Dr David G Harman

Qualifications:

BSc (Hons) University of New England

Grad Dip Ed (Secondary Science) University of Canberra

PhD Australian National University

Position:

NMR Manager and Technical Officer

Research interests:

Think of me as a physical organic chemist who has actively explored the area of advanced mass spectrometry on the road to the promised land of materials science!  On the way I took a detour into chemical analysis of rock art and undertook analytical projects for the Colorbond division of BlueScope Steel.  My research interests are diverse and include:

  • free radical structure and reactivity
  • reaction mechanism, kinetics, isotopic labelling
  • application of mass spectrometry to difficult analytical problems
  • synthesis of unstable molecules
  • kinetics of radical polymerisation processes

Knowledge of what is occurring at the molecular level is essential in understanding the behaviour of new materials.  In turn, this greatly aids the design of the next generation of materials.  I may be able to assist you with investigation of mechanistic aspects of your project, or help with synthesis of compounds you may require.

In addition, I am responsible for our high field NMR and our MALDI mass spectrometer – two tools vital to the characterisation of new organic materials.  Our modern 400 MHz NMR is capable of detecting many different nuclei and performing most modern experiments and is equipped with a probe capable of pulsed field gradients.  Our Shimadzu MALDI possesses a nominal mass range extending up to 500 kDa.  Contact me if you would like to use either of these instruments, or have samples run.

Affiliations:

Cofounder and president of UOW Folk Music Club 2006-2008

Memberships:

Royal Australian Chemical Institute (MRACI, CChem)

Australian and New Zealand Society for Mass Spectrometry (MANZSMS)

5 key publications:

  1. Does The Metal Influence Non-Covalent Binding of Complexes to DNA? Jihan Talib, David G. Harman, Carolyn Dillon, Janice Aldrich-Wright, Jennifer L. Beck and Stephen F. Ralph Dalton Trans. 2009, 504-513.
  2. Ozone induced dissociation: elucidation of double bond position within mass-selected lipid ions.Michael C. Thomas, Todd W. Mitchell, David G. Harman, Jane M. Deeley, Jessica R. Nealon and Stephen J. Blanksby  Anal. Chem. 2008, 80, 303-311.
  3. Investigation of the gas phase reactivity of the 1-adamantyl radical using a distonic radical anion approach.David G. Harman and Stephen J. Blanksby Org. Biomolec. Chem. 2007, 5, 3495-3503.
  4. United States Patent Application No. 11/843,199, filed 22 August 2007 entitled, A method for determining the position of unsaturation in a compound.Stephen J. Blanksby, David G. Harman, Todd W. Mitchell and Michael C. Thomas. The invention describes a way in which to determine the number and location of carbon-carbon double bonds within ionisable molecules (such as fatty acids, glycerides, or phospholipids) by oxidative mass spectrometry (OzID), with no need for derivatisation.
  5. The loss of carbon dioxide from activated perbenzoate anions in the gas phase: unimolecular rearrangement via epoxidation of the benzene ring.David G. Harman, Aravind Ramachandran, Michelle Gracanin and Stephen J. Blanksby  J. Org. Chem. 2006, 71, 7996–8005.

email address:
dharman@uow.edu.au

phone number :
+61 (02) 4298 1438

Office number:
G24

Last reviewed: 19 October, 2009