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Charles E. Schulz

Charles Schulz

General Interests
"My research is in molecular biophysics, an area that overlaps physics, chemistry and biology. I use spectroscopy—study of the molecule's physical properties by measuring the wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation absorbed—as a tool in working toward understanding how metalloproteins' structure allows them to perform their specific catalytic activities. Specifically, I use Mössbauer Spectroscopy, in which we measure the absorption of gamma rays by the nucleus of the iron found at the active site of many proteins. A good example is the hemoglobin protein, an iron-based molecule that carries oxygen in the blood.

Knowing the relationship between a protein's structure and its function is essential to understanding the operation of living systems. It also has the potential to aid in the treatment of genetic diseases. Several of our undergraduate physics majors have been helpful collaborators in my research, in developing the apparatus for collecting data in developing computer software for data analysis, and in using Mössbauer to study metalloproteins."

Years at Knox: 1981 to 2020

Education
Ph.D., Physics, 1979, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
M.S., Physics, 1973, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
B.A., Physics, magna cum laude, 1972, Knox College.

Teaching Interests
Introductory physics, physics of music, classical dynamics, quantum mechanics, digital electronics, astronomy, modern physics, theoretical physics.

Selected Professional Accomplishments

Honors/Grants

  • Knox Faculty Research / Creative Work Grant: Mossbauer Spectroscopy of Protein Model Compounds - 2016-2017.
  • Knox Faculty Research / Creative Work Grant: Refurbish of Crystal Coldhead - 2016-2017.
  • Scripps Foundation Grant "X-ray and Gamma Ray Spectroscopy Lab." $32,000 for purchase of X-ray fluorescence kit and gamma ray spectrometer for physics and chemistry instructional labs and research, June, 2012.
  • Scripps Foundation grant "Mössbauer Studies of Metalloproteins and Model Compounds." $38,000 for purchase of updated Mössbauer spectrometer, June, 2009.
  • Distinguished Service Citation, Illinois Section of the American Association of Physics Teachers (ISAAPT), 2004.
  • National Institute of General Medical Sciences grant #R01 -GM48513, "Mössbauer Studies of Heme Models and Mutant Myoglobins,"  total direct costs of $175,182, September 1, 1992 - August 31, 1996.

Publications
"Electronic Configuration and Ligand Nature of Five-Coordinate Iron Porphyrin Carbene Complexes: An Experimental Study," Yulon Liu, Jing Zhang, William Fuller, Charles E. Schulz, and Jianfeng Li, Journal of the American Chemical Society 139 (2017): 5023-5026.

"Identification of carbon-encapsulated iron nanoparticles as active species in non-precious metal oxygen reduction catalysts," Jason A. Varnell, Edmund C.M. Tse, Charles E. Schulz, Tim T. Fister, Richard T. Haasch, Janis Timoshenko, Anatoly I Frenkel, and Andrew A. Gerwith, Nature Communications 7 (2016): 12582.

"Synthesis, UV/vis, FT-IR and Mössbauer Spectroscopic Characterization and Molecular Structure of the BIS[4-(2-aminoethyl)morpholine] (tetrakis(4-metoxyphenyl) porphyrnato) Iron(II) Complex," Leila Ben Haj Hassen, Kaireddine Ezzayani, Yoann Rousselin, Christine Stern, Habib Nasri, and Charles E. Schulz, Journal of Molecular Structure 1110 (2016): 138-142.

"Unique Axial Imidazole Geometries of Fully Halogenated Iron(II) Porphyrin Complexes: Crystal Structures and Mössbauer Spectroscopic Studies," Bin Hu, Mingrui He, Zhen Yao, Charles E. Schulz, and Jianfeng Li, Inorganic Chemistry 44 (2016): 9632-9643.

"Aryl-substituted BIAN Complexes of Iron Dibromide: Synthesis, X-ray and Electronic Structure, and Catalytic Hydrosilylation Activity," Michael J. Supej, Alexander Volkov, Louisa Darko, Ryan A West, Jonathan M. Darmon, Charles E. Schulz, Kraig A. Wheeler, and Helen M. Hoyt, Polyhedron 115 (2016): 403-414.

"Measurement of Extreme Hyperfine Fields in Two-Coordinate High-Spin Fe2+ Complexes by Mössbauer Spectroscopy: Essentially Free-Ion Magnetism in the Solid State" Aimee M. Bryan, Chun-Yi Lin, Michio Sorai, Yuji Miyazaki, Helen M. Hoyt, Annelise Hablutzel, Anne LaPointe, William M. Reiff, Philip P. Power, and Charles E. Schulz, Inorg. Chem. 2014, 53, 12100-12107.

"Redesigning the Blue Copper Azurin into a Redox-Active Mononuclear Nonheme Iron Protein: Preparation and Study of Fe(II)-M121E Azurin" Jing Liu, Katlyn K. Meier, Shiliang Tan, Jun-long Zhang, Hongchao Guo, Charles E. Schulz, Howard Robinson, Mark J. Nilges, Eckard Münck, and Yi Lu, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2014,136, 12337-12344.

"Iron Nitrosyl ‘Natural' Porphyrinates: Does the Porphyrin Matter?" Graeme R. A. Wyllie, Nathan J. Silvernail, Allen G. Oliver, Charles E. Schulz, and W. Robert Scheidt, Inorg. Chem. 2014, 53, 3763-3768.

"Effect of the ruffled porphyrin ring on electronic structures: structure and characterization of [Fe(TalkylP)(OClO3)] and [Fe(TPrP)(THF)2]ClO4 (alkyl = Ethyl, Et and n-Propyl, Pr)." Ming Li, Allen G. Oliver, Teresa J. Neal, Charles E. Schulz, and W. Robert Scheidt, J. Porphyrins Phthalocyanines 17 (2013): 118-124.

"Metalloporphyrin Mixed-Valence p-Cation Radicals: [Fe(oxoOEC×/2)-(Cl)]2SbCl6, Structure, Magnetic Properties, and Near-IR Spectra." Ming Li, Teresa J. Neal, Graeme R. A. Wyllie, Allen G. Oliver, Charles E. Schulz, and W. Robert Scheidt, Inorg. Chem. 50 (2011): 9114-9121.

"New Perspectives on Iron-Ligand Vibrations of Oxyheme Complexes." Jianfeng Li, Qian Peng, Alexander Barabanschikov, Jeffrey W. Pavlik, E. Ercan Alp, Wolfgang Sturhahn, Jiyong Zhao, Charles E. Schulz, J. Timothy Sage, and W. Robert Scheidt, Chem. Eur. J. 17 (2011): 11178-11185.

"Synthesis, Spectroscopic, and Structural Characterization of the High-Spin Fe (II) cyanato-N and thiocyannato-N 'Picket Fence' Porphyrin Complexes." Mondher, Dhifet, Mohamed, Salah Belkhiria, Daran, Jean-Claude, Schulz, Charles E., and Nasri, Habib. Inorganic Chimica Acta 363 (2010): 3208-3213.

"Electronic Configuration of Five-Coordinate High-Spin Pyrazole-Ligated Iron (II) Porphyrinates." Hu, Chuanjiang, Noll, Bruce C., Schulz, Charles E., and Scheidt, W. Robert. Inorganic Chemistry 49 (2010): 10984-10991.

"Just a Proton: Distinguishing the Two Electronic States of Five-Coordinate High-Spin Iron (II) Porphyrinates with Imidazole/ate Coordination." Hu, Juanjiang, Sulok, Corinne D., Paulat, Florian, Lehnert, Nicolai, Twigg, Anna I., Hendrich, Michael P., Schulz, Charles E., and Scheidt, W. Robert. Journal of American Chemical Society 132 (2010): 3737-3750.

"Biologic Origin of Iron Nodules in a Marine Terrace Chronosequence, Santa Cruz, California." Schulz, Marjorie S., Vivit, Davison, Schulz, Charles E., Fitzpatrick, John, and White Art. Soil Science Scoiety of American Journal 74 (2010): 550-564.

Hydrosulfide (HS) Coordination in Iron Porphyrinates." Pavlik, Jeffrey W., Noll, Bruce C., Oliver, Allen G., Schulz, Charles E.. and Scheidt, W. Robert. Inorganic Chemistry 49 (2010): 1017-1026.

"Inter-ring Interactions in [Fe(TalkyIP)(C1)](alkyl=ethyl,n-propyl, n-hexyl) Complexes: Control by Meso-substituted Group." Li, Ming, Neal, Teresa, J., Ehlinger, Noelle, Schulz, Charles, E., and Scheidt, W. Robert. Journal Porphyrins Phthalocyanins 14 (2010): 115-122.

"The Nucleus as a Probe." The Physics of Proteins, Hans Frauenfelder (2010): 393-416.

"Structural and Magnetic Effects of meso-Substitution in Alkyl-Substituted Metalloporphyrinate -Cation Radicals: Characterization of [Fe(talkyIP)(C1)SbC1(alkyl = ethyl and n-propy)." Li, Ming, Neal, Teresa J., Wyllie, Graeme R.A., Schulz, Charles E., and Scheidt, W. Robert. Inorganic Chemistry 49 (2010): 8078-8085.

"Direct Spectroscopic Observation of Large Quenching of First-Order Orbital Angular Momentum with Bending in Monomeric, Two-Coordinate Fe(II) Primary Amido Complexes and the Profound Magnetic Effects of the Absence of Jahn and Renner-Teller Distortions in Rigorously Linear Coordination. "Merrill, W. Alexander, Stich, Troy A., Brynda, Marcin, Yeagle, Gregory J., Fettinger, James C., DeHnt, Raymond, Reiff, William M., Schulz, Charles E., Britt, David, and Power, Philip P., Journal of the American Chemistry Society, 131 (2009): 12693-12702.

"Comparison of Cyanide and Carbon Monoxide as Ligands in Iron(II) Porphyrinates". Li, Jianfeng, Noll, Bruce C., Schulz, Charles E., and W. Robert Scheidt, Angewandte Chemie International Edition 48 (2009): 1-5.

"Synthesis and Characterization of the Azido-bound Five-coordinate High-spin Iron(II) Picket Fence" Porphyrin Complex." Hachem, Ibtissem, Belkhiria, Mohamed Salah, Georgi, Michel, Schulz, Charles E., and Nasri, Habib. Polyhedron 28 (2009): 954-958.

"Consequences of a Linear Two-Coordinate Geometry for the Orbital Magnetism and Jahn-Teller Distortion Behavior of the High Spin Iron(II) Complex Fe[N(t-Bu)2]2."Reiff, William M., Schulz, Charles E., Whangbo, Myung-Whan, Seo, Jung In, Lee, Yoon Sup, Potratz, Gregory, Spicer, Charles W., and Girolami, Gregory S. Journal of the American Chemistry Society 131 (2009): 404-405.

"Hydrogen Bonding Effects on the Electronic Configuration of Five-Coordinate High-Spin Iron (II) Porphyrinates." Co-authored with Hu, C., Noll, B.C., Piccoli, P.M.B., Schultz, A.J., Scheidt, W.R. Journal of the American Chemistry Society 130 (2008): 3127-3136.

"Reversi-ble NO Motion in Crystalline [Fe(Porph)(1-MeIm)(NO)] Derivatives." Co-authored with Silvernail, N.J., Pavlik, J.W., Noll, B.C., Scheidt, W. R. Inorganic Chemistry 47 (2008): 912-920.

"Hydrogen Bonding Influence of 1,10-Phenanthroline on Five-Coorinate High-Spin Imidazole-Ligated Iron(II) Porphyrinates." Hu, C., Noll, B.C., Scheidt, W.R., Inorganic Chemistry 47 (2008): 8884-8895.

"Cya-nide: A Strong-Field Ligand for Ferrohemes and Hemoproteins?" Co-authored with Li, J., Lord, R.L., Noll, B.C., Mu-Hyun, B., Scheidt, W.R., Angewandte Chemie International Edition 47 (2008): 10144-10146.

"New Insights on the Electronic and Molecular Structure of Cyanide-Ligated Iron(III) Porphyrinates." Co-authored with Jiangfeng Li, Bruce C. Noll and W. Robert Scheidt. Inorganic Chemistry 46 (2007): 2286-2298.

"Four-Coordinate Iron(II) Porphyrinates: Electronic Configuration Change by Intermolecular Interaction." Co-authored with Chuanjiang Hu and W. Robert Scheidt. Inorganic Chemistry 46 (2007): 619-621.

"Electronic Configuration of High-Spin imidazole-Ligated Iron(II) Octaethylporphyrinates." Co-authored with C. Hu, J. An, W.R. Scheidt, and B.C. Noll. Inorganic Chemistry 45 (2006): 4177-4185.

"Coordination of Diatomic Ligands to Heme: Simply CO." Co-authored with N.J. Silvernail, W.R. Scheidt, and B.C. Noll. Inorganic Chemistry 45 (2006): 7050-7052.

"'Low-Spin BIS(2-methylimidazole) (octaethylporphyrinato) iron(II) Choloride (perp-[Fe(OEP)(2-MeHIm)2]Cl): A Consequence of Hydrogen Bonding?" Inorganic Chemistry 45 (2006): 9721-9728.

"On Spin Hamiltonian fits to Mossbauer spectra of high-spin Fe(II) porphyrinate systems." Co-authored with Chuanjiang Hu and W. Robert Scheidt. Hyperfine Interactions 170 (2006): 55-60.

"Fe Vibrational Spectroscopy of Myoglobin and Cytochrome f." Coauthored with Kristl L. Adams, Stanslav Tsoi, Jiusheng Yan, Stephen M. Durbin, Anant K. Ramdas, William A. Cramer, Wolfgang Sturhahn and E. Ercan Alp. Journal of Physical Chemistry B 110 (2006): 530-536.

"Proton-mediated Electron Configuration Change in High-Spin Iron(II) Porphyrinates." Co-authored with Chuanjiang Hu, Bruce C. Noll and W. Robert Scheidt. Journal of the American Chemical Society 127 (2005): 15018-15019.

"Heme Carbonyl: Environmental Effects on nC-O and Fe-C/C-O Bond Length Correlations." Co-authored with Nathan J. Silvernail, Arne Roth, Bruce C. Noll and W. Robert Scheidt. Journal of the American Chemical Society 127 (2005): 14422-14433.

"Electronic Configuration Assignment and the Importance of Low-Lying Excited States in High-Spin Imidazole-Ligated Iron(II) Porphyrinates." Co-authored with Knox student Christina Ellis '05 and C. Hu, A. Roth, M.K. Ellison, J. An, and W.R. Scheidt. Journal of the American Chemical Society 127 (2005): 5675-5688.

"Ligand Orientation Control in Low-Spin Six-Coordinate (Porphinato)iron(II) Species." Co-authored with Chuanjiang Hu, Bruce C. Noll and W. Robert Scheidt. Inorganic Chemistry 44 (2005): 4346-4358.

"Variable π-Bonding in Iron(II) Porphyrinates with Nitrite, CO, and tert-Butyl Isocyanide: Characterization of [Fe(TpivPP)(NO2)(CO)]-." Co-authored with Habib Nasri, Mary K. Ellison, Maoyu Shang, and W. Robert Scheidt. Inorganic Chemistry 43 (2004): 2932-2942.

"Five- to Six-Coordination in (Nitrosyl)iron(II) Porphyrinates: Effects of Binding the Sixth Ligand." Co-authored with Graeme R.A. Wyllie and W. Robert Scheidt. Inorganic Chemistry 42 (2003): 5722-5734.

"Effect of the Sixth Axial Ligand in CS-Ligated Iron(II)octaethylporphyrinates: Structural and Mössbauer Studies." Co-authored with Changsheng Cao, Sanjay Dahal, Mayou Shang, Alicia M. Beatty, Wendy Hibbs, and W. Robert Scheidt. Inorganic Chemistry 42 (2003): 5202-5210.

"Five-to Six-Coordination in (Nitrosyl)iron(II) Porphyrinates: Effects of Binding the Sixth Ligand." Co-authored with Graeme R.A.W. Wyllie and W. Robert Scheidt. Inorganic Chemistry 42 (2003): 5722-5734.

"Effect of the Sixth Azial Ligand in CS-Ligated Iron(II)octaethylporphyrinates: Structural and Mössbauer Studies." Co-authored with Changsheng Cao, S. Dahal, Mayou Shang, Alicia M. Beatty, Wendy Hibbs and W. Robert Scheidt. Inorganic Chemistry 42 (2003): 5202-5210.

"Mössbauer Studies of Fe(II)-nitrosyl Porphyrin Model Compounds." Co-authored with Graeme R.A. Wyllie and W. Robert Scheidt. Hyperfine Interactions (C) 5 (2003): 321-324.

"Nitrosyliron(III) Porphyrinates: Porphyrin Core Conformation and FeNO Geometry. Any Correlation?" Co-authored with Mary K. Ellison and W. Robert Scheidt. Journal of the American Chemical Society 124 (2002): 13833-13841.

"Structure of the Deoxymyoglobin Model [Fe(TPP)(2-MeHIm)] Reveals Unusual Porphyrin Core Distortions." Co-authored with Mary K. Ellison and W.Robert Scheidt. Inorganic Chemistry 41 (2002): 2173-2181.

"Unexpected Nitrosyl-Group Bending in Six-Coordinate {M(NO)}6 Bonded Aryl(iron) and -(ruthenium) Porphyrins." Co-authored with George B. Richter-Adoo, Ralph A. Wheeler, Christopher A. Hixson, Li Chen, Masood A. Khan, Mary K. Ellison, and W. Robert Scheidt. Journal of the American Chemical Society 123 (2001): 6314-6326.

"Molecular Structure of an Fe(IV) Species: {[Fe(TTP)]2N}SbCl6." Co-authored with Ming Li, Maoyu Shang, Noelle Ehlinger, and W. Robert Scheidt. Inorganic Chemistry, 2000.

"Magnetic Interactions in the High-Spin Iron(III) Oxoocctaethylchorinato [Fe(oxoOEC)(Cl)] and its π-Cation Radical [Fe(oxoOEC)(Cl)SbCl6." Co-authored with Teresa J. Neal, Seong-Joo Kang, Ilona Turowska-Tyrk, and W. Robert Scheidt. Inorganic Chemistry, 2000.

"Syntheses, Characterization, and Structural Studies of Several (Nitro)(nitrosyl)iron(III) Porphyrinates: [Fe(Porph)(NO2)(NO)]." Co-authored with Mary K. Ellison and W. Robert Scheidt. Inorganic Chemistry 38 (1999): 100-108.

"Aggregated Heme Detoxification Byproducts in Malarial Trophozoites: b-Hematin and Malaria Pigment Have a Single S=5/2 Iron Environment in Bulk Phase as Determined by EPR and Magnetic Mössbauer Spectroscopy." Co-authored with D. Scott Bohle, Peter Debrunner, Peter A. Jordan, and Sara K. Madsen. Journal of the American Chemical Society 120 (1998): 8255-8256.

"An Experimental and Density Functional Theoretical Investigation of Iron-57 Mössbauer Quadrupole Splittings in Organometallic and Heme-Model Compounds: Applications to Carbonmonoxy-Heme Protein Structure." Co-authored with R.H. Havlin, N. Godbout, R. Salzmann, J. Wojdelski, W. Arnold and E. Oldfield. Journal of the American Chemical Society 120 (1998): 3144-3151.

Presentations
"Mössbauer Day in the Modern Physics Course." Presentation, Illinois Section American Association of Physics Teachers Meeting, Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois, 2008.

"Mössbauer Studies of Fe(II)-nitrosyl Porphyrin Model Compounds." International Conference on Applications of the Mössbauer Effect, Oxford University, U.K., 2001.

Campus & Community Involvement

  • President, American Association of Physics Teachers, Illinois Section.
  • Member, American Physical Society, American Association of Physics Teachers, Council on Undergraduate Research, American Association for the Advancement of Science.
  • Member, International EPR Society.
  • Member, Phi Beta Kappa; Sigma Xi - The Scientific Research Society.
  • President, Galesburg Sunrise Rotary Club.
  • Member, Galesburg Community Chorus.
  • American Physical Society, American Association of Physics Teachers, Sigma Xi, Illinois Section AAPT, AAAS, ACRAS.

What Students Say
"Professor Schulz presents new material in a very thorough manner. He makes difficult concepts easy to grasp by fully explaining the ideas behind them. He has taught me how to approach and solve difficult problems. He expects much of his students but only after he has taught students how to use the tools necessary to solve a problem."
-Erik Madsen, Physics and Education Major