Associate Professor of Chemistry
Email: rpriefer@niagara.edu
Website: http://sites.niagara.edu/dr-ronny-priefer/
Phone: Office: 716.286.8261 or Lab: 716.286.8263
Fax: 716.286.8254
Office Location: DePaul Hall, Rooms 205/206
Dr. Priefer was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He and his family moved to Prince George, British Columbia where he graduated from the University of Northern British Columbia in 1998. In 2003, he obtained his Ph.D. in Chemistry from McGill University, in Montreal. He worked under the supervision of Dr. David N. Harpp on sulfur functionalizing cubane, new methodologies, and polymer chemistry.
While at McGill, he twice won the T. Sterry Hunt Award for excellence in laboratory teaching and demonstration. He was awarded an NSERC industrial postdoctoral fellowship in 2003 through Neurochem Inc in Montreal. While at Neurochem, he worked as a synthetic medicinal chemist on Alzheimer's and epilepsy projects.
In 2004, he moved to upstate New York and worked as a research scientist at Starks Associates performing contract custom synthesis. He took the position of Assistant professor of organic chemistry at Niagara University one year later, where he is now involved in a range of different projects.
Dr. Priefer is also the founder and director of the Niagara University Scientific Outreach for Chemistry (NUSOC) and has performed scientific demostrations at local elementary schools. He has also appeared on a North American wide PBS special, entitled Niagara Falls, discussing some urban legends concerning the falls. In addition, he has authored bimonthly "chemistry in society" editorials in Niagara University's student newpaper, The Niagara Index.
The research in his lab has attracted a large number of students into his group. His students have already presented some of their results at regional and university meetings.
He has been awarded the the Dorothy and Moses Passer Education Fund grant, the Rochester Academy of Science Undergraduate Science Research Grant, and numerous Niagara University Research Grants. He was a 2006 Professor of the Year nominee (Multicultural and International Student Affairs) and was presented with the Excellence in Teaching Award (Niagara University College of Arts and Sciences, 2005-2006). In addition, he was awarded Excellence in Scholarship in 2010 for his research endeavors.
Courses Taught:
Antimicrobial Agents, Cancer, Type II Diabetes, Cubane, Antioxidants, Dialkoxy Disulfides, Polymers, Surface Coatings, New Synthetic Methodology
PUBLICATIONS
28) Matthew S. Pinto, Megan E. McGahan, Walter W. Steiner, Ronny Priefer “The use of the pseudo-polyelectrolyte, poly(4-vinylphenol), in multilayered films as an antimicrobial surface coating” Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochem. Eng. Aspects, 377, 182–186, 2011.
27) Pavel Belov, Veronica L. Campanella, Alison W. Smith, Ronny Priefer “Microwave-assisted methylation of phenols with DMF-DMA” Tetrahedron Letters 52, 2776–2779, 2011.
26) Ronny Priefer, Paolo N. Grenga, Megan E. McGahan, Danielle M. Raymond, Michael J. Gallagher “Assessment of airborne total volatile organic compounds (TVOC) of Niagara Falls residences as compared to resident lifestyle” Indoor and Built Environment, 20, 226–231, 2011.
25) Mary P. McCourt, Christopher Wirth, Josef G. Krause, Brian D. Leskiw, Robert S. Greene, Michelle L. Emery, Megan E. McGahan, Ronny Priefer “Computational Analysis of the Apoptotic Activity of a Small Library of Novel Substituted Hydroxy Ureas Designed as Potential Inhibitors of Ribonucleotide Reductase” Letters in Drug Design & Discovery, 8, 580-584, 2011.
24) Ronny Priefer, Justin R. Griffiths, Janelle N. Ludwig, Graham Skelhorne-Gross, Robert S. Greene “Synthesis of aza-bodipy boron difluoride PDT agents to promote apoptosis in HeLa cells” Letters in Organic Chemistry, 8, 368-373, 2011.
23) Samantha Evans, Ronny Priefer "Continued Misconception Concerning Bond Breaking and Making" Chem. Educator 15, 398–400, 2010.
22) Kyle F. Biegasiewicz, Jeffrey D. St. Denis, Vincent M. Carroll, Ronny Priefer “An Efficient Synthesis of Daidzein, Dimethyldaidzein, and Isoformononetin” Tetrahedron Letters, 51, 4408–4410, 2010.
21) Josef G. Krause, Brian D. Leskiw, Michelle L. Emery, Megan E. McGahan, Mary P. McCourt, Ronny Priefer “Synthesis of substituted N-hydroxyureas via the in situ generation of t-butoxy isocyanate” Tetrahedron Letters, 51, 3568–3570, 2010.
20) Jeffrey D. St. Denis, James S. Gordon IV, Vincent M. Carroll, Ronny Priefer “Novel Synthesis of the Isoflavone Genistein” Synthesis, 10, 1590-1592, 2010.
19) Justin R. Griffiths, G. Paul Savage, Ronny Priefer “Thermochemical properties of iodinated cubane derivatives” Thermochimica Acta, 499, 15-20, 2010.
18) Ronny Priefer, Paolo N. Grenga, Ashley N. Mandrino, Danielle M. Raymond, Kathryn E. Leach, Todd D. Krauss “Multilayering of a pseudo polyelectrolyte (PVPh) with a strong polyelectrolyte (PDMAC) from aqueous media” Surface Science, 604, 59-62, 2010.
17) Michelle L. Ingalsbe, Jeffrey D. St. Denis, James L. Gleason, G. Paul Savage, Ronny Priefer “Synthesis of a Novel Chiral Cubane-based Schiff-base Ligand and its Application in Asymmetric Nitro Aldol (Henry) Reactions” Synthesis, 1, 98-102, 2010.
16) Paolo N. Grenga, Brittany L. Sumbler, François Beland, Ronny Priefer “Reductive amination agents: Comparison of Na(CN)BH3 and Si-CBH” Tetrahedron Letters, 50, 6658-6660, 2009.
15) DiAndra M. Rudzinski, Mary P. McCourt, Ronny Priefer “Thermolytic decomposition of benzylic dialkoxy disulfides” Tetrahedron Letters, 50, 5520-5522, 2009.
14) Michelle L. Ingalsbe, Jeffrey D. St. Denis, Megan E. McGahan, Walter W. Steiner, Ronny Priefer “Development of a novel expression, ZIMAX/KZI, for determination of the counter anion effect on the antimicrobial activity of tetrabutylammonium salts” Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 19, 4984-4987, 2009.
13) DiAndra M. Rudzinski, Ronny Priefer “Photolytic, autocatalyzed decomposition of benzylic dialkoxy disulfides” Tetrahedron Letters, 50, 1629-1632, 2009.
12) Jeanette Drapo, Ronny Priefer “Praseodymium induced pinacol formation” Synthetic Communication, 39, 85-92, 2009.
11) Ronny Priefer, Kathryn E. Leach, Todd D. Krauss, Jeanette R. Drapo, Michelle L. Ingalsbe, Mallory A. van Dongen, John C. Cadwalader, Megan A. Baumler, Matthew S. Pinto “Multilayer Film Preparation of PVPh from Aqueous Media” Surface and Coatings Technology, 202, 6109-6112, 2008.
10) Vincent M. Carroll, David N. Harpp, Ronny Priefer “Thermo-cage opening of 4-iodo-1- vinylcubane to a novel styrene derivative” Tetrahedron Letters, 49, 2677-2680, 2008.
9) Ronny Priefer, Eric Martineau, David N. Harpp “Derivatization of Dicubyl Disulfide” Journal of Sulfur Chemistry, 28, 529-535, 2007.
8) Vincent M. Carroll, Megan A. Baumler, John C. Cadwalader, Jeanette R. Drapo, Michelle L. Ingalsbe, Matthew S. Pinto, Mallory A. van Dongen, Ronny Priefer “Synthesis of Poly(4-vinylphenol) Derivatives and Preparation of Multilayered Films from Aqueous Media” Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering, 96, 488-489, 2007.
7) Ronny Priefer, Eric Martineau, David N. Harpp “Derivatization of Dicubyl Disulfide” Journal of Sulfur Chemistry, 28, 529-535, 2007.
6) Priefer, R., Nguyen, S., Farrell, P. G., Harpp, D. N. “Synthesis of Novel, Cubane-Containing Norbornene-Based Polymers” Macromolecules, 36, 5435-5436, 2003.
5) Priefer, R., Lee, Y. J., Barrios, F., Wosnick, J. H., Lebuis A.-M., Sun, A., Wu, S., Snyder, J. P., Farrell, P. G., Harpp, D. N. “Dicubyl Disulfide” Journal of the American Chemical Society, 124, 5626-5627, 2002.
4) Priefer, R., Farrell, P. G., Harpp, D. N. “Dialkoxy Disulfides from Cubylcarbinols” Tetrahedron Letters, 43, 8781-8784, 2002.
3) Priefer, R., Farrell, P. G., Harpp, D. N. “Effective Synthetic Routes to Cubylcarbinol Derivatives.” Synthesis, 18, 2671-2673, 2002.
2) Plourde, G. L., Priefer, R., Llewellyn, D. B. “Synthesis and Characterization of 1-hydroxy-2-methoxy-4-(3-propanoic acid) anthracene.” Synthetic Communication, 29, 2895-2901, 1999.
1) Bernards, M. A., Fleming, W. D., Llewellyn, D. B., Priefer, R., Yang, X., Sabatino, A., Plourde, G. L. “Biochemical Characterization of the Suberization-Associated with Anionic Peroxidase of Potato.” Plant Physiology, 121, 135-145, 1999.
