Bio  
Joe was born in the rolling hills of the Shenandoah valley in Virginia. Joe obtained his Bachelors degree at Virginia Tech in 2007, then his PhD at UC Berkeley under the tutelage of Prof. Jeff Long in 2013. Joe then worked as a postdoctoral fellow with Prof. Danna Freedman (then at Northwestern University). In 2017, Joe became an assistant professor at Colorado State University and then joined the faculty at Ohio State University in 2024 as an associate professor.  

Research interests 
Our group focuses on studying how to use synthetic chemistry to control the magnetic resonance properties of metal complexes, which stem from electronic and nuclear spin. Long term applications are diverse, spanning from magnetic resonance imaging to quantum information processing. Below are some brief descriptions of ongoing research directions in our lab. 

Environmental Sensitivity of Metal-Ion Magnetic Nuclei. Nuclear spins exciting for environmental biochemical sensing because they can be safely interrogated in living systems via radio waves and nuclear magnetic resonance. In general, however, the low magnetic moments of magnetic nuclei suppress that environmental sensitivity. Magnetic nuclei that are on metal ions in metal complexes, e.g. ⁵⁹Co or ⁵¹V, in contrast, are relatively strongly sensitive, because their properties depend immensely on their ligand field. This area of my group studies how to tune metal complex structure and composition to tailor environmental sensitivity to physical factors like temperature, acidity, pressure, among others. Key concepts: coordination chemistry, molecular design, magnetic resonance.

Igniting the Coordination Chemistry Era in EPR Imaging. Electron paramagnetic resonance imaging (EPRI), the electron version of the more common magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a promising technique for sensing local chemistry since electrons have large magnetic moments and are directly involved in chemical processes. EPRI may also leverage aspects of quantum control of electrons to translate concepts of quantum information, including entanglement and superposition, into new sensing methodologies. The technique is challenging to apply clinically, however, because living tissue is heated by high-frequency microwaves and precludes safe application. We are pioneering the use of magnetic interactions in mono- and polynuclear metal complexes to enable safe low-frequency microwave radiation to be applied for EPRI at high magnetic fields. In doing so, we are effectively opening the door to a new bioimaging technique. Key concepts: coordination chemistry, electron paramagnetic resonance, molecular design. 

Molecular Control of Magnetic Noise. A prominent challenge to implementing molecular quantum bits in any application is their sensitivity to magnetic noise. The noisier the environment, the less effective control and readout of information contained in the qubit is. Noise is present everywhere, even at an atomic level: moving charges in devices generate stray fields, and the movement of the magnetic nuclei of protons in liquid water and biological tissue also generate noise. In order to surmount the imposing challenge that magnetic noise represenst we need to understand it. What causes it? what makes it loud? And, how can we chemically design systems that are robust to that noise? our group uses a synthetic approach to answering this question by careful design and study of metal complexes and their magnetic resonance characteristics. Key concepts: coordination chemistry, molecular design, magnetic resonance.  

Select Recent Publications: 
Üngor, Ö.; Sanchez, S.; Ozvat, T.; Zadrozny, J. M. “Asymmetry-Enhanced ⁵⁹Co NMR Thermometry in Co(III) Complexes” Inorg. Chem. Front. 2023, 10, 7064-7072. DOI: 10.1039/D3QI01641B. 

Martinez, R.; Jackson, C. E.; Üngor, Ö.; van Tol, J.; Zadrozny, J. M. “Impact of Ligand Chlorination and Counterion Tuning on High-Field Spin Relaxation in a Series of V(IV) Complexes” Dalton Trans. 2023, 52, 10805-10816. DOI: 10.1039/D3DT01274C. 

Campanella, A. J.; Üngör, Ö.; Zadrozny, J. M. “Quantum Mimicry With Inorganic Chemistry” Comment. Inorg. Chem. 2023, DOI: 10.1080/02603594.2023.2173588. 

Üngör, Ö.; Ozvat, T. M.; Ni, Z.; Zadrozny, J. M. “Record Chemical-Shift Temperature Sensitivity in a Series of Trinuclear Cobalt Complexes” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2022, 144, 9132-9137. DOI: 10.1021/jacs.2c03115.  

Jackson, C. E.; Negendahimana, T.; Lin, C.-Y.; Eaton, G. R.; Eaton, S. S.; Zadrozny, J. M. “Impact of Counterion Methyl Groups on Spin Relaxation in [V(C₆H₄O₂)₃]^2–” J. Phys. Chem. C 2022, 126, 7169-7176. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.2c01090. 

Jackson, C. E.; Moseley, I. P.; Martinez, R.; Sung, S.; Zadrozny, J. M. “A Reaction-Coordinate Perspective of Magnetic Relaxation” Chem. Soc. Rev. 2021, 50, 6684-6699. DOI: 10.1039/D1CS00001B. 

Campanella, A. J.; Nguyen, M.-T.; Zhang, J.; Ngendahimana, T.; Antholine, W. E.; Eaton, G. R.; Eaton, S. S.; Glezakou, V.-A.; Zadrozny, J. M. “Ligand Control of Low-Frequency Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Linewidth in Cr(III) Complexes” Dalton Trans. 2021, 50, 5342-5350. DOI: 10.1039/D1DT00066G. 

Jackson, C. E.; Lin, C.-Y.; Johnson, S. H.; van Tol, J.; Zadrozny, J. M. “Nuclear-Spin-Pattern Control of Electron-Spin Dynamics in a Series of V(IV) Complexes” Chem. Sci. 2019, 10, 8447-8454. DOI: 10.1039/C9SC02899D. 

Ozvat, T. M.; Peña, M. E.; Zadrozny, J. M. “Influence of Ligand Encapsulation on Cobalt-59 Chemical-Shift Thermometry” Chem. Sci. 2019, 10, 6727-6734. DOI: 10.1039/C9SC01689A. 

The Zadrozny group is interested in undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral scholars who want to pursue research at the cutting edge of inorganic chemistry and magnetic resonance.