生物无机化学涉及与生物有关的金属配合物和含金属的蛋白质的结构，功能，机理和动力学。该领域的研究人员试图通过研究小型金属络合物或金属蛋白来了解生物学相关金属位点的功能，其如何实现其功能以及决定其功能的因素。我们的生物无机学院研究金属蛋白如何处理和控制细胞内的金属离子，金属位点如何促进具有挑战性的化学转化并介导电子转移，以及生物金属位点的几何和电子结构如何与其功能相关。我们使用现代合成方法，生物操作，理论计算和先进的表征技术，包括单分子光谱，超快速光谱以及基于同步加速器的X射线光谱和衍射。
Bioorganic chemistry applies the principles and techniques of organic chemistry to solve problems of biological relevance, taking inspiration from biology to develop new chemical processes. Cornell bioorganic chemists emphasize chemical and molecular approaches to solving important biological problems. Research areas include the application of synthetic and physical organic chemistry to the study of enzymes, metabolic pathways and nucleic acids. This includes the development of mechanism-based enzyme inhibitors, elucidation of enzyme mechanism and structure and studies of coenzyme reactivity. Chemical investigations are extended to studies of receptor recognition, hormone and drug activity, and the mechanism of chemical communicants such as pheromones. Ultimately, insights from biology are taken to develop catalysts that mimic enzymes and coenzymes.