Introduction

Greetings! I am David Cordes, an Associate Professor of Chemistry here at Pacific University.  I was a History major as an undergraduate, but was lucky to discover chemistry later in life.  Throughout my career, I have been fortunate to have excellent and inspiring teachers and mentors who motivated me to always work hard and stay curious.  After graduate study in organic chemistry at UC - Santa Cruz, I went on to two additional years of training as a postdoctoral scholar at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.  Now, I am lucky to work with the wonderful students at Pacific University in our shared classroom and lab experiences and through exciting research projects with interesting applications.

Course Information

While I love research, teaching is the best part of my job as a chemistry professor at Pacific University.  My primary regular teaching responsibility at Pacific is in the lecture and laboratory courses for our two-semester, fall-to-spring, organic chemistry series, Fundamentals of Organic Chemistry (Chem 300) and Advanced Organic Chemistry (Chem 400).  Other courses that I have taught include Chemical Literacy, Chemistry Seminar, and Chemistry and Your Environment. Two special classes that I have taught in recent years include an interdisciplinary and team-taught class called Materials Science for Makers, as well as several offerings of a special-topics chemistry course on The Chemistry of Mind-Altering Drugs.  

Chemistry Research

My current chemistry research includes two main projects. This first of these projects, on metal-hydride systems, has explored unusual combinations of metal catalysts such as palladium (Pd/C) and rhodium (Rh/C) with a reagent called sodium borohydride (NaBH4).  We are intrigued with this combination and students at Pacific have found that it functions as a system that can transform organic compounds in interesting and useful ways.  The second project is directed towards the synthesis and characterization of light-absorbing cross-conjugated molecules.  These types of cross-conjugated compounds possess a particular pattern of alternating double and single bonds and typically have unusual electronic and light-absorbing properties.  We are interested in making a new class of these compounds and exploring their properties and how they might be useful in various applications.

Art & Chemistry 

I love to teach and do research with students, but also enjoy exploring the intersections of art and science through painting.  In these paintings I try to examine some aspects of the fascinating history and practice of chemistry.  I started painting science themes when I went to graduate school, beginning with a few chemically relevant paintings to decorate the chapter pages of my doctoral thesis.  Since then, I’ve been exploring various other themes in chemistry and science. Recently, I completed a series of paintings about nuclear chemistry and physics and the origins of the modern age of nuclear energy and atomic weapons. Some of my art work can be viewed by visiting: chemicaljungle.com.

Education

2005-2007 - Postdoctoral Researcher in Chemistry and Material Sciences, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, CA

2005 - Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry, University of California at Santa Cruz, CA

1990 - B.A. in History and Special Honors Curriculum; Minor in English Literature, Hunter College, CUNY, NYC.

Publications at Pacific

Mayhugh, A.L.;*, Hays, A.*; Helt, R.*; Garcia, J.M.*; McAllister, N.*; and Cordes, D.B., “A simple system for rapid hydrodehalogenation of aryl halides using sodium borohydride with supported palladium and rhodium catalysts”. Manuscript in progress.  2026

Cordes, D. B., “Original Visual Art as a Complement to Existing Methods in the History of Chemistry”. Invited Manuscript in Progress;  “w/k – Between Science and Art” 2026

Eddy, C.Z.*; Johanesen, H.M.*; Butler, J.J.; Cordes, D.B., “The Photophysical Properties of CdTe/ZnS Core/Shell Quantum Dots”. International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities, 2015, Vol. 7, Article  7.

Amezcua, K.L.*; Mull, T.J.*; Mayhugh, A. L.*; and Cordes, D B.  "Development and Evaluation of a Borohydride-palladium System for Selective Reduction of the C=C Bond of α,β-unsaturated Carbonyl Compounds," International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities: 2015, Vol. 7, Article 5.

Cordes, D.B.; and Singaram, B., “A unique, two-component sensing system for Fluorescence Detection of Glucose and other Carbohydrates,” Pure and Applied Chemistry, 2012, Vol. 84, Issue 11, pp. 2183-2202.

A. Russo*, K. Amezcua*, V.A. Huynh*, Z. Rousslang* and D.B. Cordes, “A Simple Borohydride-Based Method for the Selective 1,4-Conjugate Reduction of a,b-Unsaturated Carbonyl Compounds Using Sodium Borohydride and Palladium,” Tetrahedron Letters, 2011, 52, 6823-6826.    

A.T Tran*, V.A. Huynh*, E.M. Friz*, S.K. Whitney*, D.B. Cordes, “A General Method for the Rapid Reduction of Alkenes and Alkynes Using Sodium Borohydride, Acetic Acid, and Palladium,” Tetrahedron Letters, 2009, 50, 1817–1819.

* Pacific University student author