Welcome to the Groves Lab

Welcome to the Groves Lab
Department of Chemistry
Princeton University

The Groves Group (2008)
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Photo Credit: Chrissy White

The major thrust of our research program is at the interface of organic, inorganic, and biological chemistry. Many biochemical transformations as well as important synthetic and industrial processes are catalyzed by metals. Current efforts focus on understanding the mechanisms of metalloproteins, the design of new, biomimetic catalysts and the molecular mechanisms of these processes, studies of host-pathogen interactions related to iron acquisition by small molecule siderophores and molecular probes of the role of peroxynitrite in biological systems.

Prof. John T. Groves: e-mail jtgroves@princeton.edu

Group News

April 2009. Congratulations to Prof. Groves on being named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. The honor comes from one of the largest organizations in Europe working to advance the chemical sciences. Fellows are elected annually in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the field of chemistry. Also named this year from our department is Prof. Roberto Car.

May 2008. Congratulations to Prof. Groves on receiving the 2009 Frontiers in Biological Chemistry Award. The award is given by the Max Planck Institute for Bioinorganic Chemistry in Mulheim an der Ruhr, Germany. Established in 1995, the award honors an internationally renowned scientist in either bioinorganic chemistry or biological photochemistry. The awardees are invited to present a series of lectures, culminating in a special award lecture to a general audience. Previous awardees include Brian Hoffman (2007) and Harry Gray (2006).

Feb, 2008. Congratulations to Prof. Groves on receiving the 2008 "Grand Prix de la Fondation de la Maison de la Chimie." The award is given every other year "...honoring an original work in Chemistry of benefit to mankind, society or nature." They have cited Prof. Groves’ work with cytochrome P450 enzymes and model metalloporphyrin catalysts. He will share the prize with Jean-Pierre Maffrand, former head of Drug Discovery at Sanofi-Aventis, who discovered clopidogrel (Plavix) the anti-platelet aggregation drug. The connection is that Plavix becomes activated in the body by the actions of cytochrome P450 enzymes for which Jay and his group had determined the chemical mechanism. Recent winners of this prize have been Jerry Meinwald and Tom Eisner (2006), Neil Bartlett (2004) and Henri Kagan and Hisashi Yamamoto (2002). The 2008 laureates were announced in Paris in February.

Last updated: 04/28/2009

Questions & Suggestions: email Jyoti Tibrewala