Program | Reaction Mechanisms Conference 2026

RMC 2026 Program

Program for the 40th Reaction Mechanisms Conference to be held at 麻豆国产, Holland, Michigan, on June 7鈥�10, 2026.

Schedule

All sessions and breaks are in the Haworth Ballroom (rooms 134/136/140) unless indicated otherwise. A PDF program book is available for download and will be provided in hard-copy at the meeting. A full PDF abstract book will be sent via email to registered participants only, but will not be printed or posted online.

Sunday, June 7

	Event/Session	Details/Speakers
3鈥�5&苍产蝉辫;辫.尘.	Registration, Check-In, and Welcome Reception (Haworth Prefunction Area)
5:15鈥�5:30&苍产蝉辫;辫.尘.	Opening Remarks	Jason Gillmore
5:30鈥�7:30&苍产蝉辫;辫.尘.	Expanding Catalysis in Organic Chemistry	Session chair: Judy Wu Valery Fokin 鈥� University of Southern California 鈥淢echanisms at the Edge: Emergent Reactivity at Water鈥揙rganic Interfaces鈥� Joseph Moran 鈥� University of Ottawa 鈥淓lectric Field Catalysis and the Metabolic Origin of Life鈥� Reginald Mills 鈥� University of Houston 鈥淧aramagnetic First-Row Organometallic Catalysts Involved in Cross-Coupling of Thiol-, Alcohol-, and Carboxylic Acid鈥揇erived C(sp3) Electrophiles鈥� Raul Hernandez 鈥� Rice University 鈥淣ot All Nets Catch the Ball鈥�
7:30鈥�9:30&苍产蝉辫;辫.尘.	Poster session with light reception (2 hrs)

Monday, June 8

	Event/Session	Details/Speakers
7:45鈥�8:30&苍产蝉辫;补.尘.	Complimentary light breakfast
8:30鈥�10:30&苍产蝉辫;补.尘.	Mechanistic Research in Industry	Session chair: Tom Peterson John Fetzer 鈥� Chevron 鈥淐atalytic Hydrocracking and the Large Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons鈥� Stephanie Valenzuela 鈥� Dow 鈥淜eeping it Cool Space 鈥� Thermal Interface Materials using Key Crosslinking Strategies for Reliability鈥� Shashank Shekhar 鈥� AbbVie 鈥淢ethods and Tools to Meet the Synthetic Needs of Process Chemistry鈥� Yunlong Zhang 鈥� Aramco 鈥淯nexpected Thermal Reaction Regimes in Aromatic Molecular Growth鈥�
10:30鈥�11&苍产蝉辫;补.尘.	Coffee Break (30 mins)
11&苍产蝉辫;补.尘.鈥�12&苍产蝉辫;辫.尘.	Industry Careers panel, sponsored by AbbVie	Panel Chair: Jeff Kallemeyn
12鈥�5:30&苍产蝉辫;辫.尘.	Free afternoon for Tourism and Networking 鈥� lunch and dinner on your own Motorcoach to Beach or Vineyard available
5:30鈥�7:30&苍产蝉辫;辫.尘.	Synthetic Methods and Chemical Reactivity	Session chair: Julie Peterson Robert Mayer 鈥� Technical University of Munich 鈥淗igh-Throughput Kinetics Enable Predicting Reactivity and Mechanisms of Catalysis in Water鈥� Artur Mardyukov 鈥� Justus-Liebig University Giessen 鈥淥n-Surface and Matrix-Isolation Strategies for Accessing Elusive Pnictogen鈥揘itrogen Species鈥� Melanie Chiu 鈥� Michigan State University 鈥淟ight as a Tool for Polymer Synthesis鈥� Steven Lopez 鈥� Northeastern University 鈥淢achine-Learning Accelerated Simulations of Organic Photochemical Reactions鈥�
7:30鈥�9:30&苍产蝉辫;辫.尘.	Poster session with light reception (2 hrs)

Tuesday, June 9

	Event/Session	Details/Speakers
7:45鈥�8:30&苍产蝉辫;补.尘.	Complimentary light breakfast
8:30鈥�10:30&苍产蝉辫;补.尘.	Mechanistic Research in Undergraduate Institutions	Session chair: Ren Wiscons Amanda Turek 鈥� Williams College 鈥淢echanistic Investigations of Nucleophilic Aromatic Substitution Reactions鈥� Dasan Thamattoor 鈥� Colby College 鈥淏ounties from Phenanthrene: Reactive Intermediates and Unusual Molecules鈥� Daniela Arias-Rotondo 鈥� Kalamazoo College 鈥淢anganese(II) Complexes for Sustainable Photochemistry鈥� Andrew Petit 鈥� California State U, Fullerton 鈥淟ewis Acid Activation of Ground- and Excited-State Proton Transfer鈥�
10:30鈥�11&苍产蝉辫;补.尘.	Coffee Break (30 mins)
11&苍产蝉辫;补.尘.鈥�12&苍产蝉辫;辫.尘.	PUI Careers panel, sponsored by 麻豆国产	Panel Chair: Jason Gillmore
12鈥�1:30 p.m.	Undergrad Context Lunch (Haworth Room 156/158)	Discussion Chair: Ron Brisbois
12鈥�1:30 p.m.	Lunch Break (1 hr 30 mins) 鈥� lunch not provided (except undergrads, see above)
1:30鈥�3&苍产蝉辫;辫.尘.	Predicting Reactivity: Computations and Data-Driven Models	Session chair: Maduka Ogba Anat Milo 鈥� Ben-Gurion University 鈥淒ata Science Strategies in Organocatalysis鈥� Peng Liu 鈥� University of Pittsburg 鈥淔lexibility Effects in Catalytic Organic Reactions鈥� Alistair Sterling 鈥� University of Texas, Dallas 鈥淣umbers and Insight in the Age of Universal Machine-Learned Interatomic Potentials: Implications for Reactivity Prediction鈥�
3鈥�3:30&苍产蝉辫;辫.尘.	Coffee Break (30 mins)
3:30鈥�6&苍产蝉辫;辫.尘.	Tribute to Professor Peter Chen	Session chair: Peter Schreiner Introduction Chris Slootweg 鈥� University of Amsterdam 鈥淐atalyzing a Sustainable Future: Radical Redesign of Chemistry for Circularity鈥� Renana Poranne 鈥� Technion 鈥� Israel Institute of Technology 鈥淥ld Ideas, New Tricks: Additivity in Polycyclic Aromatic Systems鈥� Marc-Etienne Moret 鈥� Utrecht University 鈥淭eaching Nickel New Tricks with 蟺-Pincer ligands鈥� RMC Honoree: Peter Chen 鈥� ETH-Zurich 鈥淔LP Activation of Methyltrioxorhenium as an Olefin Metathesis Catalyst: a Homogenous Model for Heterogenous Rhenia Catalysts鈥�
6鈥�7&苍产蝉辫;辫.尘.	Reception (open to all)
7鈥�9&苍产蝉辫;辫.尘.	Conference Banquet (tickets required) Haworth Dining Room (room 104)

Wednesday, June 10

7:45鈥�8:30&苍产蝉辫;补.尘.	Complimentary light breakfast
8:30鈥�10:30&苍产蝉辫;补.尘.	Functional Organic 蟺-Systems	Session chair: Jeremy Bard Vladimir Popik 鈥� University of Georgia 鈥淯nusual Features of SPAAC Reactions. Experiment vs Calculations鈥� Arthur Winter 鈥� Iowa State University 鈥淗ow to Break a Bond with Light鈥� Malika Jeffries 鈥� Boston University 鈥淒esign and Synthesis of Organic Electronic Materials鈥� Benjamin King 鈥� University of Nevada, Reno
10:30鈥�11&苍产蝉辫;补.尘.	Coffee Break (30 mins)
11&苍产蝉辫;补.尘.鈥�12:30&苍产蝉辫;辫.尘.	Spectroscopic Windows into Molecular Mechanisms	Session chair: Nathanael Kazmierczak Cl谩udio Nunes 鈥� University of Coimbra 鈥淭unneling-Driven Reactivity of Arylnitrenes and Related Intermediates in Cryogenic Matrices鈥� Ruth Gschwind 鈥� University of Regensburg 鈥淎ssembly and Flexibility: Key Aspects of Photo-, Organo-, and Ion Pair Catalysts Revealed by NMR-Spectroscopy鈥� Carlos Crespo-Hernandez 鈥� Case Western Reserve University 鈥淒iscovering New Chemistry in an Old Molecule: A Twisted Ground State Intermediate Leads to the Formation of Uracil Photohydrates in RNA After UV Excitation鈥�
12:30鈥�12:45&苍产蝉辫;辫.尘.	Closing remarks and instructions, Conference Survey
1鈥�1:10&苍产蝉辫;辫.尘.	Motorcoach Shuttle Departs Haworth Hotel for GRR (arrives by 12:15 p.m., sufficient for domestic departures later than 1:45 p.m., international departures later than 2:15 p.m.)

Thursday, June 11

11:20鈥�11:30&苍产蝉辫;补.尘.	Motorcoach Shuttle Departs Haworth Hotel for GRR (arrives by 1:45 p.m., sufficient for domestic departures later than 3:15 p.m., international departures later than 3:45 p.m.)

Abstracts

Abstracts for posters and invited talks can be submitted through noon Eastern Daylight Time on Friday, May 15, 2026. Posters must be no bigger than 47.5" x 47.5" (120 x 120 cm). Tacks will be provided. Templates for abstract submission are provided, along with the abstract submission form, here. A print program will be available on site, with a PDF of abstracts sent directly to participants before the meeting and available via a QR code at the meeting, but not posted publicly.

Posters

Formal poster sessions will be held on Sunday and Monday evenings. But posters should be posted at check-in on Sunday and not removed until Tuesday night or Wednesday morning so that they are available for informal browsing and discussion throughout the meeting.

Posters must be no bigger than 47.5" x 47.5" (120 x 120 cm). Tacks will be provided.

Download a list of posters by title and (lead) presenter along with poster # assignments (alphabetical by lead presenter last name).