Annmarie C. O Donoghue

Biography

AnnMarie O'Donoghue was born in Dublin (Ireland) and graduated from University College Dublin in 1995 (B.Sc. 1st class, Eva Philbin medal awarded for graduating top of BSc class).She remained at the same institution for her PhD studies in physical organic chemistry under the supervision of Professor Rory More O’Ferrall. Her PhD was awarded in November 1999 for her research on the formation and reactions of reactive carbocation intermediates. In 1999, she was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to pursue postdoctoral studies in the research group of Professor John Richard in the University at Buffalo, the State University of New York (USA). There she worked on the dynamics of the proton transfer reactions of triosephosphate isomerase. She returned to University College Dublin for a brief period in 2002 as a short-term Lecturer in Organic Chemistry. In 2003, she was awarded a Marie Curie Fellowship for postdoctoral studies on the directed evolution of proteins with Dr Florian Hollfelder in the Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge (UK). From 2004-2005, she again returned to University College Dublin as a Lecturer in Organic Chemistry. In 2005 she moved to a Lectureship in Organic Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry, Durham University (UK). Apart from a career break in 2008-2009 due to the birth of twins, she has since remained in Durham University as an independent researcher and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2012 and Reader in 2016. Her research focuses on mechanistic studies of organic and biological transformations. She is the 2014 Winner of the Josef Loschmidt Award for Physical Organic Chemistry.

Research Interest

Our research focuses on organic and biological reaction mechanisms with an emphasis on catalysis. Through understanding the strategies underpinning catalysis, we aim to inform the design of improved (enzymic and non-enzymic) catalyst systems. Our research aligns with both the 'Biological Chemistry' and ‘Sustainable Chemistry and Catalysis' Research Groupings in the department and also overlaps with key themes associated with the ‘Biophysical Sciences Institute’. We use a physical organic chemistry (POC) approach towards deciphering reaction mechanisms based on organic synthesis, reaction kinetics and structure-activity studies. We are well-equipped for a range of kinetic methods. Our laboratory houses CARY50 and CARY100 UV-visible spectrophotometers, both equipped with cell changers, that may be thermostatted to temperatures in the 0-100 °C range, and an Applied Photophysics stopped flow spectrophotometer with UV-visible, diode array and fluorescence detection. For studies in predominantly aqueous reaction media, we possess a Radiometer TitraLab 856 workstation for automatic pH-endpoint titrations and for reactions requiring pH-Stat control. Our kinetic methods normally rely on the analysis of the incorporation of 2H/13C and other isotopic labels for which we use the outstanding, state-of-the-art NMR and mass spectral facilities in the department.