" at C-H activation than Ni? Just published in JACS, we show that Pd acidifies C(sp3)-H bonds 100,000 times more than Ni. Our DFT collab with @tkschramm.bsky.social and Andreas Hansen @unibonn.bsky.social was crucial to explain acid-base rxns!

pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

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Reposted by Demyan 🇺🇦 Prokopchuk ⌬

Tim Schmidt @schmidtim.bsky.social · 14h

#chemnobel #chemsky #ozchem

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Demyan 🇺🇦 Prokopchuk ⌬ @dpro.bsky.social · 5d

Isn’t it amazing that modern Macs/PCs are back compatible with “ancient” printers and scanners? My all-in-one inkjet printer/scanner/copier is almost 20 years old and still works beautifully. Totally bucks the “planned obsolescence” mantra in tech

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Reposted by Demyan 🇺🇦 Prokopchuk ⌬

Deborah Blum @deborahb.bsky.social · 11d

Continuing the saga of "radioactive shrimp" from Indonesia, the FDA this week posted a summary of all recalls so far flagged for Cs-137 contamination. It includes not only frozen shrimp but cocktail shrimp and shrimp skewers. 1/2

2025 Recalls of Frozen Shrimp Products Associated with Cesium-137

2025 Recalls of Frozen Shrimp Products Associated with Cesium-137 Contamination from PT. Bahari Makmur Sejati due to Potential Safety Concerns

www.fda.gov

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Demyan 🇺🇦 Prokopchuk ⌬ @dpro.bsky.social · 10d

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Demyan 🇺🇦 Prokopchuk ⌬ @dpro.bsky.social · 12d

One of my students needs to make a Ni(II) starting material, and if you aren’t aware, Luigi Venanzi has this awesome paper from 1958: dx.doi.org/10.1039/JR95...

140. Tetrahedral nickel(II) complexes and the factors determining their formation. Part I. Bistriphenylphosphine nickel(II) compounds

dx.doi.org

Demyan 🇺🇦 Prokopchuk ⌬ @dpro.bsky.social · 14d

Thanks so much to @bribarbu.bsky.social and @cenmag.bsky.social for highlighting our recent work! 😊

@tkschramm.bsky.social @unibonn.bsky.social

C&EN (Chemical & Engineering News) @cenmag.bsky.social · 14d

Chemists finally know why palladium beats nickel at C–H activation

New study examines the precious metal’s ability to acidify bonds in alkanes. cen.acs.org/synthesis/c-... #chemsky 🧪

Chemists finally know why palladium beats nickel at C–H activation

New study examines the precious metal’s ability to acidify bonds in alkanes

cen.acs.org

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Demyan 🇺🇦 Prokopchuk ⌬ @dpro.bsky.social · 17d

NJ: most densely populated state in America! #bigthingssmallpackages

Demyan 🇺🇦 Prokopchuk ⌬ @dpro.bsky.social · 18d

I remember this feeling of utter confusion when I first started reading Hardy Boys. A few books in, I found out the proper way to pronounce the word alibi. 🤯

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Demyan 🇺🇦 Prokopchuk ⌬ @dpro.bsky.social · 25d

Maybe? The types and sizes of Dremel rotary bits I recently saw in Lowes was pretty impressive.

Demyan 🇺🇦 Prokopchuk ⌬ @dpro.bsky.social · 27d

😊

Demyan 🇺🇦 Prokopchuk ⌬ @dpro.bsky.social · 28d

Congrats Zack!!! 🧪💪🏻

Demyan 🇺🇦 Prokopchuk ⌬ @dpro.bsky.social · Sep 9

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Demyan 🇺🇦 Prokopchuk ⌬ @dpro.bsky.social · Aug 31

Seriously?

Demyan 🇺🇦 Prokopchuk ⌬ @dpro.bsky.social · Aug 24

Awesome. 🤘🏻

Demyan 🇺🇦 Prokopchuk ⌬ @dpro.bsky.social · Aug 14

I prefer my mangos NaK’d

Demyan 🇺🇦 Prokopchuk ⌬ @dpro.bsky.social · Aug 11

Super busy summer for PhD defenses - Lirong Lin (holding the blue bottle of bubbly!) recently defended her thesis titled "Using Diamondoid Pincer Ligands and C(sp3)-H Activation Models at Group 10 Transition Metals."

All very the very best in the next stages of your career! #ProudPI 🙂

Reposted by Demyan 🇺🇦 Prokopchuk ⌬

Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · Aug 9

"PhD-level experts in your back pocket" is a completely nonsensical description of AI but a pretty good description of social media if you follow the right people

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Reposted by Demyan 🇺🇦 Prokopchuk ⌬

Connie Lu @cluchem.bsky.social · Aug 8

Reversible C–H Bond Activation of Unactivated Arenes by a Nickel-Silylene Complex - pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
So proud to congratulate first author Leon Gomm for his first paper in JACS. Thanks to Hui Zhu and Stefan Grimme for the ever helpful DFT calculations. @unibonn.bsky.social

Reversible C–H Bond Activation of Unactivated Arenes by a Nickel-Silylene Complex

A nickel-silylene complex is shown to reversibly activate benzene via C–H bond activation at ambient temperature. The benzene C–H bond formally adds across the Ni–Si core to form a nickel-silyl comple...

pubs.acs.org

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Demyan 🇺🇦 Prokopchuk ⌬ @dpro.bsky.social · Aug 8

Really fun project with @grimmelab.bsky.social, esp. when DFT data agrees so well with expt (most values < 1 kcal/mol!). David discovered that N-H deprotonation leads to a new dimension in PCET thermochemistry with Cpᴺ³ molecules. Congrats all and thx to collaborators for validating Fe(II)!!

Tim Schramm @tkschramm.bsky.social · Aug 7

Happy to share my first PhD contribution from the @grimmelab.bsky.social! 🎓 We explored the N-H bond thermochemistry of an amine-rich cyclopentadienyl ligand motif that shows no change in N-H bond acidity when coordinated to iron - surprising!
#compchem #PCET #catalysis #ORCA
doi.org/10.1021/acso...

Expanding the PCET Thermochemistry of CpN3: N–H Bond Strengths of Metal-Free CpN3 Molecules and the Influence of Fe(CO)3 Coordination

Amine rich cyclopentadienyl (CpN3) ligands are electronically distinct from classical Cp ligand architectures, as they exhibit fascinating proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) chemistry under acidi...

doi.org

Demyan 🇺🇦 Prokopchuk ⌬ @dpro.bsky.social · Aug 4

Huge shout out to my brother in law Igor who just completed a monumental achievement: Ironman triathlon! He jumped straight from doing a couple triathlons a few years ago to training for the big kahuna. Was a very emotional race for him, and the fam is incredibly proud. ❤️

Demyan 🇺🇦 Prokopchuk ⌬ @dpro.bsky.social · Jul 27

Go-go gadget Super Pierre! That’s awesome. 💪🏻

Demyan 🇺🇦 Prokopchuk ⌬ @dpro.bsky.social · Jul 26

I 100% would have never guessed it, as I learned an alternate spelling of the word in school and didn’t even know the 5 letter word existed 😞

Demyan 🇺🇦 Prokopchuk ⌬ @dpro.bsky.social · Jul 24

The most New Jersey beer I’ve ever purchased. Brewed in Brick, NJ @gabagoolmarx.bsky.social

Demyan 🇺🇦 Prokopchuk ⌬ @dpro.bsky.social · Jul 3

Really proud of PhD #3, David Tresp . Not only is he a fine researcher, but he’s our de facto handyman. Glove boxes, pumps, crystallography, voltammetry, synthesis, and many more impressive talents under his belt. Congrats!!! 🥳

Demyan 🇺🇦 Prokopchuk ⌬ @dpro.bsky.social · Jun 5

Does anyone else have clothes from grade school that they still wear around the house? 😄