Dr. Lee Roecker - NMU Chemistry

Phone: 906-373-9259
E-mail:  lroecker@nmu.edu

My students explore the coordination chemistry of sulfur containing ligands (such as thioethers or thioureas) to cobalt(III).  These projects are a blend of a variety of chemistry disciplines.  Students often prepare the organic molecule we want to attach to cobalt, the appropriate cobalt precursor, purify the resulting complexes, and then characterize them by UV-visible and NMR spectroscopies.

My primary teaching interests are introductory chemistry courses such as CH 105 (Chemical Principles), CH 111 (General Chemistry I), and CH 112 (General Chemistry II).  I truly enjoy helping students obtain a solid chemistry background.  In addition, I currently teach laboratory sections of CH 321 & 322 (Organic Chemistry) and lecture and laboratory for CH 440 (Forensic Chemistry).

• “Reaction of 2-pyridylmethylthiourea Derivatives with [(en)2Co(OSO2CF3)2]+ Induces Hypodentate Coordination of an Ethylenediamine Ligand.” Lee Roecker, Alison Anderson,* Aladdin Al-Haddad,* Cawas Engineer, * Joan Fetty,*  Charles Kiaza, * Nicholas Noinaj, * Nathan L. Coker, Jeanette Krause and Sean Parkin. Accepted for publication.  Australian Journal of Chemistry, February 2014.
• “Synthesis and Characterization of [(en)2Co]3+ Complexes Coordinated by Substituted Thiourea Ligands.” Lee Roecker, Mohammed Aiyegbo,* Aladdin Al-Haddad,* Emily Fletcher,* Ravi KC,* Jason Hurst,* Timothy Lane,* Ryan Larsen,* Nicholas Noinaj,* Say Lee Teh,* Samuel K. Wade,* and Sean Parkin.  Australian Journal of Chemistry 2013, 66, 944—951.
• “Synthesis and Base Hydrolysis of a Cobalt(III) Complex Coordinated by a Thioether Ligand: An Advanced Inorganic Chemistry Experiment.”  Lee Roecker.  Journal of Chemical Education 2008, 85, 1562-1565.
• “Oral Examinations—Assessing Student Understanding and Teaching Effectiveness.”  Lee Roecker.  Journal of Chemical Education 2007, 84, 1663-1666.
•  “Using the Primary Literature: An Integrative Exercise in Quantitative Analysis.”  Lee Roecker.  Journal of Chemical Education 2007, 84, 1380-1384.
• “A Science Portfolio.”  Lee Roecker, Jay Baltisberger, Matthew Saderholm, Paul Smithson and Larry Blair.  Journal of College Science Teaching 2007, 36, 36-44.
•  “Guiding The Passion.” Lee Roecker.  Journal of the Assembly for Extended Perspectives on Learning (JAEPL). 12 (Winter) 2006-2007.

*indicates undergraduate student