About

Professor Alison Fout is the principal investigator of the Fout Group at Texas A&M University. She holds a BS from Gannon University, an MS from UNC Charlotte, a PhD from Indiana University, and completed postdoctoral training at Harvard University. Professor Fout was drawn to Texas A&M by the fantastic students, excellent colleagues, collegial atmosphere, and outstanding infrastructure. Her mentoring approach is tailored to individual students, balancing hands-on scientific discussion with a more independent style depending on each student's needs, with the goal of fostering happy and productive students. She finds the most rewarding part of research to be seeing ideas come to fruition and watching students grow from assistants in the lab into colleagues. Outside of work, she enjoys reading, often taking book recommendations from her students, which provides her insight into their personalities.

Research topics

• Inorganic chemistry
• Organic chemistry
• Chemistry
• Photochemistry
• Medicinal chemistry
• Physical chemistry
• Stereochemistry

Selected publications

• Exploring early transition metal coordination: a synthetic and computational study of tripodal ligand complexes

  Dalton Transactions · 2025-01-01 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  The synthesis of early transition metal complexes with a tripodal ligand reveals how different metal centers influence ligand binding, allowing for a direct comparison of distinct coordination geometries. Image partly generated with AI.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Selective Stepwise Reduction of Nitrate and Nitrite to Dinitrogen or Ammonia

  Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2025-02-28 · 34 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  This study reports a method for the selective reduction of NO3– and NO2– to N2 or NH3, extending prior work in our lab where NO3– was reduced to NO by [N(afaCy)3Fe]OTf2 (N(afaCy)3 = tris(5-cyclohexyl-amineazafulvene-2-methyl)amine, OTf = triflate). The first pathway involves the reduction of NO2– to N2, where the NO generated in the initial step is transformed to N2O by PPh3 and further reduced to N2 by the [N(afaCy)3Fe]OTf2 complex. An alternative pathway showcases the reduction of the bound NO complex, [N(afaCy)3Fe(NO)]2+, to NH3 using chemical reductants, albeit with a modest yield of 29%. Confirmation of the nitrogen source as NO is established through 15N labeling studies. Hydroxylamine (NH2OH) is proposed as a plausible intermediate in the reduction of bound NO, supported by independent NH2OH reduction experiments and computational studies. Nature employs a well-orchestrated, stepwise process involving several enzymes to reduce N-containing oxyanions, and this approach provides valuable insights into the stepwise reduction mechanisms of nitrate and nitrite, yielding NH3 or N2 as the product.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Synthetic strategies for oxyanion reduction: Metal-based insights and innovations

  Coordination Chemistry Reviews · 2025-05-21 · 7 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Nonheme Iron Catalyst Selectively Activates Oxygen to Hydrogen Peroxide

  JACS Au · 2025-06-11 · 2 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Iron complexes are known for their excellent reactivity toward the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), which proceeds via two possible pathways: a two-electron/two-proton (2e–/2H+) process to form hydrogen peroxide or a four-electron/four-proton (4e–/4H+) process to form water. Developing catalysts that enable selective oxygen reduction remains a challenge. Inspired by heme-based systems, we designed two iron complexes incorporating secondary coordination sphere interactions to investigate their influence on the ORR selectivity. The complexes, [Py2Py(afaCy)2Fe]OTf2 and [N(afaCy)3Fe]OTf2, were evaluated for their catalytic activity using decamethylferrocene as the reductant, with reaction progress monitored via absorbance spectroscopy. [Py2Py(afaCy)2Fe]OTf2 exhibited a selectivity profile comparable to iron porphyrin but with a slower kinetic rate, likely due to the steric hindrance from ligand functionalization. [N(afaCy)3Fe]OTf2 demonstrated exceptional selectivity toward the 2e–/2H+ pathway, a rare observation for nonheme iron complexes. Kinetic measurements revealed that the catalytic reaction with [N(afaCy)3Fe]OTf2 follows second-order kinetics with a rate constant of 81 mM–1 s–1. We propose that the rate-determining step involves electron transfer from decamethylferrocene to the hydroperoxo iron(III) complex, occurring through a stepwise proton transfer/electron transfer (PTET) or electron transfer/proton transfer (ETPT) process, followed by hydrogen peroxide dissociation.

  PublisherDOI

• Flash Communication: Flexibility of a Biologically Inspired Ligand Framework for Intramolecular C–H Activation

  Organometallics · 2025-01-17

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  High-valent iron complexes play a crucial role in the oxidation of organic substrates, especially in C-H bond functionalization reactions in biology. This paper investigates the reactivity of nonporphyrin tripodal ligands featuring a secondary coordination sphere, focusing on their prospective ability to stabilize high-valent iron-oxo species. Using NMR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography, we detail the formation of an Fe(III)-alkoxide complex through intramolecular C-H bond activation, providing insight into the potential transient formation of a high-valent iron-oxo intermediate. While attempts to observe an Fe(IV)-oxo complex were unsuccessful, our findings underscore the significance of the ligand electronic environment in stabilizing reactive iron species for C-H bond activation.

  PublisherDOI

• In Memory of Gabor Somorjai (1935–2025)

  Catalysis Letters · 2025-11-16

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A biologically inspired iron complex for the homogeneous reduction of Cr(<scp>vi</scp>) to Cr(<scp>iii</scp>)

  Dalton Transactions · 2025-01-01 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  The reduction of toxic Cr VI to benign Cr III by a non-heme iron complex and quantification of the resultant iron( iii )-oxo by a paramagnetic 1 H NMR calibration curve.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Synthesis and characterization of tetrapodal nickel complexes with adaptable ligand binding geometries

  Chemical Communications · 2024-01-01 · 4 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  This study explores the versatile binding properties of a tetrapodal ligand framework with nickel, demonstrating significant ligand fluxionality through the interconversions of several complexes. Kinetic studies using UV-vis and NMR techniques underscore the pivotal role of solvent coordination in initiating these dynamic processes. A unique reverse-dative Ni → Ag interaction provides another approach in modifying nickel's geometry.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Fe-Si_complexes_for_hydrogenation

  ioChem-BD Computational Chemistry Datasets · 2024-05-20

  datasetOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Aspatial Oxyanion Reduction Catalysis

  2024-03-28

  reportOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  The scientifically challenging problem of catalytically reducing oxyanions was explored and presented great opportunities in terms of the environment, economics and energy self-sufficiency.Oxyanions are pervasive as they are found in many areas of technology, all forms of life, in minerals, and as synthetic materials.Given their ubiquity, the contamination of inorganic oxyanions in drinking water is a national problem as 26 states and Puerto Rico have reported high concentrations of these harmful pollutants.The goals achieved by this research was to catalytically investigate the reduction of new oxyanions utilizing sustainable earth abundant catalysts featuring bio-inspired ligands.Further, ligand modifications will be explored to understand the impact on oxyanion reduction, mechanistic studies, and for electrocatalytic oxyanion reduction.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• NIH Grant F32GM093574

  NIH · $99k · 2012

• SusChEM: CAREER: The development of cobalt(I) catalysts featuring strong-field ligands for C-X bond formation.

  NSF · $666k · 2014–2019

• Hyperpolarization Catalysts for in situ Mechanistic Studies

  NSF · $475k · 2021–2023

Frequent coauthors

• Ellen M. Matson

  University of Rochester

  74 shared

• Daniel J. Mindiola

  University of Pennsylvania

  65 shared

• Yun Ji Park

  Korea Institute of Science and Technology

  43 shared

• Jeffery A. Bertke

  Georgetown University

  37 shared

• Michael J. Drummond

  Saint Mary's College

  30 shared

• John C. Huffman

  30 shared

• Theodore A. Betley

  Harvard University

  30 shared

• Mark J. Nilges

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  28 shared

Labs

• The Fout GroupPI

Awards & honors

• Thieme Chemistry Journals Award (2019)
• American Chemical Society Emergent Investigator in Bioinorga…
• Helen Corley Petit Scholar, UIUC (2018)
• Ed Stiefel Young Investigator Award, Metals in Biology GRC (…
• Camille Dreyfus Teacher Scholar Award (2017)