Julia A. Kovacs is an American chemist specializing in

bioinorganic chemistry Bioinorganic chemistry is a field that examines the role of metals in biology. Bioinorganic chemistry includes the study of both natural phenomena such as the behavior of metalloproteins as well as artificially introduced metals, including those t ...

. She is professor of chemistry at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

. Her research involves synthesizing small-molecule mimics of the active sites of

metalloprotein Metalloprotein is a generic term for a protein that contains a metal ion cofactor. A large proportion of all proteins are part of this category. For instance, at least 1000 human proteins (out of ~20,000) contain zinc-binding protein domains al ...

s, in order to investigate how cysteinates influence the function of non-heme iron enzymes, and the mechanism of the oxygen-evolving complex (OEC).

Early life and education

Kovacs completed her undergraduate degree at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

, graduating with a B.S. in chemistry in 1981. There, she worked with Prof. Bruce Averill on the synthesis of iron-sulfur cluster compounds, which mimic the FeMo-cofactor of

nitrogenase Nitrogenases are enzymes () that are produced by certain bacteria, such as cyanobacteria (blue-green bacteria) and rhizobacteria. These enzymes are responsible for the reduction of nitrogen (N2) to ammonia (NH3). Nitrogenases are the only fa ...

. She then moved to

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

for graduate studies, and there she continued her work on iron-sulfur clusters with Prof. Richard H. Holm. Kovacs graduated with her PhD in 1986. She then moved to California to conduct postdoctoral research at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, where she worked with Prof. Robert G. Bergman on heterobimetallic sulfur-bridged complexes.

Research and career

Kovacs began her independent research career in 1988 when she joined the

as an assistant professor. She was promoted to associate professor in 1994, then further promoted to full professor in 2001. She was chair of the

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...

Division of Inorganic Chemistry in 2020. Kovacs' research involves investigations into the role of thiolates in dioxygen chemistry. Non-heme iron enzymes are known to promote biological reactions, but the mechanisms by which cysteinates impact their function are not well understood. Kovacs is interested in the formation of the oxygen–oxygen bond. In nature, it is this

oxygen-evolving complex The oxygen-evolving complex (OEC), also known as the water-splitting complex, is a water-oxidizing enzyme involved in the photo-oxidation of water during the light reactions of photosynthesis. OEC is surrounded by 4 core proteins of photosystem I ...

(OEC) that stores solar energy in chemical bonds. By creating a series of small molecule analogues, Kovacs studies the radical coupling mechanism by which Mn^IV-oxyl radicals attach bridging oxo groups. She also investigates nucleophilic attack of Mn^V-oxo due to hydroxyl groups on the OEC. The small molecules include nitrogen and sulphur and a particular stereochemistry. Through synthesis of organic molecules with a variety of different molecular frameworks, Kovacs investigates their structure-property relationships and the reactivity of the resulting transition-metal complexes. Kovacs has also studied the activity of meta-stable thiolate-ligated manganese peroxo intermediates.

Selected publications

Her publications include: * Synthetic analogues of cysteinate-ligated non-heme iron and non-corrinoid cobalt enzymes ( DOI: 10.1021/cr020619e) * Synthetic Models for the Cysteinate-Ligated Non-Heme Iron Enzyme Superoxide Reductase: Observation and Structural Characterization by XAS of an Fe^III−OOH Intermediate ( DOI: 10.1021/ja012722b) * Understanding how the thiolate sulfur contributes to the function of the non-heme iron enzyme superoxide reductase ( DOI: 10.1021/ar600059h)

Personal life

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kovacs, Julie Living people American women chemists Michigan State University alumni Harvard University alumni University of Washington faculty American women academics 1959 births 21st-century American women