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Niroshani S. Abeynayake, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor in Organic Chemistry

Niroshani S. Abeynayake, Ph.D.
Niroshani S. Abeynayake, Ph.D. Assistant Professor in Organic Chemistry

Education

  • Ph.D. in Chemistry, Mississippi State University, MS, USA, 2022
  • B.Sc. in Chemistry, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, 2012

Areas of Interest

  • Organometallic Chemistry
  • Homogenous Catalysis
  • MOF supported catalytic material synthesis
  • C–H Activation

Biography

Academic Appointments

  • Assistant Professor, Barry University, 2026 – present
  • Postdoctoral Scholar, Mississippi State University, MS, 2024 – 2025
  • Postdoctoral Scholar, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, VA, 2023 – 2024

Courses

  • CHE 112L (General Chemistry Lab II)
  • CHE 344 (Organic Chemistry II)
  • CHE 343 (Organic Chemistry I) 

Publications

  1. Abeynayake, N. S.; † Le, N.; † Sanchez-Lecuona, G.; Donnadieu, B.; Webster, C. E.; Montiel-Palma, V., Unexpected alkyl isomerization at the silicon ligand of an unsaturated Rh complex: combined experiment and theory. Dalton Trans., 2023, 52, 16159-16166. (†equal contribution) DOI: 10.1039/D3DT02087H
  2. Barrios-Vargas, L. J.; † Abeynayake, N. S.; † Secrist, C.; Le, N.; † Webster, C. E.; Donnadieu, B.; Kaphan, D. M.; Roy, A.; Ibarra, I. A.; Montiel-Palma, V., Homogeneous versus MOF-supported catalysis: A direct comparison of catalytic hydroboration at Ni tripodal P3E (E = Si, Ge) complexes. Dalton Trans. 2023, 52, 8883-8892. (†equal contribution) DOI: 10.1039/D3DT01328F
  3. Abeynayake, N. S.; Zamora-Moreno, J.; Gorla, S.; Donnadieu, B.; Muñoz-Hernández, M. A.; Montiel-Palma, V., 14-Electron Rh and Ir silylphosphine complexes and their catalytic activity in alkene functionalization with hydrosilanes. Dalton Trans. 2021, 50 (34), 11783- 11792. DOI: 10.1039/D1DT00677K
  4. Gorla, S.; Díaz-Ramírez, M. L.; Abeynayake, N. S.; Kaphan, D. M.; Williams, D. R.; Martis, V.; Lara-García, H. A.; Donnadieu, B.; Lopez, N.; Ibarra, I. A.; Montiel-Palma, V., Functionalized NU-1000 with an Iridium Organometallic Fragment: SO2 Capture Enhancement. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2020, 12 (37), 41758-41764. DOI: 10.1021/acsami.0c11615

Selected Talks

  1. Niroshani S. Abeynayake, Tzu-Ching Cheng, Amanda J. Morris., Fundamental exploration of the effect of molecular reorganization on charge-separated state lifetimes, SERMACS 2023, October, Durham, NC (Poster)
  2. Niroshani S. Abeynayake, Virginia Montiel-Palma., Tuning hydrosilylation and dehydrogenative silylation upon the choice of metal center: Rh and Ir silylphosphine catalysts, SERMACS 2021, November, Birmingham, AL (Talk)
  3. Niroshani S. Abeynayake, Virginia Montiel-Palma., Synthesis, structure, and reactivity of platinum group metal complexes bearing E-substituted (E = Si, Ge) semirigid phosphine ligands and their application in catalytic alkene functionalization, ACS National Meeting, 2021, August, online (Talk)
  4. Niroshani S. Abeynayake, Virginia Montiel-Palma., Exploiting the catalytic activity of base metal complexes bearing EP3-type tetradentate ligands, ACS National Meeting, 2021, August, online (Poster)
  5. Niroshani S. Abeynayake, Virginia Montiel-Palma., Exploiting the reactivity and catalytic activity of the Benzylsilyl Phosphines functionalized Rhodium complexes, 85th Annual meeting of the Mississippi Academy of Sciences, 2021, August, Biloxi (Talk)
  6. Niroshani S. Abeynayake, Virginia Montiel-Palma., Synthesis, characterization, and catalytic activity of nickel complexes bearing EP3-type tetradentate ligands, ACS National Meeting, 2021, April, online (Poster)
  7. Niroshani S. Abeynayake, Virginia Montiel-Palma., Synthesis and Reactivity of benzylsilyl Phosphines for Transition Metal Complexation, SERMACS, 2019, October, GA (Talk)
  8. Niroshani S. Abeynayake, Virginia Montiel-Palma., Synthesis and Characterization of Group 14-Functionalized Phosphines for Transition Metal Complexes, 17th Annual Graduate Student Research Symposium, 2019, October, Mississippi State University, MS (Talk)
  9. Niroshani S. Abeynayake, Virginia Montiel-Palma., Benzylsilyl Phosphines for Transition Metal Complexes, 3 rd Annual summer Student Science Symposium, 2019, July, Mississippi State University, MS (Poster)
  10. Niroshani S. Abeynayake, Virginia Montiel-Palma., Benzylsilyl Phosphines for Transition Metal Complexes, Lester Andrews Graduate Research Symposium, 2019, May, Department of Chemistry, Mississippi State University, MS (Poster)

Awards

  • 2021 Outstanding Teaching Assistant Physical Chemistry Lab Award, Mississippi State University, MS
  • 2019 3 rd place in poster section, Lester Andrews Graduate Research Symposium, Department of Chemistry, Mississippi State University, MS
  • 2019 Chemistry Graduate Student Travel Award, Mississippi State University, MS

Professional Memberships

ACS - American Chemical Society

Professional Service

  • Manuscript referee for: Polyhedron, Materials Today Communications, Main Group Chemistry, Tetrahedron, API Advances, ACS Omega
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