Center for the Activation and Transformation of Strong Bonds (CATSB)

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With this Chemical Bonding Center (CBC) Phase I, Step II award, the Division of Chemistry and the Office of Multidisciplinary Activities of the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate jointly support the research of Karen I. Goldberg, of the University of Washington, who will lead a collaborative of twelve PIs from a variety of institutions in investigations of the activation and transformation of strong chemical bonds. This CBC brings together chemists with expertise in synthetic methodology, catalysis, computational chemistry, and spectroscopy with the goal of developing efficient and environmentally friendly methods of synthesizing organic materials. This innovative approach to chemical transformations, which focuses on the activation of strong bonds rather than on functional group modification, will allow utilization of chemical feedstocks ranging in complexity from natural gas to complex biological molecules. These investigations are expected to have major impact on large scale industrial chemistry, pharmaceutical synthesis, and chemical recycling. This CBC, with its focus on modern environmentally benign solutions to a historical chemical problem of major significance, will provide important training for students and increase public awareness of the role of chemistry as a driver in solutions of societal problems. Chemical Bonding Centers are designed to focus innovative collaborative efforts that address a "big problem" which will lead to a major advance in chemistry or at the interface of chemistry and other sciences and will have the potential to attract broad scientific and public interest.