Dr. Alexander R. Muci has been awarded an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Chemistry. Dr. Muci received the doctoral degree from Harvard University under the supervision of Professor David A. Evans. Dr. Muci will continue research at the California Institute of Technology under the sponsorship of Professor John E. Bercaw. The postdoctoral research will focus on the synthesis and study of enantiomerically pure polymerization catalysts. In particular, work includes the synthesis of an yttrocene complex where chirality installed in the silicon linker controls the rotational orientation of the substituted Cp rings. Longterm research goals target the development of synthetically useful catalytic carbon-carbon bond activation reactions. Heterogeneous, metal-catalyzed carbon-carbon bond cleavage is an important process for the cracking of crude petroleum hydrocarbons into more useful, lower molecular weight chemicals and fuels. 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.
