Headshot of Dr.Miles Johnson

Dr. Miles Johnson

Associate Professor of Chemistry
Curriculum Vitae

  • Profile

    Research in the Johnson lab is focused on the design of new transition metal catalysts that can convert simple chemical feedstocks into high-value chemicals. In particular, we are focused on the design of new ligands and the preparation of organometallic compounds.  Synthetic inorganic and organic techniques are used to prepare these new compounds and examine their reactivity. Spectroscopic (NMR, IR, UV-vis) and electrochemical (CV) techniques permit the thorough characterization of these compounds while giving students experience with the tools needed for interdisciplinary research. Discoveries from our research laboratory may be used in method development for designing molecules such as pharmaceuticals, converting petrochemicals into synthetic building blocks, and the activation of small molecules for energy applications.

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    • Grants and Fellowships

      Grants

      Organic Syntheses, Inc. Grant for Summer Research at an Undergraduate Institution, “Development of Mild Nickel-Catalyzed C–N Cross-Coupling Reactions Enabled by Modular Phosphinopyrrole Ligands” (Johnson)

      National Science Foundation CAREER Award, “CAREER: Study and Design of Modular Aminophopshine Ligands for Cross-Coupling Reactions” (Johnson)

      American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund (UNI), "Modular and Rational Design of Pyrrolyl Phosphine Ligands for Nickel Catalysis" (Johnson)

      Jeffress Memorial Trust Awards Program in Interdisciplinary Research, "An Integrated Synthetic-Computational Approach to Developing a Quantitative Model for Proazaphosphatrane-Enabled Cross-Coupling" (Johnson, Donald)

      Fellowships

      NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein Post-Doctoral Fellowship (2015-2016)

      Chancellor’s Fellowship, University of California, Berkeley (2011-2013)

      National Science Foundation Pre-Doctoral Fellowship (2009-2012)

       

    • Awards

      Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award (2024)

      Catalytic Cross-Coupling Reactions Enabled by Novel Aminophosphine Ligands National Science Foundation CAREER Award (2021)

      Modular and Rational Design of Pyrrolyl Phosphine Ligands for Nickel Catalysis Organic Syntheses, Inc. Grant for Summer Research at an Undergraduate Institution (2021)

      Development of Mild Nickel-Catalyzed C–N Cross-Coupling Reactions Enabled by Modular Phosphinopyrrole Ligands American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund (2019)

      Modular and Rational Design of Pyrrolyl Phosphine Ligands for Nickel Catalysis Thomas F. and Kate Milles Jeffress Memorial Trust Award (with Prof. Kelling Donald, 2018)

      An Integrated Synthetic-Computational Approach to Developing a Quantitative Model for Proazaphosphatrane-Enabled Cross-Coupling

    • Presentations

      Invited Lectures

      Pyrrolyl Phosphines: Modular Building Blocks for New Ligand Motifs. Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, October 20, 2025.

      Evaluation of the 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)benzene Ligand in Nickel-Catalyzed C–N Cross-Coupling Reactions. ACS National Meeting, Washington, D.C., August 18, 2025. Symposium: Scientific Advances in Organic Synthesis from Primarily Undergraduate Institutions

      Analysis of Pyrrole-Based Phosphine Ligands for Applications in Catalysis. ACS National Meeting, Denver, CO, August 19, 2024. Symposium: Advances in Molecular Reactivity and Material Properties Enabled by Mechanistic and Structural Methods

      Exploration of Pyrrole-Based Ligands for Applications in Catalysis. Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA, April 26, 2024.

      Design, Analysis, and Application of Pyrrole-Based Phosphine Ligands. University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, November 12, 2022.

      Synthesis and Analysis of Modular Bis(phosphino)pyrrole Ligands. ACS Division of Organic Chemistry Virtual Symposium. November 17, 2021.

      Development of Modular Bis(phosphino)pyrrole Ligands for Transition Metal-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling Reactions. (virtual) IUPAC CCCE 2021 – 48th World Chemistry Congress and 104th Canadian Chemistry Congress and Exhibition. August 19, 2021.

      Synthesis and Analysis of Modular Phosphinopyrrole Ligands. (virtual) Chemical Institute of Canada’s Global Inorganic Discussion Weekdays. July 19, 2021.

      Synthetic and Mechanistic Studies of Aminophosphine Ligands for Transition Metal-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling. (virtual) The College of New Jersey, Ewing, NJ, March 31, 2021.

      Synthetic and Mechanistic Studies of Aminophosphine Ligands for Transition Metal-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling. (virtual) Hofstra University, Hempsted, NY, March 24, 2021.

      Synthetic and Mechanistic Studies of Aminophosphine Ligands for Transition Metal-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling. (virtual) Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH, March 5, 2021.

      Synthetic and Mechanistic Studies of Aminophosphine Ligands for Transition Metal-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling. (virtual) Reed College, Portland, OR, February, 25, 2021.

      Synthetic and Mechanistic Studies of Aminophosphine Ligands for Transition Metal-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling. (virtual) Lafayette College, Easton, PA, October 14, 2020.

      Synthetic and Mechanistic Studies of Aminophosphine Ligands for Transition Metal-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling. Bowdoin College, Bowdoin, ME, September 27, 2019.

      Synthetic and Mechanistic Studies of Aminophosphine Ligands for Transition Metal-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling. High Point University, High Point, NC, September 13, 2019.

      Synthetic and Mechanistic Studies of Aminophosphine Ligands for Transition Metal-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling. University of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC, April 12, 2019.

      Synthesis and Reactivity of Transition Metal and Main Group Proazaphosphatrane Complexes. ACS National Meeting, Orlando, FL, April 1, 2019. Symposium for “Undergraduate Research at the Frontiers of Inorganic Chemistry”

  • Publications
    Journal Articles

     

    *denotes mentored undergraduate coauthor

    Independent Career Publications (University of Richmond)

    Hoskins-Harris, J. E.;* Kotera, K.;* Hoilette, D.;* Apostolou, W. E.;* Osenga, V. A.;* Schley, N. D.; Donald, K. J.; Johnson, M. W. “Synthesis, Structure, and Reactivity of Copper(I) Proazaphosphatrane Complexes” Inorg. Chem., 2025, 64, 1132–1138

    Contreras. J. J.; Lee, S. R.; Nguyen, V. T.; Suarez, T.; Leong, D. W.; Bhuvanesh, N.; Johnson, M. W.; Ozerov, O. V. “Transition Metal as Template: Reversing the Synthesis Logic in the Preparation of Pincer Complexes” Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2025, 64, e202418663

    Osenga, V. A;* Sykes, N. C.;* Pa, S.;* Bambha, M. K.;* Schley, N. D.; Johnson, M. W. "Comparative Analysis of the Donor Properties of Isomeric Pyrrolyl Phosphine Ligands" Organometallics, 2024, 43, 14-20.

    Vidlak, J. F.;*   Cosio, M. N.; Sriramaneni, N. K.;* Bhuvanesh, N.; Overov, O. V.; Johnson, M. W. “Synthesis of Pyrrole-based PSiP PincerLigands and their Palladium, Rhodium, and Platinum Complexes” Dalton Trans., 2022, 51, 7797­–7803.

    Fokwa, H. D.;* Vidlak, J. F.;* Weinberg, S. C.;* Duplessis, I. D.;* Schley, N. D.; Johnson, M. W. “Study and Modular Synthesis of Unsymmetrical Bis(phosphino)pyrrole Ligands” Dalton Trans., 2020, 49, 9957-9960. 

    Matthews, A. M.;*  Prasad, S.;*  Schley, N. S.; Donald, K. J.; Johnson, M. W. “On Transannulation in Azaphosphatranes: Synthesis and Theoretical Analysis” Inorg. Chem. 2019, 58, 15983-15992. ‡ denotes equal contribution.

    Matthews, A. D.;* Gravalis, G. M.;* Schley, N. D.; Johnson, M. W.  "Synthesis, Structure, and Reactivity of Palladium Proazaphosphatrane  Complexes Invoked in C-N Cross-Coupling" Organometallics, 2018 37, 3073-3078.

    Postdoctoral Publication (California Institute of Technology)

    Johnson, M. W.; Hannoun, K. I.; Tan, Y.; Fu, G. C.; Peters, J. C. “A Mechanistic Investigation of the Photoinduced, Copper-Mediated Cross-Coupling of an Aryl Thiol with an Aryl Halide” Chem. Sci., 2016, 7, 4091-4100.

    Graduate Publications (UC Berkeley)

    Khrakovsky, D.; Tao, C.; Johnson, M. W.; Thornbury, R.; Shevick, S.L.;* Toste, F. D. “Enantioselective, Stereodivergent Hydroazidation and Hydroamination of Allenes Catalyzed by Acyclic Diaminocarbene (ADC) Gold(I) Complexes” Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2016, 55, 1-6.

    Johnson, M. W.; DiPasquale, A. G.; Bergman, R. G.; Toste, F. D. “Synthesis of Stable Gold(III) Pincer Complexes with Anionic Heteroatom Donors” Organometallics, 2014, 33, 4169-4172.

    Johnson, M. W.; Bagley, S. W. Mankad, N. P.; Bergman, R. G.; Mascitti, V.; Toste, F. D. “Application of Fundamental Organometallic Chemistry to the Development of a Gold-Catalyzed Synthesis of Sulfinate Derivatives” Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2014, 53, 4404-4407.

    Johnson, M. W.; Shevick, S.L.;* Toste, F. D.; Bergman, R. G. “Preparation and Reactivity of Terminal Gold(I) Amides and Phosphides” Chem. Sci., 2013, 4, 1023-1027.

    Brown, C. J.; Miller, G. M.; Johnson, M. W.; Bergman, R. G.; Raymond, K. N. “High-Turnover Supramolecular Catalysis by a Protected Ruthenium(II) Complex in Aqueous Solution” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2011, 133, 11964-11966.

    Undergraduate Publications (University of Richmond)

    Downey, C. W.; Johnson, M. W.; Lawrence, D. H.; Fleisher, A. S.; Tracy, K. J. “Acetic Acid Aldol Reactions in the Presence of Trimethylsilyl Trifluoromethanesulfonate” J. Org. Chem. 2010, 75, 5351-5354.

    Downey, C. W.; Johnson, M. W.; Tracy, K. J. “One-Pot Enol Silane Formation-Mukaiyama Aldol-Type Addition to Dimethyl Acetals Mediated by TMSOTf” J. Org. Chem. 2008, 73, 3299-3302.

    Downey, C. W.; Johnson, M. W.; “A Tandem Enol Silane Formation-Mukaiyama Aldol Reaction Mediated by TMSOTf” Tetrahedron Lett. 2007, 48, 3559-3562.