O. Maduka Ogba
Assistant Professor of Chemistry
B.S., Trinity University
PhD, Oregon State University
Research Overview
The Ogba Research Group uses quantum chemical calculations and data-science workflows to decode the stereoelectronic interactions governing chemical reactivity. We use computational tools to explain experimental observations and more importantly, to serve as a predictive engine for rational experimental design.
Catalysts drive over 80% of manufactured products and contribute significantly to global industrial infrastructure. However, there is an urgent need to transition away from scarce, precious transition metals toward more sustainable, earth-abundant alternatives. Our group operates at the intersection of computational physical organic chemistry, main-group methodology, and chemical data science to address these challenges across two primary research thrusts:
- Main-Group & s-Block Lewis Acid Catalysis: Investigating earth-abundant metal salts (e.g., calcium, zinc) and heterolytic bond activation strategies (such as sulfur(VI)鈥揻luorine exchange (SuFEx) click chemistry and host-pathway bacterial oxidation mechanisms, to understand how coordination environments modulate reactivity and solve thermodynamic traps.
- Zerovalent Group 14 Organocatalysis: Exploring formally zerovalent carbon(0) complexes (carbones) as Lewis-base organocatalysts for metal-free hydroboration, asymmetric reductions, and greenhouse gas mitigation.
Student Mentorship & Skill Development
Our lab is driven exclusively by undergraduate researchers who gain hands-on experience in an immersive high-performance computing (HPC) environment supported by a local >2,800-core cluster and active membership in the national MERCURY consortium.
Undergraduate researchers in the group develop a highly transferable technical skillset, including:
- Utilizing density functional theory (DFT) using industry-standard packages like Gaussian.
- Developing and applying Python-based data pipelines, graph neural networks (GNNs), and game-theoretic interpretability models (SHAP/PDP) to extract physical organic design rules across massive virtual chemical libraries.
- Taking intellectual ownership of a project and receiving structured mentorship with ample opportunities to present at national ACS, MERCURY, and regional conferences and publish.
For more details about my research, including recent news, publications, and opportunities to join, please visit my scholarly website at