Dean Johnston

Dean Johnston

Professor of Chemistry

Otterbein University

Inorganic Chemistry

As an inorganic chemist, my interests lie in exploring and understanding the diverse chemistry of the elements within the periodic table. Along this line, my primary teaching is in General Chemistry and Inorganic Chemistry. My research interests focus on the areas of synthetic inorganic chemistry, bioinorganic chemistry and crystallography. In recent years my students and I have focused on understanding the photochemistry of metal halide clusters. I also have developed several instructional web sites including an extensive web site for teaching concepts of point group symmetry.

Interests
  • Synthetic Inorganic Chemistry
  • Small-Molecule Crystallography
  • Scientific Visualization and Education
Education

  • PhD in Inorganic Chemistry, 1993

    Northwestern University

  • BA in Chemistry, 1988

    The College of Wooster

Teaching

My teaching responsibilities are in the areas of General and Inorganic Chemistry and range from first-year courses to advanced upper-level coursework.

  • CHEM 1400 - General Chemistry I
  • CHEM 1500 - General Chemistry II
  • CHEM 2030 - Coding for Chemistry
  • CHEM 3200 - Inorganic Chemistry
  • CHEM 3210 - Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory
  • CHEM 4030 - Introduction to Cheminformatics
  • CHEM 4100 - Structural Methods in Chemistry and Biochemistry

Grants

supported by the National Science Foundation

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All Inorganic Synthesis Symmetry Crystallography Raman
Inorganic Synthesis
Inorganic Synthesis

Undergraduate researchers are preparing reactive metal cluster salts that will serve as precursors to materials with controlled dimensionality.
Raman Spectroscopy
Raman Spectroscopy

Raman spectroscopy has been incorporated into many chemistry courses thanks to funding from the National Science Foundation.
Structural Chemistry
Structural Chemistry

Structural methods including X-ray crystallography are being incorporated into a range of courses at Otterbein University
Symmetry@Otterbein
Symmetry@Otterbein

The Symmetry@Otterbein web site helps students and faculty visualize molecular and crystallographic symmetry.

Recent Publications

M. K. Ourgessa, J. R. McClellan, D. H. Johnston, C. M. Mauck. Molecular p-Doping in Thiophene Diketopyrrolopyrrole Thin Films through Formation of a Charge Transfer Complex. J. Phys. Chem. C., 2023, 127, 18694-18705.
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A. G. Smirnov, M. Onuoha, M. S. Bechtel, E. Houser, F. C. Peiris, D. H. Johnston, L. R. Madison, C. M. Mauck. Revealing intermolecular coupling effects on vibrational spectra with infrared-reflectance absorbance analysis of perylene diimide thin films. Vibrational Spectroscopy, 2023, 126, 103534.
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A. T. Royappa, R. J. Papoular, M. Gembicky, W. Shepard, A. D. Ross, A. G. Stemen, J. J. Bobbitt, D. T. Doan, S. H. Lapidus, D. H. Johnston, A. Filatov. Crystalline Phase Transitions and Water-Soluble Complexes of Copper(I) 2-Hydroxyethanethiolate. Polyhedron, 2022, 222, 115873.
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D. H. Johnston, M. Gasbarre, C. E. Norris. Structural and Conformational Analysis of 1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium Nitrate. J. Chem. Crystallogr., 2021.
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D. H. Johnston, C. King, A. Seitz, M. Sethi. Bis(2,4-dioxopentan-3-ido-κ2O,O′) dioxidomolybdenum(VI): a redetermination. IUCrData, 2021, 6, x210778.
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