Julia A. Kovacs is an American chemist specializing in bioinorganic chemistry. She is professor of chemistry at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

. Her research involves synthesizing small-molecule mimics of the active sites of metalloproteins, in order to investigate how cysteinates influence the function of non-heme iron enzymes, and the mechanism of the oxygen-evolving complex (OEC).

Early life and education

Kovacs completed her undergraduate degree at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

, graduating with a B.S. in chemistry in 1981. There, she worked with Prof. Bruce Averill on the synthesis of

iron-sulfur cluster Iron–sulfur proteins (or iron–sulphur proteins in British spelling) are proteins characterized by the presence of iron–sulfur clusters containing sulfide-linked di-, tri-, and tetrairon centers in variable oxidation states. Iron–sulfur cl ...

compounds, which mimic the FeMo-cofactor of nitrogenase. She then moved to

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

for graduate studies, and there she continued her work on iron-sulfur clusters with Prof.

Richard H. Holm Richard Hadley Holm (September 24, 1933 – February 15, 2021), was an American Inorganic chemistry, inorganic chemist. Biography A native of Boston, Massachusetts, Holm received his Bachelor of Science, B.S. from the University of Massachusett ...

. Kovacs graduated with her PhD in 1986. She then moved to California to conduct postdoctoral research at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, where she worked with Prof.

Robert G. Bergman Robert George Bergman is an American chemist. He is Professor of the Graduate School and Gerald E. K. Branch Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. Early life and education Born in Chicago, Robert Bergm ...

on heterobimetallic sulfur-bridged complexes.

Research and career

Kovacs began her independent research career in 1988 when she joined the

as an assistant professor. She was promoted to associate professor in 1994, then further promoted to full professor in 2001. She was chair of the

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all d ...

Division of Inorganic Chemistry in 2020. Kovacs' research involves investigations into the role of thiolates in dioxygen chemistry. Non-heme iron enzymes are known to promote biological reactions, but the mechanisms by which cysteinates impact their function are not well understood. Kovacs is interested in the formation of the oxygen–oxygen bond. In nature, it is this oxygen-evolving complex (OEC) that stores solar energy in chemical bonds. By creating a series of small molecule analogues, Kovacs studies the radical coupling mechanism by which Mn^IV-oxyl radicals attach bridging oxo groups. She also investigates nucleophilic attack of Mn^V-oxo due to hydroxyl groups on the OEC. The small molecules include nitrogen and sulphur and a particular stereochemistry. Through synthesis of organic molecules with a variety of different molecular frameworks, Kovacs investigates their structure-property relationships and the reactivity of the resulting transition-metal complexes. Kovacs has also studied the activity of meta-stable thiolate-ligated manganese peroxo intermediates.

Selected publications

Her publications include: * Synthetic analogues of cysteinate-ligated non-heme iron and non-corrinoid cobalt enzymes ( DOI: 10.1021/cr020619e) * Synthetic Models for the Cysteinate-Ligated Non-Heme Iron Enzyme Superoxide Reductase: Observation and Structural Characterization by XAS of an Fe^III−OOH Intermediate ( DOI: 10.1021/ja012722b) * Understanding how the thiolate sulfur contributes to the function of the non-heme iron enzyme superoxide reductase ( DOI: 10.1021/ar600059h)

Personal life

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kovacs, Julie Living people American women chemists Michigan State University alumni Harvard University alumni University of Washington faculty American women academics 1959 births 21st-century American women