Associate Professor
Organic Chemistry
Organometallics

B.S., 2010,  Bradley University
Ph.D., 2015, University of Wisconsin - Madison

Teaching Award
2018 CAS Educational Excellence Award

Office: S-051F
Phone: (812) 237-2182
E-mail: ryan.vanhoveln@indstate.edu

Research Interests

Dr. Van Hoveln is interested in the chemistry of organometallic complexes and their use as catalysts for new organic transformations. More specifically, his research focuses on using inexpensive and benign first row transition metals rather than the precious metals that are typically used in catalysis. Current work focuses on using copper to incorporate boranes and silanes into organic molecules which can be used as intermediate functional groups for further reactivity. Work in his lab involves learning a number of traditional organic techniques including handling pyrophoric reagents, performing reactions under an inert atmosphere, and using an NMR spectrometer.

Selected Publications

Posz, J. M.; Harruff, S. R.; Van Hoveln, R. Practical and scalable synthesis of bench-stable organofluorosilicate salts. Chem. Commun. 2020, 56, 13233-13236.

Wilkinson, J. R.; Nuyen, C. E.; Carpenter, T. S.; Harruff, S. R.; Van Hoveln, R. Copper-Catalyzed Carbon–Silicon Bond Formation. ACS Catal. 2019, 9, 8961−8979.

McCarty, B. J.; Thomas, B. M.; Zeller, M.; Van Hoveln, R. Synthesis of a Copper Silyl Complex by Disilane Activation. Organometallics 2018, 37, 2937-2940.