Dr. Alexandru Asandei, a faculty member in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Connecticut, is supported by the Inorganic, Bioinorganic and Organometallic Chemistry Program to prepare novel early transition metal catalysts for concurrent polymerization of dissimilar monomers. The goal of the work is to prepare group IV complexes that can support both radical and ring opening polymerization reactions. New architectures and unusual topologies are anticipated from the concurrent living polymerization of polar and nonpolar monomers.
Polymer properties vary dramatically with microstructure and method of synthesis. Utilizing multifunctional catalysts to incorporate more than one monomer in simultaneous polymer formation will provide new polymer topologies and architectures. Curriculum development, at both the undergraduate and graduate level, in areas of nanomaterials and polymers will be undertaken during the period of this award.
