Suzanne A. Blum

Suzanne A. Blum is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of California, Irvine. Her research focuses on organic, organometallic, and materials chemistry, with an emphasis on catalysis, chemical imaging, and microscopy. She leads the Blum Laboratory, which explores reaction mechanisms using advanced techniques like FLIM and SAXS. Her work integrates sustainable chemistry practices and has produced innovations in surfactant-dependent partitioning, palladium carbenes, and organozinc reagent formation. She has mentored numerous PhD students, many of whom have received prestigious fellowships and awards.

Key research themes include catalyst recycling, reaction design for organometallic systems, and mechanistic insights from imaging technologies. Notable contributions include studies on self-assembly in polymers, surfactant effects on reagent distribution, and the ACS Cope Scholar Award. Her lab collaborates widely, exemplified by joint work on palladium carbenes with Joe Patterson and Nehal Idris. Current projects span from zinc metal activation pathways to sustainable reaction systems.

Dr. Blum has supervised over a dozen graduate students, including Drs. Pía López, Martin Stang, Erin Hanada, and Hannah Peacock. Her team’s work has been recognized through awards like the Allergan Fellowship and Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellowship. The lab also emphasizes scientific communication, hosting workshops on data presentation and experimental design. Facilities include cutting-edge equipment like the PicoQuant FlexLambda for time-resolved fluorescence studies.