June 28, 2011 | WMU News
A WMU faculty member for 15 years, he taught organic chemistry and worked with both undergraduate and graduate students on research projects in his laboratory. He was an expert in spectroscopic mechanistic studies of reaction intermediates, free radicals and radical ions, solvation effects and solvation dynamics on chemical reactions in supercritical fluids.
Over the course of his career, Chateauneuf contributed more than 50 peer-reviewed publications to the chemical literature. He was a pioneer in green chemistry in supercritical fluid media, investigating microwave-induced reactions and the microbial degradation of ionic liquids, which have significant industrial value as replacements for chlorinated solvents.
Prior to joining the faculty of WMU in 1996, Chateauneuf was on the faculty at the University of Notre Dame from 1990 to 1996. He was head of the Organic Photochemical Processes Section in the Radiation Laboratory, a Department of Energy National Laboratory, from 1991 to 1995. He also worked as a research scientist for the National Research Council of Canada from 1986 to 1988.
He earned his bachelor's degree in 1981 at Salem State College and his doctoral degree at Tuffs University in 1986.
