Faculty Profile for Dr. Todd W Hudnall

profile photo for Dr. Todd W Hudnall
Dr. Todd W Hudnall
Professor — Chemistry and Biochemistry
CHEM 313
phone: (512) 245-4443

Biography Section

Biography and Education

Todd Hudnall was born in 1979 in Corpus Christi, Texas, but moved to the small German town of New Braunfels when he was in grade school. After a rocky start at Texas Tech University where he studied architecture, he began pursuing chemistry at Texas State University under the direction of Profs. Chad Booth and Michael Blanda. After completing his B.S. degree in 2004, he pursued his Ph.D. degree at Texas A&M University in the research group of Prof. F. P. Gabbaï. After graduating in 2008, Dr. Hudnall joined the research group of Prof. C. W. Bielawski as a Postdoctoral Scholar. In 2010 he joined the faculty at Texas State University and was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in September 2016, and to full Professor in 2020. Todd was selected as a Cottrell Scholar of the Research Corporation of Science Advancement in 2011, and received a NSF CAREER Award in 2016. We was selected as a Chemical Communications Emerging Investigator and New Talent in the Americas by Dalton Transactions, both in 2016. Most recently, Todd was named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2021. He has served on the Editorial Board for Cogent Chemistry since 2015, on the Editorial Advisory Boards of Chemical Communications and Dalton Transactions since 2019, and has been the sole organizer of the Main Group Chemistry sessions for the American Chemical Society since 2012. Dr. Hudnall’s research interests revolve around the chemistry of the p-block elements, with a specific interest in the stabilization of low-valent and low-oxidation state elements using electron-deficient carbenes.

Teaching Interests

Organic Chemistry
Inorganic Chemistry
Organometallic Chemistry

Research Interests

low valent main group chemistry
chemistry of electrophilic carbenes
materials for OLED applications
renewable energy

Selected Scholarly/Creative Work

  • Melancon, K. M., Gildner, M. B., & Hudnall, T. W. (2018). Synthesis, Spectroscopic Characterization, and Redox Reactivity of a CAAC-Derived Arsamethine Cyanine Dye. Chemistry - A European Journal, 24, 9264–9268.
  • Ugarte, R. A., & Hudnall, T. W. (2017). Antimony(v) catalyzed acetalisation of aldehydes: An efficient, solvent-free, and recyclable process. Green Chemistry, 19(8), 1990–1998. https://doi.org/10.1039/c6gc03629e
  • Perera, T. A., Reinheimer, E. W., & Hudnall, T. W. (2017). Photochemically Switching Diamidocarbene Spin States Leads to Reversible Büchner Ring Expansions. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 139(41), 14807–14814. https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.7b09264
  • Rodrigues, R. R., Dorsey, C. L., Arceneaux, C. A., & Hudnall, T. W. (2014). Phosphaalkene vs. phosphinidene: the nature of the P-C bond in carbonyl-decorated carbene → PPh adducts. Chemical Communications, 50(2), 162–164. https://doi.org/10.1039/c3cc45134h
  • Dorsey, C. L., Squires, B. M., & Hudnall, T. W. (2013). Isolation of a neutral P8 cluster by [2+2] cycloaddition of a diphosphene facilitated by carbene activation of white phosphorus. Angewandte Chemie International Ed. in English, 52(16), 4462–4465. https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201301137

Selected Awards

  • Award / Honor Recipient: NSF CAREER Award, National Science Foundation. April 1, 2016 - March 31, 2021
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Presidential Award for Excellence in Scholarly and Creative Activity. September 1, 2017
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Cottrell Scholar, Research Corporation for Science Advancement. February 1, 2016
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Presidential Distinction Award for Excellence in Scholarly/Creative Activity, Texas State University. September 1, 2015
  • Award / Honor Nominee: American Chemical Society - Division of Inorganic Chemistry Young Investigator Award, ACS- Division of Inorganic Chemistry. August 1, 2009

Selected Grants

  • Lewis, Karen A (Principal), Luxford, Cynthia J (Co-Principal), Wheeler, Brittany Marie (Co-Principal), Webre, Whitney Ann (Co-Principal), Holland, Cory Lee (Co-Principal), Betancourt, Tania (Supporting), Brittain, William J (Supporting), Hudnall, Todd W (Supporting), Irvin, Jennifer A (Supporting), Kerwin, Sean Michael (Supporting), Kornienko, Alexander Vladimir (Supporting), Peterson, Ryan Loren (Supporting), Rhodes, Christopher Peter (Supporting). REU Site: A Chemistry REU on Molecular Innovation and Exploration (CheMIE), National Science Foundation, Federal, $378188. (Submitted: August 25, 2021, Funded: April 15, 2022 - Present). Grant.
  • Hudnall, Todd W (Principal). Novel Electrophilic Carbene Architectures and Related Main Group Analogs, National Science Foundation, Federal, $450000. (Submitted: September 30, 2019, Funded: May 15, 2020 - April 30, 2024). Grant.
  • Hudnall, Todd W. Diborylcarbenes: A Decades Old Search for Unprecedented Electrophilic Carbenes, Robert A. Welch Foundation, Private / Foundation / Corporate, $195000. (Submitted: January 20, 2019, Funded: June 1, 2019 - May 31, 2021). Grant.
  • Hudnall, Todd W (Principal). CAREER: Correlating Organic Radical Structure to Electrochemical and Photophysical Properties: Evolving Energy Storage and Light-Emitting Materials, National Science Foundation, Federal, $420000. (Funded: February 1, 2016 - January 31, 2021). Grant.
  • Hudnall, Todd W (Principal). Antimony(V) Cations as Lewis Acid Catalysts for C–F Activation, American Chemical Society - Petroleum Research Fund, Private / Foundation / Corporate, $70000. (Funded: July 1, 2014 - June 30, 2017). Grant.

Selected Service Activities

Chair
Graduate Scholarship Committee
October 31, 2017-Present
Editorial Review Board Member
Cogent Chemistry
June 1, 2015-Present
Coordinator / Organizer
Main Group Chemistry Session Organizer for the ACS
January 1, 2013-Present
Coordinator / Organizer
F. Albert Cotton Award in Synthetic Inorganic Chemistry
August 31, 2015-March 31, 2016
Member
College Review Group
December 1, 2020-Present