Bio
Dr. Beagan joined the faculty of USAFA as an Assistant Professor in Fall 2024. Prior to USAFA, he received his PhD in inorganic chemistry from Indiana University under the mentorship of Kenneth Caulton, where his research primarily focused on chemical upcycling of nitrogen oxyanion pollutants using transition metal complexes equipped with redox-active ligands. He then completed a post-doctoral appointment in the lab of Nathaniel Szymczak, where he developed metal-ligand complexes featuring appended borane Lewis acids for chemical transformations relevant to the biogeochemical N2 and O2 cycles.
Education
Doctor of Philosophy, Inorganic Chemistry, Indiana University, 2021.
Bachelor of Science, Belmont University, 2016.
Professional Experience
Assistant Professor of Chemistry, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado (Fall 2024 – present)
Post-Doctoral Research Associate, University of Michigan, (2021-2024)
Research and Scholarly Interests
Synthetic inorganic/organometallic chemistry, redox-active ligands, secondary coordination sphere, bioinorganic chemistry, small molecule activation, molecular recognition
Publications
Beagan, D. M.; Rivera, C.; Szymczak, N. K. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2024, 146, 18, 12375-12385. “Appended Lewis acids enable dioxygen reactivity and catalytic oxidation with Ni(II)”
Maciulis, N. A.; Schluchab, B.; Beagan, D. M., Pink, M.; Carta, V. C.; Wurtele, C.; Caulton, K. G. Inorg. Chim. Acta., 2024, 567, 122052. “Protonation triggers N2 loss from a tungsten azide to form its nitride”
Beagan, D. M.; Kiernicki, J. J.; Zeller, M.; Szymczak, N. K.; Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2023, 62, e202218907 “A bidentate ligand featuring ditopic Lewis acids in the second sphere for selective substrate capture and activation”
Beagan, D. M.; Cabelof, A. C.; Dalton Trans., 2022, 51, 2203. “Recent advances in metal-mediated nitrogen oxyanion reduction using reductively borylated and silylated N-heterocycles”
Beagan, D. M.; Cabelof, A. C.; Pepin, R.; Pink, M.; Carta, V.; Caulton, K. G., Inorg. Chem., 2021, 60, 22, 17241. “An integrated view of nitrogen oxyanion deoxygenation in solution chemistry and electrospray ion production”
Valdez-Moreira, J. A.; Beagan, D. M.; Yang, H.; Telser, J.; Hoffman, B. M.; Pink, M.; Carta, V.; Smith, J. M., ACS Cent. Sci., 2021, 7, 10, 1751. “Hydrocarbon oxidation by an exposed, multiply bonded Iron(III) oxo complex”
Beagan, D. M.; Cabelof, A. C.; Pink, M.; Carta, V.; Caulton, K. G., Chem. Sci., 2021, 12, 10664. “Nickel-mediated N-N bond formation and N2O liberation via nitrogen oxyanion reduction”
Beagan, D. M.; Maciulis, N. A.; Pink, M.; Carta, V.; Huerfano, I. J.; Chen, CH.; Caulton, K. G., Chem. Eur. J., 2021, 27, 45, 11676. “A redox-active tetrazine-based pincer ligand for the reduction of N-oxyanions using a redox-inert metal”
Cabelof, A. C.; Erny, A. M.; Beagan, D. M.; Caulton, K. G., Polyhedron, 2021, 200, 115119. “A Redox Cascade of NOxˉ Complexes: Structures and Nitrogen Deoxygenation Thermodynamics”
Beagan, D. M.; Cabelof, A. C.; Caulton, K. G., Dalton Trans., 2021, 50, 2149. “Back donation, intramolecular electron transfer and N-O bond scission targeting nitrogen oxyanion reduction: how can a metal complex assist?”
Martinez, J. L.; Lutz, S. A.; Beagan, D. M.; Xingfeng, G.; Pink, M.; Chen, C. H.; Carta, V.; Pierre, M. L.; Smith, J. M., ACS Cent. Sci., 2020, 6, 1572. “Stabilization of the Dinitrogen Analogue, Phosphorus Nitride”
Beagan, D. M.; Carta, V.; Caulton, K. G., Dalton Trans., 2020, 49, 1681. “A reagent for heteroatom borylation, including iron mediated reductive deoxygenation of nitrate yielding a dinitrosyl complex”
Beagan, D. M.; Huerfano, I. J.; Polazhaev, A. V.; Caulton, K. G., Chem. Eur. J., 2019, 25, 8104. “Reductive Silylation using a bis-silylated diaza-2,5-cyclohexadiene”
Labrum, N. S.; Junghee, S.; Chen, C. H.; Pink, M.; Beagan, D. M.; Caulton, K. G., Inorg. Chim. Acta., 2019, 486, 483. “Di- and trivalent chromium bis(pyrazol-3-yl)pyridine pincer complexes with good leaving groups”
Polazhaev, A. V.; Beagan, D. M.; Cabelof, A. C.; Chen, CH.; Caulton, K. G., Dalton Trans., 2018, 47, 5938. “A Substituent-Tolerant Synthetic Approach to N/P-“loaded” Heteroarenes”