CAS: Complexity-Building Reactions from Feedstock Chemicals

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With this award, the Chemical Synthesis Program of the NSF Division of Chemistry is supporting the research of Professor Jeffrey S. Johnson of the Department of Chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Professor Johnson and his research team are creating new chemical processes that provide high-value molecules from abundant feedstock chemicals (even “waste” chemicals). Sustainability is a critical challenge facing society and the field of chemistry. The focus on using abundant chemicals to access complex molecules through the creative use of catalytic processes is addressing the societal need for new pharmaceuticals and materials with sustainable sources. These studies are being paired with efforts by Professor Johnson and his research group to enhance public outreach in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and to support the inclusion of students from underrepresented groups in chemistry. The Johnson group has a notable track record in successfully mentoring diverse students through the doctoral program and on to leadership positions.High abundance and inexpensive starting materials such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, ammonia, and aromatic compounds are often viewed as ‘dead-end’ molecules because of their stability and relative inertness. Professor Johnson and his research group are developing new reactions that will take these abundant, poorly-reactive molecules and convert them into useful synthetic building blocks. The Johnson research team is transforming achiral aromatic compounds into chiral carbocycles through catalyzed dearomatization reactions that result in cyclohexadienoid systems bearing strained fused rings, such as norcaradienes. These systems can then be used to incorporate feedstock compounds of the sort described. In this way, the Johnson group is pursuing the streamlined and stereoselective assemblies of useful advanced chiral and densely functionalized heterocyclic structures while incorporating abundant inexpensive gaseous feedstock at the same time. These activities provide an excellent training ground in synthetic chemistry for a diverse group of graduate and undergraduate students.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.