Jim Mazzuca
Title
Discipline
Educational Background
B.A. Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota (2009)
Ph.D. University of South Carolina (2014)
Rank
Associate Professor
My career at Alma began in
I'm an expert in
My expertise:
My research focuses primarily on charge transport in biological systems and nanomaterials. Very small things, such as atoms, tend to behave more like waves than particles when they are observed on a very small scale. We are currently exploring how these wave-like (quantum) properties of light nuclei influence the rate of charge transfer in these systems. We construct models which can compute physical properties of these systems and then use powerful computers to perform calculations that help us understand how these systems operate.
Signature course(s):
Recent publications:
J. W. Mazzuca, K. S. Reilly, B. P. Weber. B. T. Spaulding, and G. M. Gottschalk. Intermediate-Catalyzed Mechanism for the Bromination of Alkenes. (In preparation.)
J. W. Mazzuca, M. C. Hanna, C. L. Loftus, and S. R. Seymour. Theoretical Description of the Preferential Hydrolytic Deamination of Cytosine over Adenine. Comput. Theor. Chem. 1203:113354, 2021.
J. W. Mazzuca, A. R. Downing, and C. Potter. Empirically Corrected Electronic Structure Calculations Applied to the Enthalpy of Combustion Physical Chemistry Laboratory. J. Chem. Educ. 96:1165-1170, 2019.
J. W. Mazzuca and N. K. Haut. Theoretical description of quantum mechanical permeation of graphene membranes by charged hydrogen isotopes. J. Chem. Phys. 148:224301, 2018.
J. W. Mazzuca and C. P. Schultz. Quantum Mechanical Enhancement of Rate Constants and Kinetic Isotope Effects for Water-Mediated Proton Transfer in a Model Biological System. J. Phys. Chem. A. 121:819−826, 2017.
Recent presentations:
Kayleigh S. Reilly and James W. Mazzuca. Intermediate-Catalyzed Mechanism for the Bromination of Alkenes. ACS Spring 2023 National Meeting and Expo.
Margaret C. Hanna and James W. Mazzuca. Effect of N1 Functional Group Electronegativity on the Deamination of Substituted Adenine Residues. ACS Spring 2022 National Meeting and Expo.
Megan E. Schornack and James W. Mazzuca. DFT Investigation of the Hydroxyl-Catalyzed Ring-Opening of an N7-Alkylguanine Residue. ACS Spring 2022 National Meeting and Expo.
James W. Mazzuca. Computing Quantum Effects of Nuclei in Biological Systems and Nanomaterials in a Way that is Meaningful to Undergraduate Students. ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting and Expo.
Margaret C. Hanna, Shaylee Seymour, and James W. Mazzuca. Hydrogen Tunneling in the Deamination of Cytosine and Adenine. ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting and Expo.
James W. Mazzuca, Nathaniel K. Haut, and Chase P. Schultz. Including Quantum Effects in Proton Transfer Reactions in Biomolecules and Nanomaterials with RPMD Rate Constant Calculations. Midwest Theoretical Chemistry Conference 2018.
Chase P. Schultz and James W. Mazzuca. Modeling Quantum Effects on Metabolism Rate in Deuterated Drugs. ACS Spring 2018 National Meeting and Expo.
Krystle Reiss, Jacek Jakowski, and James W. Mazzuca. Rupture of a graphene membrane under an electric field using DFTB. ACS Spring 2016 National Meeting and Expo.
Chase Schultz and James W. Mazzuca. Potential energy surface calculations for biological water bridge proton transfer systems. ACS Spring 2016 National Meeting and Expo.
Recent grants:
James W. Mazzuca. Quantum effects of proton transfer in biological systems. Blue Waters Student Internship program (BWSIP) and compute allocation grant. $5000 and 640,000 compute hours on the NSF Blue Waters supercomputer. 2016.