{"id":1973,"date":"2020-04-20T18:11:18","date_gmt":"2020-04-20T18:11:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/natsci.uprrp.edu\/chemistry\/?page_id=1973"},"modified":"2026-02-24T12:00:53","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T16:00:53","slug":"dalice-m-pinero-cruz","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/natsci.uprrp.edu\/chemistry\/dalice-m-pinero-cruz\/","title":{"rendered":"Dalice M. Pi\u00f1ero Cruz"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\u00a0Dr. Dalice M. Pi\u00f1ero Cruz – Associate Professor<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Chemistry Graduate and Undergraduate Program<\/strong><\/h3>\n

e-mail: dalice.pinero@upr.edu<\/span>
Office: FB 135-C<\/span><\/p>\n

Research<\/h4>\n

My research interests combine the field of Coordination Chemistry with four major fields: Magnetism, Materials Science, Bioinorganic Chemistry and Medicine, for the synthesis of transition metal complexes with relevant magnetic properties for future application in memory, gas sensing and battery technologies for climate change resilience, and the synthesis of anticancer therapies.<\/p>\n

Short-Bio<\/h4>\n

Dr. Pi\u00f1ero Cruz is a former student of the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras campus. She obtained her doctoral degree in 2009 with a thesis titled: \u201cCoordination Chemistry of Fe-Pyrazole\/ate Complexes Based on the Study of their Structural, Electrochemical, Magnetic and Spectroscopic Properties\u201d, mentored by Raphael G. Raptis. As a student, she had the opportunity of becoming an invited researcher at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, to work at the Radiation Laboratories on the \u201cMechanistic and Energetic Aspects of the Thermal and Photochemical Redox Chemistry of the Octanuclear Cubane Complexes, FeIII8(\u03bc4-O4) (pyrazolate)12X4 (X = Cl or Br)\u201d through a collaboration with Guillermo Ferraudi. She obtained a thesis dissertation award from the National Science Foundation that founded three visits to the Institute of Material Science in Demokritos, Greece, for conducting \u201cM\u00f6ssbauer Spectroscopic Studies of Redox-Active Fe4O4-Cubanes\u201d with the training and supervision of Yiannis Sanakis.<\/p>\n

In June 2009 Dr. Pinero joined the \u2018Groupe de Sciences Mol\u00e9culaires: Mat\u00e9riaux Photo-, Pi\u00e9zo-, Thermo-sensibles\u2019 at the \u2018Institut de Chimie de la Mati\u00e8re Condens\u00e9e de Bordeaux\u2019, France, as a postdoctoral fellow from the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. She worked under the supervision of Corine Mathoni\u00e8re on the project of \u201cMulti-Shell Magn\u00e9tiques Nanoparticules de Coordination (MS MGNP)\u201d while collaborating with Rodolphe Cl\u00e9rac from the Centre de Recherche Paul Pascal, Pessac, on the \u201cSynthesis of pyridine-based ligands for magnetic studies of cyanide linked transition metal complexes capable of undergoing photo-induced electron transfer processes\u201d. Thereafter, she joined the MaCSE Group at the University of Rennes, France, to work on the synthesis and magnetic properties of \u201cNickel-Dithiolene Complexes as Metallo-Ligands\u201d under the supervision of Marc Fourmigu\u00e9. Lastly, she joined the University of Bordeaux as an adjunct assistant professor and worked as a researcher at the Centre de Recherche Paul Pascal, on the \u201cSynthesis of Single Molecule Magnets from polyamines spyder-like building blocks\u201d. In 2014 she was hired as an assistant professor of the Chemistry Department at the UPR-RP where she has started a research laboratory group on Coordination Chemistry.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dr. Pi\u00f1ero Cruz is the director of two research facilities: the UPR Molecular Sciences Research Center’s Single Crystal X-ray Diffraction Facility and the newly created UPR’s Center for Resilience to Climate Change.<\/p>\n

Webpage:\u00a0<\/h4>\n
https:\/\/crcc.uprrp.edu\/<\/a><\/div>\n
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Recent Publications<\/h4>\n
2025<\/strong><\/div>\n
– Cruz Lozada, J. A.; Rosario, R. A.; Flores, S. Y.; Kisslinger, K.; Fonseca, L. F.; Pi\u00f1ero-Cruz, D. M. High-Sensitivity NO\u2082 Gas Sensor: Exploiting UV-Enhanced Recovery in a Hexadecafluorinated Iron Phthalocyanine-Reduced Graphene Oxide. ACS Omega<\/i> 2025<\/b>, 10<\/i>\u00a0(3), 2809\u20132818.<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
– Hou, W.; Araujo-Correa, A. E.; Qiu, S.; Otero, C.; Acosta-Tejada, Y. D.; Feliz-Hern\u00e1ndez, L. N.; Gonz\u00e1lez-Nieves, K.; Morell, G.; Pi\u00f1ero-Cruz, D. M.; Wu, X. Electrochemical Studies of Metal Phthalocyanines as Alternative Cathodes for Aqueous Zinc Batteries in \u201cWater-in-Salt\u201d Electrolytes. Batteries<\/i> 2025<\/b>, 11<\/i>\u00a0(3), 88.<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
– Metzler, C. L.; Flores, S. Y.; Cruz Lozada, J. A.; Gonz\u00e1lez, J. C.; Su\u00e1rez Schmidt, S.; Barrionuevo, D.; Feng, P.; Ota\u00f1o, W.; Fonseca, L. F.; Pi\u00f1ero-Cruz, D. M. Gas Sensitivity Improvements of Nanowire Hexadecafluorinated Iron Phthalocyanines by Thermal Vacuum Annealing. Chemosensors<\/i> 2025<\/b>, 13<\/i>\u00a0(3), 95.<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
– Ullah, I.; Chang, S.; Hou, W.; Valle\u2010Perez, A. D.; Du, X.; Katiyar, S.; Pi\u00f1ero-Cruz, D. M.; Cunci, L.; Morell, G.; Wu, X. Concentrated Chloride Electrolytes Enable High\u2010Efficiency, Long\u2010Cycling, and Dendrite\u2010Free Aqueous Trivalent Antimony Batteries. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.<\/i> 2025<\/b>, 64<\/i>\u00a0(19), e202502279.<\/div>\n
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– Flores, S. Y.; Pacheco, E.; Malca, C.; Peng, X.; Chen, Y.; Zhou, B.; Pi\u00f1ero, D. M.; D\u00edaz-V\u00e1zquez, L. M.; Zhou, A. F.; Feng, P. X. Highly Selective Room-Temperature Blue LED-Enhanced NO\u2082 Gas Sensors Based on ZnO-MoS\u2082-TiO\u2082 Heterostructures. Sensors<\/i> 2025<\/b>, 25<\/i>\u00a0(6), 1781.<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
– Mendoza-Morales, W. O.; Rodr\u00edguez, E.; Gonz\u00e1lez, A.; Ramos, Z.; Acosta-Mercado, J.; Pi\u00f1ero-Cruz, D. M.; Ospina, C. A.; Mel\u00e9ndez, E.; Hern\u00e1ndez-O\u2019Farrill, E. Synthesis, Structure, Electrochemistry, and In Vitro Anticancer and Anti-Migratory Activities of (Z)- and (E)-2-Substituted-3-Ferrocene-Acrylonitrile Hybrids and Their Derivatives. Molecules<\/i>2025<\/b>, 30<\/i>\u00a0(13), 2835.<\/div>\n
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– Acosta-Mercado, J.; Oliveras-Alsina, A.; Marcano-Maiz, A. I.; Rivera-Torres, A. P.; Cordero-Gim\u00e9nez, K. T.; Malavez-Cajigas, S.; Bayro, M. J.; Ramos-Benitez, M. J.; Pi\u00f1ero-Cruz, D. M. Evaluating Naphthalene-Modified Metallosalen Complexes as Anticancer Agents. J. Med. Chem.<\/i> 2025<\/b>, 68<\/i>\u00a0(14), 14300\u201314311.<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
– Ullah, I.; Qiu, S.; Chang, S.; Hou, W.; Pi\u00f1ero-Cruz, D. M.; Morell, G.; Wu, J.; Chen, Z.; Wu, X. Revealing the Micro\u2010Size Effect in Alloy Anodes for High\u2010Capacity and Long\u2010Cycling Sulfide\u2010Based Solid\u2010State Batteries. Small<\/i> 2025<\/b>, e2504481.<\/div>\n
2024<\/b><\/div>\n
– Otero-V\u00e9lez, C.; Flores, S. Y.; Fonseca, L. F.; Pi\u00f1ero-Cruz, D. M. Palladium Phthalocyanine Nanowire-Based Highly Sensitive Sensors for NO\u2082(g) Detection. Sensors<\/i> 2024<\/b>, 24<\/i>, 1819.<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
– Rivera-Reyes, J. O.; Billings, K. J.; Metzler, C. L.; Lagle, R. M.; Drabo, M.; Palai, R.; Jones, J.-P.; Pi\u00f1ero-Cruz, D. M. Surface Modified Copper Foam with Cobalt Phthalocyanine Carbon Nanotube Hybrids for Tuning CO\u2082 Reduction Reaction Products. Chem. Commun.<\/i> 2024<\/b>, 60<\/i>, 7551\u20137554.<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
– Cruz, D. M. P.; Fonseca, L. F.; Gonz\u00e1lez-Espiet, J. C.; Flores-Chalco, S. Y.; D\u00edaz-Rivera, R. E.; Cintr\u00f3n-Cruz, J. A. Metal Phthalocyanine-Based Nanowire Devices and Methods of Preparation and Use Thereof. U.S. Patent App.<\/i> 2024<\/b>, 18\/431,932.<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
2023<\/b><\/div>\n
– Rivera-Reyes, J. O.; Soto-P\u00e9rez, J.; Sep\u00falveda-Pag\u00e1n, M.; Lu, L.; Borrero-Negr\u00f3n, J.; Luna-Ram\u00edrez, A. V.; Trinidad-P\u00e9rez, P.; Pag\u00e1n-Torres, Y.; Chen, Z.; Cabrera, C. R.; West, W. C.; Jones, J.-P.; Pi\u00f1ero-Cruz, D. M. New Platinum Complexes from Salen- and Hydroxy-Substituted Salpn-Naphthalene Ligands with CO\u2082 Reduction Activity. Catalysts<\/i>2023<\/b>, 13<\/i>, 911.<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
– Nogu\u00e9-Guzm\u00e1n, V. C.; Burgos-Suazo, A.; Rivera-Reyes, J. O.; Montes-Qui\u00f1ones, V. P.; Ramis-Aybar, P. C.; Burgos-Jim\u00e9nez, A. C.; Gonz\u00e1lez-Nieves, K.; Pi\u00f1ero-Cruz, D. M. New Copper Carboxylate Pyrene Dimers: Synthesis, Crystal Structure, Hirshfeld Surface Analysis and Electrochemical Characterization. Acta Cryst. E<\/i> 2023<\/b>, 80<\/i>, 9.<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
– Camino, F. E.; R\u00faa, A.; Pi\u00f1ero-Cruz, D. M.; Nieto-Fern\u00e1ndez, F. E.; P\u00e9rez, A.; Kisslinger, K.; Yang, J. C. Remote Operation of Instruments for Education and Research. Microsc. Microanal.<\/i> 2023<\/b>, 29<\/i>\u00a0(S1), 2902\u20132903.<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
2022<\/b><\/div>\n
-Fonseca, L. F.; Pi\u00f1ero-Cruz, D. M.; Gonz\u00e1lez-Espiet, J. C.; Flores-Chalco, S. Y.; D\u00edaz-Rivera, R. E.; Cintr\u00f3n-Cruz, J. A. Fluorinated Iron and Cobalt Phthalocyanine Nanowire Chemiresistors for Environmental Gas Monitoring at Parts-per-Billion Levels. ACS Appl. Nano Mater.<\/i> 2022<\/b>, 5<\/i>\u00a0(2), 1765\u20131775.<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
2020<\/b><\/div>\n
– M\u00e9ndez, B.; Reyes, J.; Conde, I.; Ramos, Z.; Lozada, E.; Cruz, A. M.; Asencio, G.; Carvajal, A.; Dharmawardhane, S.; Pi\u00f1ero-Cruz, D. M. Simalikalactone D, a Potential Anticancer Compound from Simarouba tulae<\/i>, an Endemic Plant of Puerto Rico. Plants<\/i> 2020<\/b>, 9<\/i>\u00a0(1), 93.<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
– Gonz\u00e1lez-Espiet, J. C.; Cintr\u00f3n-Cruz, J. A.; Pi\u00f1ero-Cruz, D. M. Structural Characterization and Hirshfeld Surface Analysis of 2-Iodo-4-(Pentafluoro-\u03bb\u2076-Sulfanyl)benzonitrile. Acta Cryst. E<\/i> 2020<\/b>, 76<\/i>, 231\u2013234.<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
– Gonz\u00e1lez-Nieves, K.; Pi\u00f1ero-Cruz, D. M. Crystal Structure of a Nickel Compound Comprising Two Nickel(II) Complexes with Different Ligand Environments: [Ni(tren)(H\u2082O)\u2082]Ni(H\u2082O)\u2086\u2082. Acta Cryst. E<\/i> 2020<\/b>, 76<\/i>, 314\u2013317.<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
– Su\u00e1rez, D. M.; Col\u00f3n, J. A. M.; Garc\u00eda-Mercado, W.; Pi\u00f1ero-Cruz, D. M.; Bail\u00f3n-Ruiz, S. J. Potential Bactericidal Activity of Silver Nanoparticles. MRS Adv.<\/i> 2020<\/b>, 5<\/i>\u00a0(44), 2283\u20132292.<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
– Riascos-Rodr\u00edguez, K.; Marks, S.; Evans, P. G.; Hern\u00e1ndez-Rivera, S. P.; Ruiz-Caballero, J. L.; Pi\u00f1ero, D.; Hern\u00e1ndez-Maldonado, A. J. Lithium Functionalization Promoted by Amide-Containing Ligands of a Cu(pzdc)(pia) Porous Coordination Polymer for CO\u2082 Adsorption Enhancement. Cryst. Growth Des.<\/i> 2020<\/b>, 20<\/i>\u00a0(12), 7596\u20137606.<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
– Delgado Rivera, S. M.; Gonz\u00e1lez-Espiet, J. C.; Dones, J. M.; Henr\u00edquez L\u00f3pez, S. A.; Guadalupe, A. R.; Pi\u00f1ero-Cruz, D. M.; Montes Gonz\u00e1lez, I. Crystal Structure of 1-Ferrocenyl-2-(4-Nitrophenyl)ethyne. Acta Cryst. E<\/i> 2020<\/b>, 76<\/i>, 1403\u20131406.<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
– Cordero-Gim\u00e9nez, K. T.; Soto-D\u00edaz, V.; Gonz\u00e1lez-Espiet, J. C.; Lav\u00edn-Flores, A.; Bas-Concepci\u00f3n, J.; Rivera-Cruz, K.; Rodr\u00edguez-Ayala, D.; Pi\u00f1ero-Cruz, D. M. Crystal Structure, Hirshfeld Surface Analysis and Spectroscopic Characterization of the Di-Enol Tautomeric Form of the Compound 3,3\u2032-[(2-Sulfanyl\u00adidene-1,3-Dithiole-4,5-Di\u00adyl)Bis\u00ad(Sulfanedi\u00adyl)]Bis\u00ad(Pentane-2,4-Dione). Acta Cryst. E<\/i> 2020<\/b>, 76<\/i>, 1427\u20131432.<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
– Calimano, J.; Li, F.; Flori\u00e1n, J.; Pi\u00f1ero-Cruz, D. M.; Fielitz, T. R.; Holmes, R. J.; Ciszek, J. W. Solid-State Properties and Spectroscopic Analysis of Thin-Film TPBi. J. Phys. Chem. C<\/i> 2020<\/b>, 124<\/i>\u00a0(43), 23716\u201323723.<\/div>\n
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Google Scholar<\/h4>\n
https:\/\/scholar.google.com\/citations?user=9CTlaCUAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n

ORCID<\/span><\/h4>\n

https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6331-761X<\/p>\n<\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chemistry Graduate and Undergraduate Program e-mail: dalice.pinero@upr.eduOffice: FB 135-C Research My research interests combine the field of Coordination Chemistry with four major fields: Magnetism, Materials Science, Bioinorganic Chemistry and Medicine, for the synthesis of transition metal complexes with relevant magnetic properties for future application in memory, gas sensing and battery … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":3383,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1973","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/natsci.uprrp.edu\/chemistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/natsci.uprrp.edu\/chemistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/natsci.uprrp.edu\/chemistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/natsci.uprrp.edu\/chemistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/natsci.uprrp.edu\/chemistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1973"}],"version-history":[{"count":29,"href":"https:\/\/natsci.uprrp.edu\/chemistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1973\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3818,"href":"https:\/\/natsci.uprrp.edu\/chemistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1973\/revisions\/3818"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/natsci.uprrp.edu\/chemistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/natsci.uprrp.edu\/chemistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}