Catalytic Studies of the Production of Biodegradable Polymeric Materials from Carbon Dioxide and Renewable Resources

美国国家科学基金会化学部的化学催化计划支持德克萨斯A&M大学的Donald Darensburg教授开发用于二氧化碳和环氧乙烷/环氧杂环己烷共聚的新型催化剂。这项研究的目标是使用机械和动力学测量来优化催化剂结构，并评估所得到的共聚物作为生物可降解材料的潜力。这类重要的催化剂和共聚物本身对于可再生化学资源和它们作为生物可降解材料的拟议用途来说都是重要的。这项研究的广泛影响包括达伦斯堡小组开发的催化反应，可以提取化石燃料燃烧的副产品之一二氧化碳，并在反应中使用它来生产新材料。通过在这些反应中只使用催化量的化合物，将实现一种“原子经济方法”。此外，合成的化合物很可能是可生物降解的，在医学和生理学方面具有潜在的应用。PI的实验室通过REU项目将研究与本科教育相结合，在全国范围内享有盛誉。

The Chemical Catalysis Program in the Chemistry Division at the National Science Foundation supports Professor Donald Darensbourg of Texas A & M University, for the development of new catalysts for the copolymerization of carbon dioxide and oxiranes/oxetanes. The goals of this research are to use mechanistic and kinetic measurements to optimize catalyst structure, and to assess the potential of the resulting copolymers as biodegradable materials. This important class of catalyst and the copolymers themselves are important in terms of renewable chemical resources and for their proposed use as biodegradable materials.Broader impacts of the research include the Darensbourg group developing catalytic reactions that can take one of the by-products of fossil fuel combustion, CO2, and use it in reactions to produce new materials. By using only catalytic amounts of compound in these reactions, an "atom economical approach" will be realized. Furthermore, the resulting compounds are likely to be biodegradable, with potential applications in medicine and physiology. The PI's laboratory has developed a national reputation for integrating research with undergraduate education through an REU program.