Dr. John M. Rowley

Dr. John RowleyDr. John Rowley is the most recent addition to the Chemistry faculty. An alumnus of Houghton College, with a BS in chemistry, he joined the faculty in August 2008 after completing his PhD in organic chemistry under Prof. Geoffrey Coates at Cornell University.

In addition to teaching, Dr. Rowley is starting an undergraduate research program at Houghton in the area of ‘green’ plastics. The goal of this research is to develop chemical and catalytic routes to form biodegradable polymers from renewable resources. This is in contrast to the majority of current plastics, which are made from petroleum and which decompose very slowly in the environment. His previous work with Coates has resulted in discoveries that are being commercially developed by Novomer, Inc. www.novomer.com.

Dr. Rowley currently teaches General Chemistry II, Analytical Chemistry, Physical Chemistry I and II, and Senior Capstone Seminar. He will teach the chemistry portion of the new Science Honors course, starting in Fall 2009.

Outside of the classroom he enjoys spending time with his wife and daughter, playing soccer, and backpacking in the Adirondacks.

Selected Publications:

  1.  Rowley, J. M., Lobkovsky, E. B., Coates, G. W. “Catalytic Double Carbonylation of Epoxides to Succinic Anhydrides: Catalyst Discovery, Reaction Scope, and Mechanism”
    J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2007, 127, 4948-4960.
  2.  Jeske, R. C., Rowley, J. M., Coates, G. W.  “Pre-Rate-Determining Selectivity in the Terpolymerization of Epoxides, Cyclic Anhydrides, and CO2:  A One-Step Route to Diblock Copolymers ” Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2008, 47, 6041-6044.
  3.  Johnson, J. B., Bercot, E. A., Rowley, J. M., Coates, G. W., Rovis, T.  “Ligand-Dependent Catalytic Cycle and Role of Styrene in Nickel-Catalyzed Anhydride Cross-Coupling: Evidence for Turnover-Limiting Reductive Elimination” J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2007, 127, 2718-2725.