Dr. Wenbin Lin, Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, is supported by the Inorganic, Bioinorganic and Organometallic Chemistry Program of the Chemistry Division for the development of rational synthetic strategies toward homochiral porous solids and the exploration of these materials in heterogeneous asymmetric catalysis and chiral separations. Three key issues concerning homochiral porous metal-organic coordination networks (MOCNs) will be addressed, namely, rational synthesis of homochiral MOCNs with permanent porosity and appropriate functionalities, understanding of the framework stability of homochiral porous MOCNs under catalytic conditions, and the utilitization of homochiral porous MOCNs in practical enantioselective catalysis and separations. These chiral porous materials will combine the advantages offered by heterogeneous catalysts (such as catalyst recycle and re-use) and those offered by their homogeneous counterparts (such as homogeneity of active sites and selectivity). Heterogeneous catalysis is responsible for the production of the majority of commodity chemicals and is a cornerstone of the chemical industry. This project explores fundamentally new bottom-up approaches towards novel heterogeneous asymmetric catalysts which can be readily recycled and re-used and can prevent the leaching of often toxic metals from the catalysts into the organic products. Such catalytically-active homochiral MOCNs can lead to economical production of many chiral compounds for the pharmaceutical, agrochemical, and fragrance industries. Graduate students and postdoctoral research associates participating in the proposed interdisciplinary research will be trained with the skills that are crucial to their future careers as Ph.D. chemists. The proposed research will also be integrated into the training of undergraduates and high school students.
