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Cynthia M. Friend

Faculty
  • Professor of Materials Science; Theodore Williams Richards Professor of Chemistry
  • Participant, Materials Research Science and Engineering Center
  • Participant, Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center
  • Faculty Associate, Harvard University Center for the Environment
Cynthia M. Friend

Contact Information

Office: Mallinckrodt Laboratory 18
Email: cfriend [ AT ] seas [ DOT ] harvard [ DOT ] edu
Office Phone: (617) 495-4052
Office Fax: (617) 496-8410
Lab Name: Friend Lab
Lab Room: Mallinckrodt MB22
Lab Phone: (617) 495-3331

Recruitment Status

Currently accepting graduate students.

Websites

Education

  1. B.S., University of California, Davis, 1977
  2. PhD., University of California, Berkeley, 1981

Research Interests

    • Energy & Environmental Systems
    • Energy and Environmental Technologies
    • Materials & Devices
    • Materials Science
    • Surface and Interface Science

Primary Teaching Area

Materials Science & Mechanical Engineering

Profile

Professor Cynthia Friend is a Professor of Chemistry and Materials Science at Harvard University. She obtained a B.S. degree in chemistry at the University of California at Davis, and continued her studies to obtain a Ph.D. at the University of California at Berkeley. She then did her postdoctoral work at Stanford University, and shortly after began at Harvard University.

The research in the Friend group is motivated by an interest in several technologies, including heterogeneous catalysis, nanostructure growth, environmental chemistry, laser-assisted materials processing, and chemical sensor technology.

Positions & Employment

Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

  • Present: Professor of Materials Science

Harvard Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology

  • Present: Theodore Williams Richards Professor of Chemistry

Selected Publications

  1. Xiaoying Liu, Thomas A. Baker, and C.M. Friend, "Effect of Molecular Structure on the Epoxidaiton of Allylic Olefins by Atomic Oxygen on Au," Dalton Trans. 2010, 39 8521-8526, DOI: 10.1039/C0DT00047G.
  2. Bingjun Xu, Jan Haubrich, Cassandra G. Freyschlag, Robert J. Madix and Cynthia M. Friend. "Oxygen-assisted cross-coupling of methanol with alkyl alcohols on metallic gold," Chem. Sci., 2010, 1, 310-314, DOI: 10.1039/C0SC00214C. (Selected for cover of journal.)
  3. Xiaoying Liu and C.M. Friend, "Selective Oxidation of Cyclohexanol and 2-Cyclohexen-1-ol on O/Au(111): The Effect of Molecular Structure," Langmuir, 2010, DOI: 10.1021/la1015302.
  4. Thomas A. Baker, Efthimios Kaxiras, C.M. Friend, "Insights from Theory on the Relationship Between Surface Reactivity and Gold Atom Release," Top. Cat., 2010, 53 (5-6): 365-377.
  5. J.A. Haubrich, Ryan G. Quiller, Lauren Benz, L, Z. Liu, and C.M. Friend, "In Situ Ambient Pressure Studies of the Chemistry of NO2 and Water on Rutile TiO2(110)," Langmuir, 2010, 26 (4): 2445-2451.
  6. X. Liu, C.M. Friend, "Competing Epoxidation and Allylic Hydrogen Activation: trans-β-Methylstyrene Oxidation on Au(111)," J. Phys. Chem. C, 2010, 26(4) 2445-2451.
  7. A. Wittstock, V. Zielasek, J. Biener, C. M. Friend, and M. Bäumer, "Nanoporous gold catalysts for selective gas-phase oxidative coupling of methanol at low temperature," Science, 2010, 327, 319-322.
  8. B. Xu, L. Zhou, R. J. Madix, and C. M. Friend, "Highly selective acylation of dimethylamine mediated by oxygen atoms on metallic gold surfaces," Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2010, 49, 394-398.
  9. R.G. Quiller, X. Liu, and C. M. Friend, "Mechanistic insights into selectivity control for heterogeneous olefin oxidation: Styrene oxidation on Au(111)," Chemistry-An Asian Journal, 2010, 5, 78-86.
  10. L. Zhou, C. G. Freyschlag, B. Xu, C. M. Friend, and R. J. Madix, "Direct selective oxygen-assisted acylation of amines driven by metallic silver surfaces: dimethylamine with formaldehyde," Chem. Comm. 2010, 46, 704-706.