NSMDS: Molecular Design, Synthesis and Characterization of Green Glycolipid Surfactants

NSMDS：绿色糖脂表面活性剂的分子设计、合成和表征

• 批准号: 1339597
• 负责人: Jeanne Pemberton
• 金额: $ 440万
• 依托单位: University of Arizona
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-09-15 至 2019-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1339597&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSMDS; Molecular; Design; Synthesis; Characterization

With this award, the NSF Division of Chemistry and the Environmental Protection Agency, through a program of Networks for Sustainable Molecular Design and Synthesis, support Professors Jeanne Pemberton, Walter Klimecki, Raina Maier, Robin Polt, and Steven Schwartz in establishing the Network for Bio-inspired Surfactants (NeBiS) at the University of Arizona. This network combines the scientific expertise of four chemists, an environmental microbiologist, and a toxicologist to systematically design, synthesize, and characterize a wide array of new glycolipid surfactants. The recent discovery of a versatile, green synthesis of glycolipids is being leveraged to explore the synthesis of target glycolipids identified by computational methods to possess excellent surfactant properties in solution and at surfaces. The synthetic strategy involves univariate green metrics as quantitative benchmarks for assessment of improvements, including the use of renewable reagents from natural resources. Solution aggregation behavior of surfactants is characterized with a comprehensive suite of techniques to determine critical micelle concentration and aggregate shape and size, in part in collaboration with the National Center for Neutron Research at the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST). The biodegradability of surfactants is determined, and the toxicity screening of potential candidates is carried out by a variety of chemical and biological assays. Attractive targets are screened in an in vitro model of ocular irritation. This effort will provide new insight into surfactant structure-function relationships and drive advances in molecular design. Surfactants are compounds that lower the surface tension of a liquid, the interfacial tension between two liquids or the interfacial tensions between a liquid and a solid. Surfactants may act as detergents, wetting agents, emulsifiers, foaming agents and dispersants. These critical, ubiquitous chemicals are present in many consumer products and industrial processes, with a multi-billion-dollar market. The toxicity of many conventional synthetic surfactants as well as their persistence in the environment are driving regulatory and consumer pressure to develop greener and more sustainable alternatives.. The ubiquity of surfactants coupled with emerging concerns about their long-term environmental impacts, present a compelling opportunity for advances in molecular design and synthesis of green surfactants, particularly ones based upon renewable materials. While tackling this problem, the Network for Bio-inspired Surfactants is developing significant education and outreach activities. This multidisciplinary effort is a platform for the cross-disciplinary training of a broad spectrum of researchers, from postdoctoral researchers through high school students. Graduate students are co-mentored whenever feasible and are required to include a cross-disciplinary component in their research. Several graduate students participate in semester-long internships with collaborators at NIST. In addition to engaging high school teachers and students in research, new curricular materials focused on green chemistry are being developed with content targeted to undergraduate and high school levels. Outreach activities target K-12 students through the local Science Center, and the local community is engaged more broadly to learn about surfactants and green chemistry through the participation of the investigators in Science Cafés.

NSF化学部和环境保护局通过可持续分子设计和合成网络计划，支持Jeanne Pemberton、Walter Klimecki、Raina Maier、Robin Polt和Steven Schwartz教授在亚利桑那大学建立生物启发表面活性剂网络(NEBIS)。这个网络结合了四位化学家、一位环境微生物学家和一位毒物学家的科学专业知识，系统地设计、合成和表征了一系列新的糖脂表面活性剂。最近发现的一种多功能、绿色的糖脂合成方法正被用来探索通过计算方法确定的目标糖脂的合成，以在溶液和表面具有优异的表面活性。综合战略包括将单变量绿色指标作为评估改进的量化基准，包括使用来自自然资源的可再生试剂。表面活性剂的溶液聚集行为是通过一套全面的技术来确定临界胶束浓度和聚集体形状和大小的，部分是与位于国家标准与技术研究所(NIST)的国家中子研究中心合作的。测定了表面活性剂的生物降解性，并通过多种化学和生物分析方法对潜在候选物进行了毒性筛选。在体外眼刺激模型中筛选出有吸引力的靶点。这一努力将为表面活性剂的结构-功能关系提供新的见解，并推动分子设计的进步。表面活性剂是一种化合物，可以降低液体的表面张力、两种液体之间的界面张力或液体和固体之间的界面张力。表面活性剂可用作洗涤剂、润湿剂、乳化剂、发泡剂和分散剂。这些关键的、普遍存在的化学品存在于许多消费品和工业流程中，市场价值数十亿美元。许多传统合成表面活性剂的毒性以及它们在环境中的持久性正在推动监管和消费者压力，要求开发更环保、更可持续的替代品。表面活性剂的无处不在，加上人们对其长期环境影响的日益关注，为绿色表面活性剂，特别是基于可再生材料的表面活性剂的分子设计和合成提供了一个令人信服的机会。在解决这一问题的同时，生物表面活性剂网络正在开展重要的教育和外联活动。这一多学科的努力是对从博士后研究人员到高中生的广泛研究人员进行跨学科培训的平台。只要可行，研究生就会得到共同指导，并被要求在他们的研究中包括跨学科的部分。几名研究生参加了NIST合作者为期一学期的实习。除了让高中教师和学生参与研究外，还正在开发以绿色化学为重点的新课程材料，内容针对本科和高中水平。外展活动通过当地的科学中心面向K-12学生，当地社区通过科学咖啡馆的调查人员S的参与，更广泛地参与了解表面活性剂和绿色化学。