Biosketch

Dr. Vlaisavljevich received a BA from the University of Minnesota – Morris in 2007. She continued her studies at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities where she obtained her MS in Chemistry in 2010 and her PhD in Chemistry in 2013. Before starting her independent career, she performed postdoctoral research at the University of California Berkeley (2013 to 2015) and at Northwestern University (2015 to 2017). From 2017 to 2022, she was an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the University of South Dakota where she was promoted with tenure in 2023. In 2024, she moved to the University of Iowa to continue her work.

Research interests

We are interested in studying systems that contain transition metals, lanthanides, or actinides including cases with multiple metal centers, non-innocent ligands, and materials with defect sites that have the potential to increase the complexity of the electronic structure. Through the combined use of quantum chemical and classical methods, our goal is to rationalize, predict, and inspire the design of new materials. We are open to collaborations with both experimental or other computational groups.

Honors and awards

• Department of Energy Early Career Research Program Awardee, 2022
• American Chemical Society Computers in Chemistry OpenEye Outstanding Junior Faculty Award, 2022
• President's Award for Research Excellence, Early Career, University of South Dakota, 2020

Grants

• Transuranic Center of Excellence, National Nuclear Security Administration, (2024 - 2028)
• CASPT2 Geometries, Spectra, and Relativistic Electronic Structures of Actinide Species, Department of Energy, Office of Science, (2022 - 2027)
• NSF Center for Chemical Innovation: Center for Sustainable Polymers, National Science Foundation, (2019 - 2024)
• EPSCoR Track-2: Data Driven Material Discovery Center for Bioengineering Innovation, NSF, (2019 - 2023)
• Controlling Molecular Structure and Spin with Multiconfigurational Quantum Chemistry, Department of Energy, (2018 - 2022)
• Center for Sustainable Polymers Seed Grant: Ruthenium Catalyzed Decarbonylation Chemistry, National Science Foundation, (2018 - 2019)

Recent publications

• S. A. Fosu and B. Vlaisavljevich "Stereoselective Ring Opening Polymerization of Lactide by Chiral Aluminum Salan Catalysts” Dalton Trans. 2025, 54, 15416 - 15423. (data) (link)
• A. Wong, J. Barroso, L. Wetherbee, B. Vlaisavljevich, and J. Lamb "Dipole Characteristics of Polymers with Main-Chain Polar Rings: Impact of Dipole Strength and Orientation on Reactivity and Material Properties” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2025, 147, 31, 28350–28358. (Preprint) (data) (link)
• J. A. Luna, K. D. Spielvogel, N. R. Loutsch, S. M. Loria, L. P. Weisburn, M. R. Ringenberg, B. Vlaisavljevich, J. M. Keith, S. K. Shaw, and S. R. Daly "Spectroscopic and Theoretical Studies of Ruthenium Complexes with a Noninnocent N2S2 Ligand in Different Redox States", Inorg. Chem. 2025, 64, 31, 15961–15979. (ioChem-BD) (link)
• B. Kestel, D. M. Pividori, S. Roy Chowdhury, F. W. Heinemann, Bess Vlaisavljevich, and Karsten Meyer. "Inverse Trans Influence and Uranium-Arene -Bonding Drive Molecular Geometry: Ligand Modification from Hard to Soft Flips the Oxide from Axial to Equatorial" J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2025, 147, 31, 27515–27524. (data) (link)
• A. C. Boggiano, C. Studvick, S. Roy Chowdhury, J. Niklas, H. Tateyama, H. Wu, J. Leisen, F. Kleemiss, B. Vlaisavljevich, I. Popov, and H. S. La Pierre "Praseodymium in the Formal +5 Oxidation State” Nat. Chem. 2025, 17, 1005–1010. (Preprint) (data) (link)
• S. Roy Chowdhury, N. Rehberg, and B. Vlaisavljevich "Computational Investigation of the Chemical Bond Between An(III) Ions and Soft-Donor Ligands” Inorg. Chem. 2025, 64, 12, 5866–5877. (Preprint) (data) (link)
• L. R. Valerio, S. Roy Chowdhury, R. Lewis, K. E. Knowles, B. Vlaisavljevich, and E. M. Matson "Photoluminescence of a Uranium(IV) Alkoxide Complex” JACS Au. 2025, 5, 1, 332–342. (data) (link)
• J. C. Zgrabik, D. J. Lussier, R. Bhowmick, N. Nguyen, P. A. Zacher III, T. Elkin, A. J. Gaunt, G. S. Goff, H. E. Mason, J. Murillo, B. L. Scott, B. Vlaisavljevich, and S. R. Daly “Structural and Theoretical Assessment of Covalency in a Pu(III) Borohydride Complex", J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2024. 146, 38, 25943–25948. (data) (link)
• A. C. Boggiano, S. Roy Chowdhury, M. D. Roy, M. G. Bernbeck, S. M. Greer, B. Vlaisavljevich, and H. S. La Pierre "A Four-Coordinate Pr4+ Imidophosphorane Complex” Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2024, e202409789. (data) (link)
• K. D. Spielvogel, E. Campbell, S. Roy Chowdhury, F. Benner, S. Demir, G. P. Hatzis, H. R. Petras, D. Sembukuttiarachchige, J. J. Shepherd, C. M. Thomas, B. Vlaisavljevich, and S. R. Daly "Modulation of Fe-Fe Distance and Spin in Diiron Complexes Using Tetradentate Ligands with Different Flanking Donors” Chem. Commun. 2024, 60, 8399–8402.  (data)  (ioChem-BD) (link)
• N. Bajaj, A. A. Kitos, N. Mavragani, N. R. Loutsch, B. Vlaisavljevich, and M. Murugesu "Formation of a Decanuclear Organometallic Dysprosium Complex via a Radical–Radical Cross–Coupling Reaction" Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2024, e202411635. (ioChem-BD) (link)
• I. Pierce, J. Barroso, J. Ko, B. Vlaisavjevich, and J. Kalow “Degradable Melamine-Based Adhesives Using Dynamic Silyl Ether Bonds” ACS Appl. Polym. Mater. 2024, 6, 8697–8705. (data) (link)
• J. Niklas, K. Otte, C. Studvick, S. Roy Chowdhury, B. Vlaisavjevich, J. Basca, I. Popov, and H. La Pierre “A Tetrahedral Neptunium(V) Complex” Nat. Chem. 2024, 16, 1490–1495. (Preprint) (data) (link)
• K. Shumilov, A. Jenkins, H. La Pierre, B. Vlaisavljevich, and X. Li "Over-destabilization vs. Over-stabilization in Theoretical Analysis of f-Orbital Covalency" J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2024, 146, 17, 12030-12039 (link)
• J. C. Zgrabik, B. Bhuniya, T. B. Phillips, J. Barroso, B. Vlaisavljevich, and S. R. Daly “Volatile lanthanide complexes with fluorinated heptadentate ligands” Dalton Trans. 2024, 53, 2998–3009. (ioChem-BD) (link)
• R. C. Andeme Ela, J. Barroso, G. Kumar, K. Gawande, M. Shetty, X. Li, W. Fan, B. Vlaisavljevich, and P. Dauenhauer “Sulfurous Zeosils for Dehydra-Decyclization of Tetrahydrofuran to Renewable Butadiene” Green Chem. 2024, 26, 1430–1442. (Preprint) (data) (link)
• S. Roy Chowdhury, C. A. P. Goodwin, and B. Vlaisavljevich “What is the Nature of the Uranium(III)-Arene Bond?” Chem. Sci. 2024, 15,1810–1819. (Preprint) (data) (ioChem-BD) (link)
• J. C. Zgrabik, R. Bhowmick, F. D. Eckstrom, A. R. Harrison, T. V. Fetrow, A. V. Blake, B. Vlaisavljevich, and S. R. Daly “The Influence of Phosphorus Substituents on the Structures and Solution Speciation of Trivalent Uranium and Lanthanide Phosphinodiboranates” Inorg. Chem. 2024, 63, 21, 9451–9463. (data) (ioChem-BD) (link)

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