CAREER: CAS: Red-light mediated photoredox catalysis by helical carbenium ions

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).With the support of the Chemical Catalysis Program in the Division of Chemistry, Thomas Gianetti of the University of Arizona is studying a novel class of organic photocatalysts. A photocatalyst is a molecule that converts light into chemical energy and facilitates chemical reactions. This project aims to develop stable organic ions that can utilize low-energy red light to promote chemical transformations. Coupling metal-free and non-toxic organic photocatalysts with abundant and safe red light sources holds promise to provide for safer, greener, and more sustainable synthetic methodologies for the synthesis of fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals. The outreach activity for this CAREER project aims to develop and expand a new interdisciplinary course at the frontier between science, policy and the law. The course will engage both STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and non-STEM undergraduate students by examining the challenges relevant to the incorporation of science in public policy and everyday modern life. This curriculum will be taught and developed as a partnership between the College of Science and the School of Law at the University of Arizona.With the support of the Chemical Catalysis Program in the Division of Chemistry, Thomas Gianetti of the University of Arizona is studying the use of helical and stable carbocations as a novel photo-redox platform to promote chemical transformations. These fused heterocyclic helicenium ions have fascinating properties such as possessing inherent helical chirality and strongly absorbing red light. The chemistry here proceeds through photo-active reduced (neutral radical) or oxidized (radical dication) analogues. Dr. Giannetti and his research team will endeavor to explore and develop concepts such as driving large-scale red light-mediated transformations, established conditions for enantioselective photocatalysis, and exploring multi-photon excitation to access highly photo-reducing or photo-oxidizing species. These activities will provide training in synthetic chemistry, photophysics, and photocatalysis for a diverse group of graduate and undergraduate students at the University of Arizona.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.