Enantioenriched Silanol and Siloxy Compounds as Catalysts and Ligands

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With this award, the Chemical Catalysis Program of the NSF Division of Chemistry is supporting the research of Professor Annaliese Franz in the Department of Chemistry at the University of California, Davis. Professor Franz is developing new silicon-based molecules and using them to prepare structurally-defined complexes with metals. These complexes are being studied as catalysts for applications such as the efficient synthesis of organic materials and renewable polymers that are used in technology, medicine, and daily life. The use of catalysts is important for increasing industrial efficiency in advanced manufacturing and reducing waste production. Silicon is the second most abundant element in the earth's crust, as such this research is addressing issues of sustainability. This project alsocontributes to training the next generation of scientists and broadening participation. Dr. Franz engages in mentoring and outreach activities to broaden participation in STEM, including demonstrations and workshops for 7th and 8th grade girls with AAUW TechTrek and STEM for Girls. She also designs and implements a First-year Seminar - CURE (Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience) - to engage a diverse group of first-year and transfer students with hands-on research opportunities to build critical skills that will help launch them into careers in science and technology.This project aims to develop new metal-siloxide complexes with high catalytic activity and selectivity for the synthesis of chiral molecules. The design and synthesis of four new classes of chiral siloxy compounds is being investigated to prepare chiral ligands. Using these newly designed silanol ligands, a series of novel metal-siloxide complexes is being prepared where the metal-coordinating abilities, structural studies, stability, and catalytic activity are examined. The structure, binding interactions, and mechanism of the new catalysts are being studied using various spectroscopy methods, kinetics, X-ray crystallography, and mass spectrometry. This project is also training undergraduate and graduate students to develop technical and critical thinking skills for chemical synthesis and catalysis.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.