Postdoctoral Fellowship: MPS-Ascend: Ring-opening of Cyclic Ethers Facilitated by Main-group Lewis Acids.

Nathanael Hunter is awarded an NSF Mathematical and Physical Sciences Ascending Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (NSF MPS-Ascend) to conduct a program of research and activities related to broaden participation by groups underrepresented in STEM. This fellowship to Dr. Hunter supports the research project entitled “MPS-Ascend: Ring-opening of Cyclic Ethers Facilitated by Main-group Lewis Acids” under the mentorship of a sponsoring scientist. The host institution for the fellowship is Texas A&M University, and the sponsoring scientist is Dr. François Gabbaï. This proposal intends to develop organoantimony (V) and organo-bismuth (III) compounds as Lewis acid tunable catalysts to facilitate the ring opening of oxetane including copolymerization with carbon dioxide. These catalysts will lead to better selectivity and to the development of new chemical transformations. The organo-bismuth catalysts, through a coordinating phosphine donor, will allow the introduction of a chiral ligand to the bismuth center, which will generate chiral oxetane ring-opening products. The low environmental hazards associated with bismuth will also push this chemistry in a more sustainable direction. The PI intends to participate in outreach activities to further increase the diversity, equity and inclusion all people studying chemistry. The PI plans to continue mentoring undergraduate and early graduate students at Texas A&M University, with a specific goal to increase the participation of students from underrepresented groups in graduate-level research in chemistry. The PI plans to join several outreach programs to educate primary and secondary school students about chemistry at a young age, to further engage the interest of future chemists. The PI also plans to develop a new hands-on educational program at Texas A&M University to prepare high school students in the greater Brazos County area for future careers in the chemical sciences. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.