Gabriel dos Passos Gomes’ research uses the power of computational methods to reveal the fundamental principles that control chemical reactivity. He received his undergraduate degree from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil under the supervision of Prof. Pierre Esteves, in 2013. His research at that university was focused on theoretical studies of electrophilic aromatic nitration via single electron transfer and on the development of methane clathrates inhibitors. He also spent a year at the University of Lisbon, Portugal in an academic exchange researching reduced graphene oxides, with Professor Maria José Lourenço.
In Fall 2014, he joined the laboratory of Professor Igor Alabugin at the Florida State University as a graduate student, where earlier that year he also was awarded the LASER Fellowship to study the mechanism of radical cascade cyclizations. Gabe received a 2016-2017 IBM PhD Scholarship, forming a collaboration aimed at the development of novel polymers. Gabe’s PhD research was focused on controlling chemical reactivity with stereoelectronic effects. The stereoelectronic concept translates quantum mechanical phenomena into the language of organic chemists. The implications span the entire fabric of chemistry – from materials properties to organic reaction design and biochemical processes. His PhD work has been documented in 30 peer-reviewed papers. Gabe strongly believes that better science is achieved through collaborations, having published with groups from Japan, Mexico, Russia and six other countries.
In 2018, Gabe has been awarded the FSU’s Graduate Student Research and Creativity Award, the ACS COMP Chemical Computing Group Excellence Award, and selected for the CAS SciFinder Future Leaders Program. His goal is to establish an independent research group dedicated to the development and understanding of new chemical reactions, pioneering research through cutting-edge computational techniques and training the next generation of chemists.
