Welcome to the website for Dr. Karin Ruhlandt’s research group in the Syracuse University Department of Chemistry.

Dr. Karin Ruhlandt is a distinguished professor of chemistry at Syracuse University and is currently the Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences. Professor Ruhlandt is a German native and earned her Dr. rer. nat. degree in chemistry at Philipps-Universität Marburg, however much of the research she did early in her career was at the University of California (Davis) under Dr. Philip Power. Dr. Ruhlandt has established herself amongst a national and international network of main group chemists, which have lead to numerous collaborative projects with our group at SU and research groups all over the world. The journals our group most commonly publish in are a reflection of Dr. Ruhlandt’s international background. “Angewandte Chemie” and “Chemistry- A European Journal” are two examples of high impact peer-reviewed European journals our group has frequently published in, in addition to publishing in reputable American Chemical Society journals including “Inorganic Chemistry” and “The Journal of the American Chemical Society”. More information about recent journal articles put out by our group can be found in our publications section.

Our research falls within the field of inorganic chemistry, with a focus on coordination chemistry and X-ray crystallography. Specifically, our projects exclusively deal with the chemistry of main group metals, which are the s-block alkali and alkaline earth metals, the rare earth lanthanide metals, and the p-block post-transition metals. Main group metals are used in a diverse array of highly relevant applications and our group members are excited to be working on the cutting edge of this scientific field. Some projects our current members are working on include the development of metal compounds used as precursors for electronic thin-filmed materials used in the electronics industry. Other projects being worked on include the development of s-block metal-organic frameworks for hydrogen storage, which could either be used for safe storage and transportation of hydrogen gas, or for use in membranes in hydrogen fuel cells. More Information

Selected Publications