Born and raised in South Korea, Eunsuk Kim earned her B.S. degree from Sangmyung University and her M.S. degree from Korea University, where she worked under the guidance of Professor Ho. G. Jang. In 1998, she moved to the USA and pursued her Ph.D. at Johns Hopkins University, conducting research under the supervision of Professor Kenneth D. Karlin and receiving her degree in 2004. Following her Ph.D., she completed two postdoctoral stints as an LSRF postdoctoral fellow, one in the laboratories of Professor Bruce Demple at Harvard University and the other in the laboratory of Professor John M. Essigmann at MIT. In 2008, she joined the faculty at Brown University, where her research focuses on bioinorganic chemistry of redox signaling, bio-inspired catalysts for chalcogen atom transfer, and molecular informatics and computing.
| Oakley, Kady M., Lehane, Ryan L., Zhao, Ziyi, Kim, Eunsuk. "Dioxygen reactivity of a biomimetic [4Fe-4S] compound exhibits [4Fe-4S] to [2Fe-2S] cluster conversion." Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry, vol. 228, 2022, pp. 111714. |
| Oakley, Kady M., Zhao, Ziyi, Lehane, Ryan L., Ma, Ji, Kim, Eunsuk. "Generation of H2S from Thiol-Dependent NO Reactivity of Model [4Fe-4S] Cluster and Roussin’s Black Anion." Inorganic Chemistry, vol. 60, no. 21, 2021, pp. 15910-15917. |
| Dombroski, Amanda, Oakley, Kady, Arcadia, Christopher, Nouraei, Farnaz, Chen, Shui Ling, Rose, Christopher, Rubenstein, Brenda, Rosenstein, Jacob, Reda, Sherief, Kim, Eunsuk. "Implementing parallel arithmetic via acetylation and its application to chemical image processing." Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, vol. 477, no. 2248, 2021. |
| Arcadia, Christopher E., Dombroski, Amanda, Oakley, Kady, Chen, Shui Ling, Tann, Hokchhay, Rose, Christopher, Kim, Eunsuk, Reda, Sherief, Rubenstein, Brenda M., Rosenstein, Jacob K. "Leveraging autocatalytic reactions for chemical domain image classification." Chemical Science, vol. 12, no. 15, 2021, pp. 5464-5472. |
| Lehnert N, Kim E, Dong HT, Harland JB, Hunt AP, Manickas EC, Oakley KM, Pham J, Reed GC, Alfaro VS. "The Biologically Relevant Coordination Chemistry of Iron and Nitric Oxide: Electronic Structure and Reactivity." Chemical Reviews, vol. 121, no. 24, 2021, pp. 14682-14905. |
| Arcadia, Christopher E., Kennedy, Eamonn, Geiser, Joseph, Dombroski, Amanda, Oakley, Kady, Chen, Shui-Ling, Sprague, Leonard, Ozmen, Mustafa, Sello, Jason, Weber, Peter M., Reda, Sherief, Rose, Christopher, Kim, Eunsuk, Rubenstein, Brenda M., Rosenstein, Jacob K. "Multicomponent molecular memory." Nature Communications, vol. 11, no. 1, 2020, pp. 691. |
| Seo, Junhyeok, Shearer, Jason, Williard, Paul G., Kim, Eunsuk. "Reactivity of a biomimetic W(iv) bis-dithiolene complex with CO2 leading to formate production and structural rearrangement." Dalton Transactions, vol. 48, no. 47, 2019, pp. 17441-17444. |
| Elrod LT, Kim E. "Lewis Acid Assisted Nitrate Reduction with Biomimetic Molybdenum Oxotransferase Complex." Inorganic Chemistry, vol. 57, no. 5, 2018, pp. 2594-2602. |
| Cao R, Elrod LT, Lehane RL, Kim E, Karlin KD. "A Peroxynitrite Dicopper Complex: Formation via Cu-NO and Cu-O2 Intermediates and Reactivity via O-O Cleavage Chemistry." J. Am. Chem. Soc., vol. 138, no. 49, 2016, pp. 16148-16158. |
| Speelman, Amy L., Zhang, Bo, Silakov, Alexey, Skodje, Kelsey M., Alp, E. Ercan, Zhao, Jiyong, Hu, Michael Y., Kim, Eunsuk, Krebs, Carsten, Lehnert, Nicolai. "Unusual Synthetic Pathway for an {Fe(NO)2}9Dinitrosyl Iron Complex (DNIC) and Insight into DNIC Electronic Structure via Nuclear Resonance Vibrational Spectroscopy." Inorganic Chemistry, vol. 55, no. 11, 2016, pp. 5485-5501. |
| Fitzpatrick, Jessica, Kim, Eunsuk. "New Synthetic Routes to Iron–Sulfur Clusters: Deciphering the Repair Chemistry of [2Fe–2S] Clusters from Mononitrosyl Iron Complexes." Inorganic Chemistry, vol. 54, no. 22, 2015, pp. 10559-10567. |
| Fitzpatrick, Jessica, Kim, Eunsuk. "Synthetic Modeling Chemistry of Iron–Sulfur Clusters in Nitric Oxide Signaling." Accounts of Chemical Research, vol. 48, no. 8, 2015, pp. 2453-2461. |
| Skodje, Kelsey M., Kwon, Min-Young, Chung, Su Wol, Kim, Eunsuk. "Coordination-triggered NO release from a dinitrosyl iron complex leads to anti-inflammatory activity." Chemical Science, vol. 5, no. 6, 2014, pp. 2374. |
| Tran, Camly T., Williard, Paul G., Kim, Eunsuk. "Nitric Oxide Reactivity of [2Fe-2S] Clusters Leading to H 2 S Generation." J. Am. Chem. Soc., vol. 136, no. 34, 2014, pp. 11874-11877. |
| Fitzpatrick, Jessica, Kalyvas, Harris, Filipovic, Milos R., Ivanović-Burmazović, Ivana, MacDonald, John C., Shearer, Jason, Kim, Eunsuk. "Transformation of a Mononitrosyl Iron Complex to a [2Fe-2S] Cluster by a Cysteine Analogue." J. Am. Chem. Soc., vol. 136, no. 20, 2014, pp. 7229-7232. |
| Seo, Junhyeok, Williard, Paul G., Kim, Eunsuk. "Deoxygenation of Mono-oxo Bis(dithiolene) Mo and W Complexes by Protonation." Inorganic Chemistry, vol. 52, no. 15, 2013, pp. 8706-8712. |
| Fitzpatrick, Jessica, Kalyvas, Harris, Shearer, Jason, Kim, Eunsuk. "Dioxygen mediated conversion of {Fe(NO)2}9 dinitrosyl iron complexes to Roussin's red esters." Chem. Commun., vol. 49, no. 49, 2013, pp. 5550. |
| Liu, Chunhua, Kim, Eunsuk, Demple, Bruce, Seeman, Nadrian C. "A DNA-Based Nanomechanical Device Used To Characterize the Distortion of DNA by Apo-SoxR Protein." Biochemistry, vol. 51, no. 5, 2012, pp. 937-943. |
| Tran, Camly T., Kim, Eunsuk. "Acid-Dependent Degradation of a [2Fe–2S] Cluster by Nitric Oxide." Inorganic Chemistry, vol. 51, no. 19, 2012, pp. 10086-10088. |
| Skodje, Kelsey M., Williard, Paul G., Kim, Eunsuk. "Conversion of {Fe(NO)2}10 dinitrosyl iron to nitrato iron(iii) species by molecular oxygen." Dalton Trans., vol. 41, no. 26, 2012, pp. 7849. |
| Seo, Junhyeok, Kim, Eunsuk. "O-Atom Exchange between H 2 O and CO 2 Mediated by a Bis(dithiolene)tungsten Complex." Inorganic Chemistry, vol. 51, no. 15, 2012, pp. 7951-7953. |
| Tran, Nhut Giuc, Kalyvas, Harris, Skodje, Kelsey M., Hayashi, Takahiro, Moënne-Loccoz, Pierre, Callan, Paige E., Shearer, Jason, Kirschenbaum, Louis J., Kim, Eunsuk. "Phenol Nitration Induced by an {Fe(NO) 2 } 10 Dinitrosyl Iron Complex." J. Am. Chem. Soc., vol. 133, no. 5, 2011, pp. 1184-1187. |
| Kim, Eunsuk, Rye, Peter T., Essigmann, John M., Croy, Robert G. "A bifunctional platinum(II) antitumor agent that forms DNA adducts with affinity for the estrogen receptor." Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry, vol. 103, no. 2, 2009, pp. 256-261. |
| Chufán, Eduardo E., Mondal, Biplab, Gandhi, Thirumanavelan, Kim, Eunsuk, Rubie, Nick D., Moënne-Loccoz, Pierre, Karlin, Kenneth D. "Reactivity Studies on Fe III −(O 2 2- )−Cu II Compounds: Influence of the Ligand Architecture and Copper Ligand Denticity." Inorganic Chemistry, vol. 46, no. 16, 2007, pp. 6382-6394. |
| Kim, Eunsuk, Kamaraj, Kaliappan, Galliker, Benedikt, Rubie, Nick D., Moënne-Loccoz, Pierre, Kaderli, Susan, Zuberbühler, Andreas D., Karlin, Kenneth D. "Dioxygen Reactivity of Copper and Heme−Copper Complexes Possessing an Imidazole−Phenol Cross-Link." Inorganic Chemistry, vol. 44, no. 5, 2005, pp. 1238-1247. |
| Kim, Eunsuk, Helton, Matthew E., Lu, Shen, Moënne-Loccoz, Pierre, Incarvito, Christopher D., Rheingold, Arnold L., Kaderli, Susan, Zuberbühler, Andreas D., Karlin, Kenneth D. "Tridentate Copper Ligand Influences on Heme−Peroxo−Copper Formation and Properties: Reduced, Superoxo, and μ-Peroxo Iron/Copper Complexes." Inorganic Chemistry, vol. 44, no. 20, 2005, pp. 7014-7029. |
| Kim, Eunsuk, Shearer, Jason, Lu, Shen, Moënne-Loccoz, Pierre, Helton, Matthew E., Kaderli, Susan, Zuberbühler, Andreas D., Karlin, Kenneth D. "Heme/Cu/O 2 Reactivity: Change in Fe III −(O 2 2- )−Cu II Unit Peroxo Binding Geometry Effected by Tridentate Copper Chelation." J. Am. Chem. Soc., vol. 126, no. 40, 2004, pp. 12716-12717. |
| Karlin, Kenneth D., Kim, Eunsuk. "Ligand Influences in Heme–Copper O2-Chemistry as Synthetic Models for Cytochrome c Oxidase." Chem. Lett., vol. 33, no. 10, 2004, pp. 1226-1231. |
| Kim, Eunsuk, Chufán, Eduardo E., Kamaraj, Kaliappan, Karlin, Kenneth D. "Synthetic Models for Heme−Copper Oxidases." Chemical Reviews, vol. 104, no. 2, 2004, pp. 1077-1134. |
| Kim E1, Helton ME, Wasser IM, Karlin KD, Lu S, Huang HW, Moenne-Loccoz P, Incarvito CD, Rheingold AL, Honecker M, Kaderli S, Zuberbuhler AD. "Superoxo, μ- peroxo and μ-oxo complexes from heme/O2 and heme-Cu/O2 reactivity: Copper-ligand influences in cytochrome c oxidase models." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 100, 2003, pp. 3623- 3628. |
Over the last few decades, unprecedented advances in structural biology and molecular biology have enabled scientists to appreciate life processes at the molecular level. These advances provide many new and exciting opportunities for chemists who are interested in understanding this molecular vision of life. Taking advantage of lessons learned from biology, the Kim research group in turn applies chemical principles to suggest new paradigms for understanding life processes and/or to invent artificial systems that can imitate nature via synthetic modeling chemistry. The philosophy behind the synthetic modeling approach is that the intrinsic properties of atoms and molecules do not change. Although a mechanism of protein function can only be learned from the exact protein in its native state, biomimetic chemistry can show what is possible. The goal of our research is to establish general chemical (reactivity) principles applicable to protein action or to human innovations.
[1] Chemistry of Iron-Sulfur Clusters in Redox Signaling
Proteins that incorporate [Fe-S] clusters perform crucial roles in various biological functions, including gene regulation. Organisms have evolved to utilize the innate reactivity of [Fe-S] clusters with small molecule oxidants, such as NO, O2, H2O2, etc., that are produced during oxidative or nitrosative stress, to monitor the cellular environment. When these small molecule oxidants disrupt [Fe-S] clusters in regulatory proteins, this directly links to the activation of the protein’s defensive functions or gene transcription/translation. However, there is limited understanding of the structural changes that occur in proteins after cluster modifications and the potential mechanisms involved in sensing processes. Our research aims to uncover the interconnection of critical redox components, including [Fe-S] clusters, nitric oxide, molecular oxygen (O2), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), and thiols, in propagating their signals. Through synthetic modeling chemistry, we identify novel chemical reactivities unique to [Fe-S] clusters that can offer insights into the redox signaling processes facilitated by [Fe-S] clusters.
[2] Biomimetic Catalysts for Energy and Environmental Applications
Human activity is having a devastating impact on our environment. When we burn fossil fuels like gasoline and diesel, we release carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. These fuels also contain impurities like N- or S-containing molecules, which, when burned, produce harmful air pollutants such as nitrous oxide (N2O) and sulfur dioxide (SO2). Meanwhile, agricultural activities and improper disposal of rocket fuels have led to nitrate (NO3–) and perchlorate (ClO4–) contamination in groundwater. Despite this dire situation, some microorganisms have evolved enzymes containing molybdenum (Mo) or tungsten (W) that can efficiently break down these stable molecules through an oxygen atom transfer (OAT) reaction. Inspired by this, our research group aims to develop molecular OAT catalysts that use discrete Mo and W complexes to facilitate important O- and S-atom transfer reactions.
[3] Molecular Informatics and Computing
Over the last half-century, computing has made incredible strides, bringing us many of the conveniences of modern life. However, there are concerns that these advances will slow down in the years to come. In response, the Kim research group has teamed up with experts in theoretical and physical chemistry, electrical engineering, and computer science to explore new ways of computing using molecules and chemical reactions. Our team has made exciting progress in this field, showing that small molecules in mixtures can store information effectively and chemical reactions can be used to run parallel pattern recognition algorithms. By exploring alternative computing paradigms, we hope to overcome the challenges facing conventional computation and continue making advances that benefit society.
| Year | Degree | Institution |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | PhD | Johns Hopkins University |
| 1996 | MS | Korea University |
| 1994 | BS | Sangmyung University |
| Name | Title |
|---|---|
| Reda, Sherief | Professor of Engineering, Professor of Computer Science |
| Robinson, Jerome | Associate Professor of Chemistry |
| Rose, Christopher | Professor of Engineering, Director of STEMJazz Programs |
| Rosenstein, Jacob | Associate Professor of Engineering |
| Rubenstein, Brenda | Associate Professor of Chemistry, Associate Professor of Physics |
| Weber, Peter | Jesse Houghton Metcalf Professor of Chemistry |
| Williard, Paul | Professor of Chemistry |
| CHEM 0080G - Chemistry in Movies |
| CHEM 0330 - Equilibrium, Rate, and Structure |
| CHEM 0400 - Biophysical and Bioinorganic Chemistry |
| CHEM 0500 - Inorganic Chemistry |
| CHEM 1060 - Advanced Inorganic Chemistry |
| CHEM 1560J - Topics in Bioinorganic Chemistry |
| CHEM 2870 - Departmental Colloquia |
