CAREER: CAS: Donor-Amplified Catalytic Approaches to Stereocontrolled Biodegradable Polymers

This award is funded in whole or in part under the America Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).

With the support of the Chemical Catalysis program in the Division of Chemistry, Jerome Robinson of Brown University and his team of researchers are investigating new approaches to make biodegradable plastics (polymers) from inexpensive and abundant materials. Polymers have enabled critical advances in nearly every aspect of modern life; however, the majority end up in landfills and waterways and take generations to degrade in the environment.

The development of sustainable substitutes has been limited by their higher cost and poorer properties compared to current environmentally persistent synthetic materials, and requires new approaches to address this challenge. Dr. Robinson’s team is developing innovative catalysts to be deployed in the construction of biodegradable polymers and to rigorously control their molecular structure and composition.

The proposed research has significant broader societal impact, as such approaches could access scalable and affordable next-generation materials with improved properties and degradation profiles. Dr. Robinson and his team are also developing programs for high school, undergraduate, and graduate students that are designed to train and mentor a diverse STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) workforce of the future.

This includes the Rhode Island Sustainable Chemistry Partnerships (RI SCP) program that will create opportunities to directly integrate chemistry research into Rhode Island public high school experiences. Additional educational and outreach programs aim to enhance educational equity for students throughout the region, including improved access to early-stage research experiences and career professional development.

With the support of the Chemical Catalysis program in the Division of Chemistry, Jerome Robinson of Brown University and his team of researchers are developing donor-amplified catalytic approaches to stereocontrolled biodegradable polymers. Modulation of dynamic exchange processes between labile exogeneous donors and catalysts can dramatically enhance performance in asymmetric catalysis and heterogeneous catalysis, yet such approaches have received limited attention in the synthesis of biodegradable polymers.

Mechanistically driven experimental and theoretical studies from the Robinson group are expected to advance the fundamental understanding of how donor effects can be exploited to tune catalyst performance in stereospecific ring-opening polymerization (ROP). This is expected to enable stereocontrolled access to biodegradable polymers, including those derived from monomers that themselves emanate from inexpensive and abundant feedstocks.

This chemistry should lead to scalable and sustainable alternatives to traditional, high-volume, and environmentally persistent materials. Dr. Robinson’s research goals are strongly integrated with educational objectives focused on training and mentoring a diverse STEM workforce.

This includes sustainable classroom and research partnerships with public high schools in Rhode Island, early-stage research experiences for high school and undergraduate students, and enhanced student access to career professional development.

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.