Education and Training

• Ph.D., Inorganic Chemistry with a specialization in Computational Chemistry; University of North Texas, Denton, Texas 2014
• BS, Inorganic Chemistry California State University, Bakersfield, California 1996
• Palisade Charter High School, 15777 Bowdoin Street Pacific Palisades, CA 9027 1984

Biography

After graduating from Palisade High School (Palisade Charter High School now), Pacific Palisade California in 1984, Dr. Bruce M. Prince went on to earn his BS degree in Chemistry from California State University Bakersfield (CSUB) in 1996. He continued his academic career by earning a Ph.D. degree in Inorganic Chemistry with a specialization in Computational Chemistry from the University of North Texas (UNT) in 2014. Texas Southern University (TSU) has employed Dr. Prince since 2014 as a Research Scientist and as an active Professor of Chemistry. Dr. Prince’s research involves, inorganic chemistry with specialization in computational chemistry, organometallic chemistry, catalyst design. Specific applications Dr. Prince have investigated include: methane-to-methanol (MTM), α-olefin hydroarylation, methane-plus-carbon dioxide to acetic acid, styrene catalysis, C-H bond activation and functionalization, olefin epoxidation, oxidation of metal-alkyl complexes, and C-N bond coupling. This includes chemistry of late transition metals and the main group metals. Dr. Prince career started as a postdoctoral fellow at TSU with Professor Christopher Tymczak, his research was funded through the Centers of Research Excellence in Science and Technology (CREST) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). On the campus of TSU, Dr. Prince is known as a remarkable scholarly instructor of chemistry, which is reflective in his “Rate My Professors” score card. Dr. Prince publications are listed below.

Peer-Reviewed Publications:
1. Substituent Effects of Carbon Dioxide Fixation: A DFT Investigation into the O=C=O bond Cleavage by Three-Coordinate Cobalt (I) Complex Followed by Methane C-H activation-Prince, B. M.; (Manuscript in Completed)

1. DFT Study of the Reaction of a Two-Coordinate Iron(II) Dialkyl Complex with Molecular Oxygen; Prince, B. M., Cundari, T. R.; Tymczak, C. J.; J. Phys. Chem. A, 2013, 117, 9245–9251 DOI: 10.1021/jp5082438
2. Oxy-functionalization of Group 9 and 10 Transition Metal Methyl Ligands: Use of Pyridine-based Hemi-labile Ligands; Prince, B. M., Gunnoe, T. B., Cundari, T. R.; Dalton Trans., 2014, 2014, 43, 7608-7614 DOI: 10.1039/C4DT00371C
3. PtII Catalyzed Hydrophenylation of α-Olefins: Variation of Linear: Branched Products as a Function of Ligand Donor Ability; McKeown, B. A., Prince, B. M., Ramiro, Z., Gunnoe, T. B., Cundari, T. R.; ACS Catal., 2014, 4, 1607-1615 DOI: 10.1021/cs400988w
4. Methane C—H Bond Activation by “Naked” Alkali Metal Imidyl and Alkaline Earth Metal Imide Complexes. The Role of Ligand Spin and Nucleophilicity; Prince, B. M., Cundari, T. R., J. Phys. Chem. A, 2013 117, 9245-9251 DOI: 10.1021/JP404951E
5. Flavin-catalyzed Insertion of Oxygen into Rhenium-Methyl Bonds; Pouy, M. J., Milczek, E. M., Gunnoe, T. B., Figg, T. M., Prince, B. M., Otten, B. M., Cundari, T. R., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2012, 134,12920-12923, (communication); DOI: 10.1021/JA3054139
6. C—H Bond Activation of Methane by PtII-N-Heterocyclic Carbene Complexes. The Importance of Having the Ligands in the Right Place at the Right Time; Prince, B. M., Cundari, T. R., Organometallics, 2012, 31, 1042–1048., DOI: 10.1021/OM201114D
7. DFT Study of the Reactivity of Methane and Dioxygen with d10-L2M Complexes; Cundari, T. R., Prince, B. M., J. Organomet. Chem. 2011, 696, 3982-3986., DOI: 10.1016/j.jorganchem.2011.06.015
8. Redox Insertion into Metal-Carbon Bonds. A Computational Study of Pt0 and PtII N-Heterocyclic Carbene Complexes; Prince, B. M., Cundari, T. R; (Manuscript is Completed – awaiting internal review by CCHF experimental collaborators).

Research Interests

My research focuses on designing novel organometallic catalysts using density functional theory (DFT) and ab initio methods, I have used the correlation consistent Composite Approach (ccCA) developed at UNT. Additionally, I have investigated hydrogen tunneling via nuclear-electronic orbital-MCSCF (NEO-MCSCF) approaches. Specific applications I have investigated include: α-olefin hydroarylation, styrene catalysis, C-H bond activation and functionalization, olefin epoxidation, oxidation of metal-alkyl complexes, C-N bond coupling, and CO2 fixation. Presently, I am a Visiting Assistant Professor at Texas Southern University (TSU) in the Chemistry Department working with the students and continuing my research. In addition, I am currently teaching physical chemistry, the upper division and graduate level inorganic courses.

Field 1, Field 2, Field 3

Research/Scholarly Activities

Title of Ph.D. Dissertation: The Mechanisms of Methane C-H Activation and Oxy-Insertion via Small Transition Metal Complexes: A DFT Computational Investigation

Recent Publications

Funding