Dr. Jamie Ritch
Title: Professor
Phone: 204.786.9730
Office: 2RC048 - Lab: 3RC019
Building: Richardson College for the Environment and Science Complex
Email: j.ritch@uwinnipeg.ca
Degrees:
PDF University of Lethbridge, 2009 – 2011
Ph.D. (Inorganic Chemistry) University of Calgary, 2009
B.Sc. Hons. (Chemistry) University of Calgary, 2005
Biography:
Dr. Jamie Ritch received his B.Sc. (2005) and Ph.D. (2009) degrees from the University of Calgary studying synthetic main group chemistry with applications in metal telluride materials. As a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Lethbridge (2009-2011) he investigated phosphorus-containing spectator ligands for organometallic transition metal catalyst design.
He joined the Department of Chemistry at the University of Winnipeg in 2011 and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2015. In addition to teaching inorganic chemistry courses, he is involved with science outreach initiatives like Science Rendezvous.
Courses:
CHEM 2203/3 Organic Chemistry II
CHEM 2401/3 Inorganic Chemistry I
CHEM 3401/3 Inorganic Chemistry II
CHEM 4401/3 Organometallic d-Block
CHEM 4403/3 Advanced Main Group Chemistry
Research Interests:
The Ritch Group research program explores the chemistry of new ligands containing the “heavy chalcogen” elements selenium and tellurium. We aim to correlate the structure of the ligands with properties of the resulting metal complexes.
Selenium and tellurium have a wide range of industrial and consumer applications, from solar cell production and steel manufacture to antidandruff shampoos. Nature has evolved complex enzymes featuring selenium as a critical component in controlling biochemical reactions, making it an essential micronutrient. Despite this, the use of the heavy chalcogens in manmade chemicals lags behind other common elements such as phosphorus and sulfur. Given this high potential for new discoveries, selenium and tellurium are being increasingly researched to find new applications. In 2015, Canada was the fourth-largest producer of these elements in the world, providing further incentive to explore the chemistry of these elements.
We are preparing a library of related ligands, and systematically investigate their structure-activity relationships to establish protocols for the future rationale design of molecular metal complexes. The work will generate new discoveries of the fundamental chemistry of these ligands, which in turn will allow them to be incorporated into compounds with real-world applicability, such as catalysts for production of fine chemicals or pharmaceuticals, or improved light-harvesting materials.
Website
Publications:
Recent Publications (since 2015)
Bloomfield, H. R.; Ritch, J. S.* “A new polymorph of phenylselenium trichloride” Acta Cryst. 2019, C75, 1471-1474.
Ritch, J. S.* “Synthesis and coordination chemistry of cyclic seleno- and telluroureas” Phys. Sci. Rev. 2019, 4, 20170128.
Penner, S. C.; Kalvandi, M.; Ritch, J. S.* “A structural study of 2,4-dimethylaniline derivatives” Acta Cryst. 2018, E74, 1276-1280.
Perras, J. H.; Mezibroski, S. M. J.; Wiebe, M. A.; Ritch, J. S.* “Diverse Silver(I) Coordination Chemistry with Cyclic Selenourea Ligands” Dalton Trans. 2018, 47, 1471-1478.
Charette, B. J.; Ritch, J. S.* “A Selenium-Containing Diarylamido Pincer Ligand: Synthesis and Coordination Chemistry with Group 10 Metals” Inorg. Chem. 2016, 55, 6344-6350.
Ritch, J. S.;* Charette, B. J. “An experimental and computational comparison of phosphorus- and selenium-based ligands for catalysis” Can. J. Chem. 2016, 94, 386-391.
Chivers, T.; Ritch, J. S.* “A square-planar tellurium(II) complex with Te,Te′-chelating ligands” Acta Cryst. 2015, C71, 407-409.
Charette, B. J.; Ritch, J. S.* “Crystal structure of 1-bromo-2-(phenylselenyl)benzene” Acta Cryst. 2015, E71, 327-329.