Dr. Wayne W. Lukens has been awarded an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Chemistry. Dr. Lukens received the doctoral degree from the University of California at Berkeley under the supervision of Professor Richard Andersen. Dr. Lukens will continue research at the University of California at Santa Barbara under the sponsorship of Professor Galen Stucky. The postdoctoral research will focus on the study of transition metal substituted mesoporous silicates. The goal is to specifically substitute transition metals for framework silicon atoms at the surface of the pores. Because of the substitution, the spectra of the metal center, especially the EXAFS spectra, may be more straightforwardly interpreted in characterization of the mesoporous materials. The longterm goal is to prepare and characterize organometallic catalysts which are able to perform sequential reactions such as carbonylation followed by ring-closing metathesis. The Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in Chemistry Program is viewed as an important infrastructural program designed to broaden the knowledge and experience of new Ph. D.s and attract them into meaningful careers in contemporary chemical research and teaching.
