This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
This project seeks to develop a novel living and stereoselective anionic polymerization using novel dinuclear ambiphilic silicon catalysts. Building off the recently developed anionic polymerization catalyzed by silylium ions, this project will continue work on the development of new features that will enable this new polymerization system to become an important and versatile technique serving for a wide range of living polymerization reactions and precision polymer synthesis. Such new features include covalently linked dinuclear ambiphilic silicon catalysts for fast propagating rates, asymmetric silicon catalysts for stereoregular polymer synthesis, and efficient processes for converting biorenewable monomers to sustainable polymers.
With this award, the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program is supporting the research of Professor Eugene Chen of the Department of Chemistry at Colorado State University. Professor Chen's research efforts revolve around the development of new organosilicon chemistry and polymerization catalysis by highly reactive silylium ions. Such chemistry and catalysis will contribute to the discovery and understanding in organic and organometallic chemistry, polymer synthesis, and sustainable chemistry. This research is important in chemical catalysis and polymer synthesis, areas central to the global economy.
