CAS: Investigation of Oxidative Construction/Deconstruction

With the support of the Chemical Synthesis Program in the Division of Chemistry, Professor Kozlowski of the University of Pennsylvania is developing methodology to connect molecules by forming new carbon-carbon bonds, to convert polymer waste into value-added materials, and to generate molecules to study atmospheric oxidation events. These activities are helping to: (i) improve synthetic technology that will result in more efficient and sustainable processes to generate advanced materials, (ii) optimize catalysts that lead to selective reactions, and (iii) find productive uses for polymer waste streams. The link among these projects is that the types of reactions being studied are oxidations, which reduce the number of carbon-hydrogen bonds in a molecule and replace them with more valuable carbon-carbon or carbon-oxygen bonds. More broadly, this program is working to improve chemistry instruction by employing methodology that focuses on student growth instead of high stakes tests. Professor Kozlowski is also actively involved in developing professional support systems for increasing diversity in science, engineering and mathematics disciplines. The development of novel oxidative synthetic methods whose goals include the design of environmentally benign chemical processes is important. Professor Kozlowski and her research team are investigating new oxidative methods for complex molecule synthesis by optimizing light-driven reactions for the preparation of polyaromatic hydrocarbons and the valorization of chemical waste. The Kozlowski team is also studying solid catalysts for alkylarene cross-coupling reactions. Additional efforts are focused on studying the rates that atmospheric oxidation intermediates decompose. These studies are contributing to the goal of designing sustainable methods by: (i) engineering reactions at non-functionalized centers, thereby eliminating the need for complex pre-functionalized starting materials; (ii) using oxygen as the terminal oxidizing agent, (iii) using more abundant and less expensive base metals, and (iv) converting waste materials to useful chemicals. In a complementary research area, the fate of volatile organic compounds in the atmosphere is being investigated. These efforts are critical for modeling both pollution and climate processes. Through these activities, Professor Kozlowski and her research team are working at the nexus of organic, computational, atmospheric, and materials chemistry toward new sustainable chemistry solutions. 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.