CAREER: Electron Donor-Acceptor Strategies for Photocatalytic Selective C(sp2)-H and C(sp3)-H Activation and Functionalization

With the support of the Chemical Catalysis program in the Chemistry Section, Professor Qilei Zhu of the University of Utah is studying new light-driven chemical strategies for the efficient synthesis and production of value-added chemicals from readily available hydrocarbon feedstocks. Carbon–hydrogen bonds are among the most common yet difficult chemical connections to manipulate, and improving control over these bonds would enable more efficient routes to medicines, advanced materials, and other important chemicals. These advances are expected to reduce hazardous waste, lower energy and material costs, and accelerate access to novel value-added products and materials. Beyond fundamental discovery, the project will support the training of undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral researchers in modern catalysis strategies and spectroscopy tools, while expanding outreach activities that introduce K–12 students and community audiences to scientific research and career pathways in chemistry. With the support of the Chemical Catalysis program in the Chemistry Section, Professor Qilei Zhu of the University of Utah is studying photocatalyst-controlled radical reactions enabled by electron donor–acceptor complex formation to achieve unprecedented selectivity in carbon–hydrogen bond functionalization. The project will establish catalyst-directed approaches for the selective cleavage and modification of strong aromatic and aliphatic carbon–hydrogen bonds in the presence of more labile ones, enabling deuteration, alkylation, heteroatom incorporation, and asymmetric deracemization. These studies will integrate synthetic method development with mechanistic investigations using spectroscopy and electrochemical analysis to elucidate the roles of noncovalent interactions, excited-state electron transfer, and multi-electron redox processes in controlling radical reactivity. The anticipated outcomes include new catalytic paradigms that override intrinsic thermodynamic selectivity in carbon–hydrogen functionalization, generalizable strategies for late-stage molecular editing, and mechanistic insights that will broadly impact photocatalysis, radical chemistry, and asymmetric synthesis. 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.