Postdoc: Organic Chemist for Lanthanide Binding

Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Oak Ridge (TN); On-site; USD 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

On-site fitness

Flexible work hours

Employee discounts

Relocation assistance

Job summary

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) seeks a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Organic Chemistry to advance selective recognition of lanthanide ions. The successful candidate will design, synthesize, purify, and characterize new compounds and help evaluate their metal-ion binding and separation performance using analytical methods.

This position resides in the Chemical Separations Group in the Separations and Polymer Chemistry Section, Chemical Sciences Division, Physical Sciences Directorate,

Qualifications

• PhD in Organic Chemistry or closely related field completed within the last 5 years.
• Preferred: PhD completed within the last 3 years.

Responsibilities

• Design and synthesize organic ligands.
• Purify compounds using crystallization and chromatography.
• Characterize compounds with NMR, FTIR, UV-Vis, elemental analysis, and MS.
• Plan experiments and evaluate how ligand structure affects lanthanide recognition and separation.
• Present results at meetings and conferences.
• Publish in peer‑reviewed journals (goal: ≥2 publications per fiscal year).
• Align work with ORNL values: Impact, Integrity, Teamwork, Safety and Service.

Skills

Written communication

Oral communication

Independent worker

Team collaboration

Education

PhD in Organic Chemistry

Job description

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) seeks a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Organic Chemistry to advance selective recognition of lanthanide ions. The successful candidate will design, synthesize, purify, and characterize new compounds and help evaluate their metal-ion binding and separation performance using analytical methods.

This position resides in the Chemical Separations Group in the Separations and Polymer Chemistry Section, Chemical Sciences Division, Physical Sciences Directorate,