Staff profile

Research Interests

The McGonigal Group develops functional organic materials by exploiting our expertise in stabilized, highly substituted aromatic carbocations. Students in the group are exposed to a wide range of techniques in organic synthesis, advanced spectroscopy, organometallics, electrochemistry, and DFT modeling.

For up-to-date news, visit the McGonigal Group webpage

• Organic Chemistry
• Supramolecular Chemistry

• 2022: Harrison-Meldola Memorial Medal:
• 2018: Molecules Young Investigator Award:

Journal Article

• Maturi, W., Hussein, B. A., Rylands, M. K., Bismillah, A. N., Wen, Y., Aguilar, J. A., Ayub, R., Rankine, C. D., & McGonigal, P. R. (online). Correlated shapeshifting and configurational isomerization †. Chemical Science, https://doi.org/10.1039/d4sc03699a
• Ives, R. A., Maturi, W., Gill, M. T., Rankine, C., & McGonigal, P. R. (online). A guide to bullvalene stereodynamics †. Chemical Science, https://doi.org/10.1039/d4sc03700f
• Bismillah, A., Johnson, T., Hussein, B., Turley, A., Saha, P., Wong, H., Aguilar, J., Yufit, D., & McGonigal, P. (2023). Control of Dynamic sp3-C Stereochemistry. Nature Chemistry, 15(5), 615-624. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-023-01156-7
• Saha, P. K., Mallick, A., Turley, A. T., Bismillah, A. N., Danos, A., Monkman, A. P., Avestro, A.-J., Yufit, D. S., & McGonigal, P. R. (2023). Rupturing aromaticity by periphery overcrowding. Nature Chemistry, 15(4), 516-525. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-023-01149-6
• Klimash, A., Prlj, A., Yufit, D., Mallick, A., Curchod, B., McGonigal, P., Skabara, P., & Etherington, M. (2022). From Phosphorescence to Delayed Fluorescence in One Step: Tuning Photophysical Properties by Quaternisation of an sp2-Hybridised Nitrogen Atom. Journal of Materials Chemistry C Materials for optical and electronic devices, 10(25), 9484-9491. https://doi.org/10.1039/d2tc01737g
• Turley, A., Saha, P., Danos, A., Bismillah, A., Monkman, A., Yufit, D., Curchod, B., Etherington., M., & McGonigal, P. (2022). Extended Conjugation Attenuates the Quenching of Aggregation-Induced Emitters by Photocyclization Pathways. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 61(24), Article e202202193. https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202202193
• Wang, Y., Sun, Y., Avestro, A.-J., McGonigal, P., & Zhang, H. (2022). Supramolecular Repair of Hydration Lubrication Surfaces. Chem, 8(2), 480-493. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chempr.2021.11.001
• Salah, L., Etherington, M., Shuaib, A., Danos, A., Nazeer, A., Ghazal, B., Prlj, A., Turley, A., Mallick, A., McGonigal, P., Curchod, B., Monkman, A., & Makhseed, S. (2021). Suppressing Dimer Formation by Increasing Conformational Freedom in Multi-Carbazole Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Emitters. Journal of Materials Chemistry C Materials for optical and electronic devices, 9(1), 189-198. https://doi.org/10.1039/d0tc04222f
• Zhang, H., Zhao, Z., Turley, A. T., Wang, L., McGonigal, P. R., Tu, Y., Li, Y., Wang, Z., Kwok, R. T., Lam, J. W., & Tang, B. Z. (2020). Aggregate Science: From Structures to Properties. Advanced Materials, 32(36), Article 2001457. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202001457
• Turley, A., Danos, A., Prlj, A., Monkman, A., Curchod, B., McGonigal, P., & Etherington, M. (2020). Modulation of Charge Transfer by N-Alkylation to Control Photoluminescence Energy and Quantum Yield. Chemical Science, 11(27), 6990-6995. https://doi.org/10.1039/d0sc02460k
• Astumian, R., Pezzato, C., Feng, Y., Qiu, Y., McGonigal, P., Cheng, C., & Stoddart, J. (2020). Non-equilibrium thermodynamics and kinetics of synthetic molecular pumps. Materials Chemistry Frontiers, 4(5), 1304-1314. https://doi.org/10.1039/d0qm00022a
• Zhang, H., Zhao, Z., McGonigal, P. R., Ye, R., Liu, S., Lam, J. W., Kwok, R. T., Yuan, W. Z., Xie, J., Rogach, A. L., & Tang, B. Z. (2020). Clusterization-triggered emission: Uncommon luminescence from common materials. Materials Today, 32, 275-292. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mattod.2019.08.010
• Bismillah, A., Chapin, B., Hussein, B., & McGonigal, P. (2020). Shapeshifting molecules: The story so far and the shape of things to come. Chemical Science, 11(2), 324-332. https://doi.org/10.1039/c9sc05482k
• Hussein, B., Shakeel, Z., Turley, A., Bismillah, A., Wolfstadt, K., Pia, J., Pilkington, M., McGonigal, P., & Adler, M. (2020). Control of Porphyrin Planarity and Aggregation by Covalent Capping: Bissilyloxy Porphyrin Silanes. Inorganic Chemistry, 59(18), 13533-13541. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.inorgchem.0c01891
• Kukhta, N., Higginbotham, H., Matulaitis, T., Danos, A., Bismillah, A., Haase, N., Etherington, M., Yufit, D., McGonigal, P., Gražulevičius, J., & Monkman, A. (2019). Revealing Resonance Effects and Intramolecular Dipole Interactions in the Positional Isomers of Benzonitrile-Core Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Materials. Journal of Materials Chemistry C Materials for optical and electronic devices, 7(30), 9184-9194. https://doi.org/10.1039/c9tc02742d
• Etherington, M. K., Kukhta, N. A., Higginbotham, H. F., Danos, A., Bismillah, A. N., Graves, D. R., McGonigal, P. R., Haase, N., Morherr, A., Batsanov, A. S., Pflumm, C., Bhalla, V., Bryce, M. R., & Monkman, A. P. (2019). Persistent Dimer Emission in Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Materials. Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 123(17), 11109-11117. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.9b01458
• Bismillah, A., Sturala, J., Chapin, B., Yufit, D., Hodgkinson, P., & McGonigal, P. (2018). Shape-Selective Crystallisation of Fluxional Carbon Cages. Chemical Science, 9(46), 8631-8636. https://doi.org/10.1039/c8sc04303e
• Soe, W., Manzano, C., de Mendoza, P., McGonigal, P., Echavarren, A., & Joachim, C. (2018). Long Starphene Single Molecule NOR Boolean Logic Gate. Surface Science, 678, 163-168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.susc.2018.04.020
• McGonigal, P. (2018). Multiply Threaded Rotaxanes. Supramolecular Chemistry, 30(9), 782-794. https://doi.org/10.1080/10610278.2018.1433832
• Sturala, J., Etherington, M. K., Bismillah, A. N., Higginbotham, H. F., Trewby, W. J., Aguilar, J. A., Bromley, E. H., Avestro, A.-J., Monkman, A. P., & McGonigal, P. R. (2017). Excited-State Aromatic Interactions in the Aggregation-Induced Emission of Molecular Rotors. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 139(49), 17882-17889. https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.7b08570
• Danon, J., Leigh, D., McGonigal, P., Ward, J., & Wu, J. (2016). Triply Threaded [4]Rotaxanes. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 138(38), 12643-12647. https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.6b07733
• Dorel, R., McGonigal, P., & Echavarren, A. (2016). Hydroacenes made easy by gold(I) catalysis. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 55(37), 11120-11123. https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201604952
• Cheng, C., Cheng, T., Xiao, H., Krzyaniak, M., Wang, Y., McGonigal, P., Frasconi, M., Barnes, J., Fahrenbach, A., Wasielewski, M., Goddard, W., & Stoddart, J. (2016). Influence of constitution and charge on radical pairing interactions in tris-radical tricationic complexes. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 138(26), 8288-8300. https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.6b04343
• Cheng, C., McGonigal, P., Stoddart, J., & Astumian, R. (2015). Design and Synthesis of Nonequilibrium Systems. ACS Nano, 9(9), 8672-8688. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.5b03809
• McGonigal, P., Deria, P., Hod, I., Moghadam, P., Avestro, A.-J., Horwitz, N., Gibbs-Hall, I., Blackburn, A., Chen, D., Botros, Y., Wasielewski, M., Snurr, R., Hupp, J., Farha, O., & Stoddart, J. (2015). Electrochemically addressable trisradical rotaxanes organized within a metal–organic framework. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(36), 11161-11168. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1514485112
• Hou, X., Ke, C., Bruns, C. J., McGonigal, P. R., Pettman, R. B., & Stoddart, J. F. (2015). Tunable solid-state fluorescent materials for supramolecular encryption. Nature Communications, 6, Article 6884. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms7884
• McGonigal, P. R., Li, H., Cheng, C., Schneebeli, S. T., Frasconi, M., Witus, L. S., & Stoddart, J. F. (2015). Controlling association kinetics in the formation of donor-acceptor pseudorotaxanes. Tetrahedron Letters, 56(23), 3591-3594. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tetlet.2015.01.169
• Ferris, D. P., McGonigal, P. R., Witus, L. S., Kawaji, T., Algaradah, M. M., Alnajadah, A. R., Nassar, M. S., & Stoddart, J. F. (2015). Oxime Ligation on the Surface of Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles. Organic Letters, 17(9), 2146-2149. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.orglett.5b00740
• Cheng, C., McGonigal, P. R., Schneebeli, S. T., Li, H., Vermeulen, N. A., Ke, C., & Stoddart, J. F. (2015). An artificial molecular pump. Nature Nanotechnology, 10(6), 547-553. https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2015.96
• Wilson, E. A., Vermeulen, N. A., McGonigal, P. R., Avestro, A.-J., Sarjeant, A. A., Stern, C. L., & Stoddart, J. F. (2014). Formation of a hetero[3]rotaxane by a dynamic component-swapping strategy. Chemical Communications, 50(68), 9665-9668. https://doi.org/10.1039/c4cc03612c
• Carreras, J., Livendahl, M., McGonigal, P. R., & Echavarren, A. M. (2014). Gold(I) as an Artificial Cyclase: Short Stereodivergent Syntheses of (−)-Epiglobulol and (−)-4β,7α- and (−)-4α,7α-Aromadendranediols. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 53(19), 4896-4899. https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201402044
• Wu, Y., Frasconi, M., Gardner, D. M., McGonigal, P. R., Schneebeli, S. T., Wasielewski, M. R., & Stoddart, J. F. (2014). Electron Delocalization in a Rigid Cofacial Naphthalene-1,8:4,5-bis(dicarboximide) Dimer. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 53(36), 9476-9481. https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201403816
• Cheng, C., McGonigal, P. R., Liu, W.-G., Li, H., Vermeulen, N. A., Ke, C., Frasconi, M., Stern, C. L., Goddard, W. A., & Stoddart, J. F. (2014). Energetically Demanding transport in a Supramolecular Assembly. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 136(42), 14702-14705. https://doi.org/10.1021/ja508615f
• Barnes, J. C., Frasconi, M., Young, R. M., Khdary, N. H., Liu, W.-G., Dyar, S. M., McGonigal, P. R., Gibbs-Hall, I. C., Diercks, C. S., Sarjeant, A. A., Stern, C. L., Goddard, W. A., Wasielewski, M. R., & Stoddart, J. F. (2014). Solid-State Characterization and Photoinduced Intramolecular Electron Transfer in a Nanoconfined Octacationic Homo[2]Catenane. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 136(30), 10569-10572. https://doi.org/10.1021/ja505093d
• Wang, Y., McGonigal, P. R., Herle, B., Besora, M., & Echavarren, A. M. (2014). Gold(I) Carbenes by Retro-Buchner Reaction: Generation and Fate. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 136(2), 801-809. https://doi.org/10.1021/ja411626v
• Juricek, M., Barnes, J. C., Strutt, N. L., Vermeulen, N. A., Ghooray, K. C., Dale, E. J., McGonigal, P. R., Blackburn, A. K., Avestro, A.-J., & Stoddart, J. F. (2014). An ExBox [2] catenane. Chemical Science, 5(7), 2724-2731. https://doi.org/10.1039/c4sc00488d
• McGonigal, P. R., & Stoddart, J. F. (2013). INTERLOCKED MOLECULES A molecular production line. Nature Chemistry, 5(4), 260-262. https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.1599
• Ke, C., Strutt, N. L., Li, H., Hou, X., Hartlieb, K. J., McGonigal, P. R., Ma, Z., Iehl, J., Stern, C. L., Cheng, C., Zhu, Z., Vermeulen, N. A., Meade, T. J., Botros, Y. Y., & Stoddart, J. F. (2013). Pillar[5]arene as a Co-Factor in Templating Rotaxane Formation. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 135(45), 17019-17030. https://doi.org/10.1021/ja407229h
• Li, H., Cheng, C., McGonigal, P. R., Fahrenbach, A. C., Frasconi, M., Liu, W.-G., Zhu, Z., Zhao, Y., Ke, C., Lei, J., Young, R. M., Dyar, S. M., Co, D. T., Yang, Y.-W., Botros, Y. Y., Goddard, W. A., Wasielewski, M. R., Astumian, R. D., & Stoddart, J. F. (2013). Relative Unidirectional Translation in an Artificial Molecular Assembly Fueled by Light. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 135(49), 18609-18620. https://doi.org/10.1021/ja4094204
• McGonigal, P. R., de Leon, C., Wang, Y., Homs, A., Solorio-Alvarado, C. R., & Echavarren, A. M. (2012). Gold for the Generation and Control of Fluxional Barbaralyl Cations. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 51(52), 13093-13096. https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201207682
• Barran, P. E., Cole, H. L., Goldup, S. M., Leigh, D. A., McGonigal, P. R., Symes, M. D., Wu, J., & Zengerle, M. (2011). Active-Metal Template Synthesis of a Molecular Trefoil Knot. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 50(51), 12280-12284. https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201105012
• Cheng, H. M., Leigh, D. A., Maffei, F., McGonigal, P. R., Slawin, A. M., & Wu, J. (2011). En Route to a Molecular Sheaf: Active Metal Template Synthesis of a [3]Rotaxane with Two Axles Threaded through One Ring. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 133(31), 12298-12303. https://doi.org/10.1021/ja205167e
• Goldup, S. M., Leigh, D. A., McGonigal, P. R., Ronaldson, V. E., & Slawin, A. M. (2010). Two Axles Threaded Using a Single Template Site: Active Metal Template Macrobicyclic [3]Rotaxanes. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 132(1), 315-320. https://doi.org/10.1021/ja9080716
• Goldup, S. M., Leigh, D. A., McBurney, R. T., McGonigal, P. R., & Plant, A. (2010). Ligand-assisted nickel-catalysed sp(3)-sp(3) homocoupling of unactivated alkyl bromides and its application to the active template synthesis of rotaxanes. Chemical Science, 1(3), 383-386. https://doi.org/10.1039/c0sc00279h
• Goldup, S. M., Leigh, D. A., Long, T., McGonigal, P. R., Symes, M. D., & Wu, J. (2009). Active Metal Template Synthesis of [2]Catenanes. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 131(43), 15924-15929. https://doi.org/10.1021/ja9070317