About

Alix Evans is dedicated to breathing life back into ancient music, with a focus on medieval lays, epics, and polyphonic works. She finds these sounds to be not just aesthetically beautiful but also gripping, both familiar and captivatingly different. Her passion lies in inspiring people through the performance of this unique repertoire and drawing them into the world of early music through teaching and performance opportunities. Evans has performed with choirs and ensembles across North America, including the early music ensemble at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she explored approaches to harp accompaniment of troubadour song. She has also performed with choirs specializing in Renaissance music in Baltimore, MD, Ottawa, ON, and with groups such as Illuminare and Brigid’s Circle in Washington DC. During the pandemic, she founded 'Falsa Musica,' a venue for avocational singers to gather online and sing medieval monophonic music over Zoom. She is the music director of Second Wind Chorus in Washington DC and runs a private studio. Evans holds an MM in historical performance and vocal pedagogy from the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins.

Research topics

• Chemistry
• Photochemistry
• Combinatorial chemistry
• Computational chemistry
• Organic chemistry

Selected publications

• Decontamination of personal protective equipment and related materials contaminated with toxic industrial chemicals and chemical warfare agent surrogates

  Journal of environmental chemical engineering · 2016-05-24 · 26 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Trans–Cis Isomerization of Vinylketones through Triplet 1,2-Biradicals

  The Journal of Physical Chemistry A · 2014-07-03 · 15 citations

  article

  The irradiation of trans-vinylketones 1a-c yields the corresponding cis isomers 2a-c. Laser flash photolysis of 1a and 1b with 308 and 355 nm lasers results in their triplet ketones (T1K of 1), which rearrange to form triplet 1,2-biradicals 3a and 3b, respectively, whereas irradiation with a 266 nm laser produces their cis-isomers through singlet reactivity. Time-resolved IR spectroscopy of 1a with 266 nm irradiation confirmed that 2a is formed within the laser pulse. In comparison, laser flash photolysis of 1c with a 308 nm laser showed only the formation of 2c through singlet reactivity. At cryogenic temperatures, the irradiation of 1 also resulted in 2. DFT calculations were used to aid in the characterization of the excited states and biradicals involved in the cis-trans isomerization and to support the mechanism for the cis-trans isomerization on the triplet surface.

  PublisherDOI

• 2-Diazo-1-(4-hydroxyphenyl)ethanone: a versatile photochemical and synthetic reagent

  Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences · 2013-11-22 · 6 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• ChemInform Abstract: The Chemistry of NO‐ and HNO‐Producing Diazeniumdiolates

  ChemInform · 2012-10-18

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract Review: 109 refs.

  PublisherDOI

• Nanosecond time-resolved IR study of thiobenzoylnitrene

  Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics · 2012-01-01 · 10 citations

  article

  Nanosecond time-resolved infrared (TRIR) spectroscopy has been used to observe singlet thiobenzoylnitrene at 1740 cm(-1) upon photolysis of 5-phenyl-1,2,3,4-thiatriazole in acetonitrile and dichloromethane. Consistent with the experimental observations, thiobenzoylnitrene is predicted by B3LYP/6-31G* calculations to have a singlet ground state with an intense IR band at 1752 cm(-1). Phenyl isothiocyanate is also produced. Kinetic measurements indicate that it is not formed from singlet thiobenzoylnitrene, but rather directly from the thiatriazole. Unlike benzoylnitrene, singlet thiobenzoylnitrene does not react with acetonitrile or dichloromethane on the nanosecond timescale. However, it does react with dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) to produce a sulfoximine detected at 1180 cm(-1) (k(DMSO) = 3 × 10(5) M(-1) s(-1)). Benzonitrile (observed at 2230 cm(-1)) is produced from both singlet thiobenzoylnitrene (presumably through a short-lived, unobservable benzonitrile sulfide intermediate) and directly from the thiatriazole. B3LYP/6-31G* calculations also show that the structure of singlet thiobenzoylnitrene is analogous to that of related acylnitrenes, with a significant bonding interaction between the nitrogen and sulfur. Triplet thiobenzoylnitrene, on the other hand, is predicted computationally to have a biradical structure.

  PublisherDOI

• Photogeneration and reactivity of acyl nitroso compounds

  Canadian Journal of Chemistry · 2011-02-01 · 29 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Acyl nitroso compounds have been generated by photolysis of several different classes of precursors including 9,10-dimethylanthracene adducts, nitrodiazo compounds, and 1,2,4-oxadiazole-4-oxides. Consideration of the nitronate-like resonance structure of nitrodiazo compounds led to an examination of the photochemistry of nitronates with α-leaving groups. Photolysis of such nitronates has been shown to generate an acyl nitroso species along with a carbene intermediate. Nanosecond time-resolved infrared (TRIR) spectroscopy has been used to detect photogenerated acyl nitroso compounds directly and to examine their reaction kinetics with amines and thiols. The mechanism of acyl nitroso aminolysis by primary amines involves general base catalysis, while the mechanism of aminolysis by secondary amines is strictly bimolecular. Thiols do not seem to be reactive with acyl nitroso compounds on the microsecond time scale, but thiolates are quite reactive. The reaction between benzoyl nitroside and an organic-soluble thiolate, tetrabutylammonium dodecanethiolate, proceeds via a proposed tetrahedral intermediate, which is observable by TRIR spectroscopy.

  PublisherDOI

• The Chemistry of <scp>NO</scp> ‐ and <scp>HNO</scp> ‐Producing Diazeniumdiolates

  2010-11-15

  other1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract Although most diazeniumdiolates (R‐N(O)=NO − Na + ) are stable as solid salts, current interest in their chemistry stems from their ability to produce nitric oxide (NO), nitroxyl (HNO), and/or a mixture of NO and HNO upon decomposition in aqueous solution. Following a discussion concerning the synthesis of diazeniumdiolates, this chapter focuses on how the substituent (R) and experimental conditions influence decomposition chemistry and NO/HNO production. Representative applications of NO‐ and HNO‐producing diazeniumdiolates are also provided.

  PublisherDOI

• Weinreb Amides in Carbene Chemistry: A Time-Resolved IR Investigation into a Potential Intramolecular Stabilization Mechanism

  Organic Letters · 2010-09-17 · 5 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  A chloromethylhydroxamiccarbene was generated photochemically in an attempt to form an intramolecularly stabilized carbene. A rapidly formed intermediate at 1645 cm(-1) decayed with an observed rate of 1.99 × 10(6) s(-1). Other intermediates were also observed. These also decayed, albeit much more slowly (k(obs) = 3.47 × 10(3) and 1.98 × 10(4) s(-1)). Multiple intermediates are apparently a function of both the proximal N,O-dimethylhydroxamic ester and multiple conformers of both the carbene and precursor.

  PublisherDOI

• 2-Hydroxy-5-nitrobenzyl as a Diazeniumdiolate Protecting Group: Application in NO-Releasing Polymers with Enhanced Biocompatibility

  Organic Letters · 2008-09-24 · 17 citations

  article

  The 2-hydroxy-5-nitrobenzyl group is shown to be an effective protecting group for diazeniumdiolates. O(2)-(2-hydroxy-5-nitrobenzyl)-substituted diazeniumdiolates display enhanced thermal stability, but efficiently release nitric oxide (NO) in pH 7.4 aqueous solutions. A lipophilic analogue incorporated into hydrophobic polymers shows NO surface flux rates comparable to that of the natural endothelium. Importantly, these polymer formulations also show significantly enhanced biocompatibility in vivo with use of a porcine implant model.

  PublisherDOI

• Mechanism of the Heck reaction: nature of oxidative addition and alkene insertion

  OakTrust (Texas A&M University Libraries) · 2004-11-15

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  The mechanism of carbon coupling reactions is traditionally represented in a very broad schematic. This thesis seeks to explore the mechanism of these reactions by focusing on Heck olefination. The Heck reaction has become a powerful tool in synthetic labs but the mechanism of this reaction has remained a topic of debate since the reaction's discovery. The catalytic cycle that has come to be accepted, while accurate in its own right, is not nearly as detailed as the complexity of the various stages of the Heck reaction suggest it should be. This study seeks to elucidate the nature of the oxidative addition of aryl halide to a palladium catalyst using a ligand that has been shown to have high activity in facilitating oxidative addition of aryl chlorides and bromides in other coupling reactions. This information is then compared to other studies in the field so that conclusions can be drawn about the oxidative addition. Also, selectivity studies seek to determine the nature of the migratory insertion of an olefin into the Pd-Ar bond. Again, comparison of results obtained in this study are compared to previous results so that a more definitive conclusion can be drawn about the oxidative addition.

  Publisher

Frequent coauthors

• John P. Toscano

  Johns Hopkins University

  23 shared

• Jörg Saβmannshausen

  Cardiff University

  9 shared

• Melissa M. Reynolds

  Colorado State University

  9 shared

• Keith E. Cook

  Carnegie Mellon University

  9 shared

• Hua Xu

  9 shared

• Eric M. Tippmann

  Indiana University – Purdue University Fort Wayne

  9 shared

• G. S. M. Sundaram

  9 shared

• Richard S. Givens

  University of Kansas

  1 shared

Labs

• Peabody InstitutePI