Chemist
Chemist

Biography

Sankar Krishnamoorthy is a chemist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. He has more than 15 years of experience in organic chemistry, with expertise spanning the development of new synthetic methods and the design of tailored small molecules to address challenges in medicinal chemistry, biomedical device development, organic redox flow batteries, and chemical biology. His current research focuses on expanding chemical tools to better understand and reprogram biological systems. 

Krishnamoorthy’s research bridges chemical synthesis and biological discovery. His work encompasses the design and synthesis of functional molecules and materials, ranging from engineered surfaces and hybrid organic–inorganic systems to synthetic and biological polymers. He combines his chemical expertise with advanced analytical and imaging approaches to investigate complex biological and chemical processes. He contributes to developing and applying chemical biology capabilities, collaborating with users to create and deploy chemical probes for mapping enzyme activities and elucidating biochemical pathways across microbial, plant, environmental, and biomedical systems. 

In addition, Krishnamoorthy maintains a growing research portfolio aligned with National Institutes of Health priorities. He is currently leading projects to develop novel chemical probes for studying dynamic cellular signaling networks and to apply multi-omics and imaging approaches to understand neuromodulator actions in human-induced pluripotent stem-cell-derived neural cell models. 

Research Interests

  • Chemical biology 
  • Microbial systems 
  • Neurobiology 
  • Small molecule chemical probes 
  • Biomolecule conjugations 
  • Organic chemistry 
  • Redox chemistry 

Education

  • PhD in chemistry, University of Southern California, 2017 
  • MSc in chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, 2009 
  • BSc in chemistry, University of Madras, 2007 

Affiliations and Professional Service

  • Postdoctoral Research Associate, PNNL (Dr. Aaron T. Wright) 
  • Postdoctoral Scholar, California Institute of Technology (Prof. Robert H. Grubbs) 
  • American Chemical Society 
  • Society of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology (SIMB) 
  • Industrial Placement Student Researcher, GlaxoSmithKline R&D (UK) 

Awards and Recognitions

  • The William P. Weber Award for mentoring, service, and outstanding graduate research in organic and preparative chemistry, USC, 2017 
  • Excellence in graduate student research award, USC, 2012 
  • Outstanding performance award (Bronze level), GSK, 2010 

Patents

  • Narayanan, S. R., G. K. S. Prakash, A. Nirmalchander, A. Murali, B. Yang, S. Krishnamoorthy, L. Hoober-Burkhardt, and R. Aniszfeld. Crossover Resistant Materials for Aqueous Organic Redox Flow Batteries. U.S. Patent US11646434, filed 12 March 2019, and issued 9 May 2023. https://patents.google.com/patent/US11646434/. 
  • Narayanan, S. R., G. K. S. Prakash, B. Yang, L. Hoober-Burkhardt, and S. Krishnamoorthy. Inexpensive Metal-Free Organic Redox Flow Battery (ORBAT) for Grid-Scale Storage. U.S. Patent US11532830, filed 10 February 2020, and issued 20 December 2022. https://patents.google.com/patent/US11532830/. 
  • Yang, B., G. K. S. Prakash, R. Aniszfeld, S. R. Narayanan, L. Hoober-Burkhardt, S. Krishnamoorthy, A. Nirmalchander, and A. Murali. Stable Positive Side Material for All-Organic Flow Battery. U.S. Patent US11245111, filed 16 October 2018, and issued 8 February 2022. https://patents.google.com/patent/US11245111/. 
  • Narayanan, S. R., G. K. S. Prakash, R. Aniszfeld, B. Yang, L. Hoober-Burkhardt, S. Krishnamoorthy, A. Murali, and A. Nirmalchander. Materials for High-Performance Aqueous Organic Redox Flow Batteries. U.S. Patent US10833345, filed 2 October 2017, and issued 10 November 2020. https://patents.google.com/patent/US10833345/. 
  • Narayanan, S. R., G. K. S. Prakash, B. Yang, L. Hoober-Burkhardt, and S. Krishnamoorthy. Inexpensive Metal-free Organic Redox Flow Battery (ORBAT) for Grid-Scale Storage. U.S. Patent US9614245, filed 17 June 2014, and issued 4 April 2017. https://patents.google.com/patent/US9614245/. 

Publications

2022 

Krishnamoorthy, S., A. K. Steiger, R. G. Egbert, and A. T. Wright. 2022. “An Activity-Based Probe Targeting the Streptococcal Virulence Factor C5a Peptidase.” Chemical Communications 58: 8113–8116. https://doi.org/10.1039/d2cc01517j. 

2020 

Krishnamoorthy, S., and R. H. Grubbs. 2020. “Aldehyde Functionalized Magnetic Particles to Capture Off-Target Chemotherapeutic Agents.” ACS Omega 5 (45): 29121–29126. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.0c03840. 

Munoz, S. B., S. Krishnamoorthy, T. Mathew, and G. K. S. Prakash. 2020. “Synthetic Advances in Nucleophilic and Related Tri- and Difluoromethylation Protocols.” In Frontiers of Organofluorine Chemistry, edited by I. Ojima, 93–176. London: World Scientific. https://doi.org/10.1142/9781786347336_0002. 

2019 

Narayanan, S. R., A. Nirmalchandar, A. Murali, B. Yang, L. Hoober-Burkhardt, S. Krishnamoorthy, and G. K. S. Prakash. 2019. “Next Generation Aqueous Flow Battery Chemistries.” Current Opinion in Electrochemistry. 18: 72–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coelec.2019.10.010. 

2018 

Murali, A., A. Nirmalchandar, S. Krishnamoorthy, L. Hoober-Burkhardt, B. Yang, G. Soloveichik, G. K. S. Prakash, and S. Narayanan. 2018. “Understanding and Mitigating Capacity Fade in Aqueous Organic Redox Flow Batteries.” Journal of The Electrochemical Society 165: A1193–A1203. https://doi.org/10.1149/2.0161807jes. 

Krishnamoorthy, S., S. Kar, J. Kothandaraman, and G. K. S. Prakash. 2018. “Nucleophilic Difluoromethylation of Aromatic Aldehydes Using Trimethyl(trifluoromethyl)silane (TMSCF3).” Journal of Fluorine Chemistry 208: 10–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfluchem.2018.01.009. 

2017 

Zhou, S., E. S. Howard, J. Liu, K. Nolan, S. Krishnamoorthy, G. M. Rangel, M.-T. Sougrati, G. K. S. Prakash, K. Page, and B. C. Melot. 2017. “Hydrothermal Preparation, Crystal Chemistry, and Redox Properties of Iron Muscovite Clay.” ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 9 (39): 34024–34032. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.7b08729. 

Krishnamoorthy, S., S. D. Schnell, H. Dang, and G. K. S. Prakash. 2017. “Fluorodecarboxylation: Synthesis of Aryl Trifluoromethyl Ethers (ArOCF3) and Thioethers (ArSCF3).” Journal of Fluorine Chemistry 203: 130–135. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfluchem.2017.07.017. 

Hoober-Burkhardt, L., S. Krishnamoorthy, B. Yang, A. Murali, A. Nirmalchandar, G. K. S. Prakash, and S. R. Narayanan. 2017. “A New Michael-Reaction-Resistant Benzoquinone for Aqueous Organic Redox Flow Batteries.” Journal of The Electrochemical Society 164: A600. https://doi.org/10.1149/2.0351704jes. 

Krishnamoorthy, S., and G. K. S. Prakash. 2017. “Silicon-Based Reagents for Difluoromethylation and Difluoromethylenation Reactions.” Synthesis 49 (15): 3394–3406. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0036-1588489. 

2016 

Krishnamoorthy, S., J. Kothandaraman, J. Saldana, and G. K. S. Prakash. 2016. “Direct Difluoromethylenation of Carbonyl Compounds by Using TMSCF3: The Right Conditions.” European Journal of Organic Chemistry 2016 (29): 4965–4969. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejoc.201601038. 

Yang, B., L. Hoober-Burkhardt, S. Krishnamoorthy, A. Murali, G. K. S. Prakash, and S. R. Narayanan. 2016. “High-Performance Aqueous Organic Flow Battery with Quinone-Based Redox Couples at Both Electrodes.” Journal of The Electrochemical Society 163: A1442. https://doi.org/10.1149/2.1371607jes. 

2015 

Prakash, G. K. S., S. Krishnamoorthy, S. Kar, and G. A. Olah. 2015. “Direct S-Difluoromethylation of Thiols Using the Ruppert–Prakash Reagent.” Journal of Fluorine Chemistry 180: 186–191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfluchem.2015.09.011. 

Prakash, G. K. S., S. Krishnamoorthy, and S. K. Ganesh. 2015. “Tributyl(difluoromethyl)stannane.” In e-EROS: Encyclopedia of Reagents for Organic Synthesis. John Wiley & Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/047084289X.rn01771. 

2014 

Prakash, G. K. S., S. Krishnamoorthy, S. K. Ganesh, A. Kulkarni, R. Haiges, and G. A. Olah. 2014. “N-Difluoromethylation of Imidazole and Benzimidazole Using the Ruppert–Prakash Reagent.” Organic Letters 16 (1): 54–57. https://doi.org/10.1021/ol403007j. 

2009 

Jammi, S., S. Krishnamoorthy, P. Saha, D. S. Kundu, S. Sakthivel, Md. A. Ali, R. Paul, and T. Punniyamurthy. 2009. “Reusable Cu2O-Nanoparticle-Catalyzed Amidation of Aryl Iodides.” Synlett 2009 (20): 3323–3327. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0029-1218368.