Harry Barkus Gray

The Gray lab is interested in the syntheses, structures, spectroscopic properties, and reactions of inorganic molecules and materials. Members of the research group are developing catalysts for solar-driven water splitting to produce hydrogen fuel. We are also developing catalysts for the reduction of carbon dioxide. Another strong interest of the lab is the role of metal ions in biology. In work that began in 1974, we have shed light on the factors that control electron tunneling through proteins that function in respiration and photosynthesis. More recently, we have studied hole hopping through tryptophans and tyrosines in proteins. In the course of this work, we discovered chains of redox active amino acids near active sites that may protect living cells containing P450 and other oxygenases from oxidative damage.