LEAPS-MPS: Confinement of Organometallic Complexes within Structured Polymers for Site-Isolated Tandem Catalysis

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). In this project, funded by the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate and housed in the Chemistry Division, Professor Madalyn Radlauer and her students at San Jose State University (SJSU) will work to develop new chemical systems that can be used for tandem catalysis.

Tandem catalysis, in which two or more catalysts operate in tandem to enact multiple reactions in a single step, provides significant benefits to efficiency and atom economy, as no workup or change of conditions is needed as would be required for multistep syntheses. The challenge for developing tandem catalytic systems is that every component of both reactions must be compatible – catalysts, reagents, products, and solvents – and the catalysts must be able to function under the same conditions.

Prof. Radlauer will also undertake an educational and mentoring program that will help broaden participation of students underrepresented in science, both in her research program and in her department at SJSU, which is a Hispanic Serving Institution.

Prof. Radlauer is addressing the challenges of tandem catalysis by taking advantage of the three dimensional structure of star polymers to serve as scaffolds for catalysis, allowing for the site isolation of organometallic catalysts, shielding these highly reactive species, and thereby permitting tandem catalysis with incompatible catalysts. Alkane metathesis is specifically being targeted as a test tandem catalytic sequence for its potential as a green energy process.

Prof. Radlauer proposes broadening participation activities that would include providing an interdisciplinary undergraduate research experience to URM students from San Jose State University (SJSU) and from local community colleges. She will also be involved in development of a mentoring program for URM students at SJSU.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.