SEES Fellows: Recyclable Solid Supports as a Sustainable Platform Technology

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In this Award from the NSF Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability Fellows (SEES Fellows Program) Dr. Frank Leibfarth from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will develop recyclable solid supports for the efficient and economical production of complex molecules, including polysaccharides, peptides and oligonucleotides. This award has support from: the Directorate for Engineering; and the Division of Chemistry and the Division of Materials Science in the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences.The proposed work will combine solid phase synthesis on a polymer support with dynamic covalent chemistry with a continuous flow system to carry out the reactions that create the target molecules. The aim of studies like that proposed in this work is to develop better, more efficient methods for the synthesis of complex molecules (e.g. pharmaceuticals) with minimum production of chemical waste.Dr. Leibfarth will be working with collaborators Prof. Timothy F. Jamison of the Department of Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of and Dr. Sejal Patel of Novartis Institutes of Biomedical Research. Dr. Leibfarth will also work with the MIT Office of Engineering Outreach as well as the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers on educational projects. This project is supported under the NSF Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability Fellows (SEES Fellows) program, with the goal of helping to enable discoveries needed to inform actions that lead to environmental, energy and societal sustainability while creating the necessary workforce to address these challenges. With SEES Fellows support, this project will enable a promising early career researcher to establish themselves in an independent research career related to sustainability.