NSF Award
2213341
This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). In this project, funded by the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate and housed in the Chemistry Division, Professor Shabnam Hematian and her research team at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro will study catalytic processes to generate value-added chemicals from light, air, and simple compounds. As the demand for green chemistry and sustainable chemical design increases, the use of green energy sources such as light, rather than high energy chemical reagents, offers an energy-efficient means to transform cheap and unreactive raw materials into chemicals with higher molecular complexity and value. A photocatalyst must be used to capture the light and then act as an intermediary in the bond rearrangement reaction to form target products. Also, harnessing the oxidizing power of oxygen in the air (i.e., dioxygen) as a green terminal oxidant is of great interest. In this project, Professor Hematian and her team will attempt to develop new photocatalysts that can utilize dioxygen and absorb light to drive the air-oxidation of hydrocarbons, such as those found in petroleum products, to form alcohols, epoxides, and other valuable chemical products. The project will also provide research opportunities for local high school and community college students at earlier stages of their academic life as well as homeschooled high school students that typically have no access to these opportunities. A primary objective of the project to recruit students who are historically underrepresented in STEM, thus broadening participation and retention in the chemistry field.<br/><br/>The project will focus on development of oxo-bridged heterobinuclear systems, in which the two different metal centers, such as iron and copper, are attached through an oxo ligand, via dioxygen chemistry. This class of oxo-bridged assemblies will then be investigated for the photoactivation of their metal-oxo bonds and overall catalytic activities. This effort and the modularity of the oxo-bridged assemblies will provide deeper insights into the reaction pathways to guide the design of next-generation aerobic photocatalysts in the pursuit of developing green oxidation processes. The project will also introduce research opportunities to homeschooled high school students and low-income first-generation community college students and will encourage high school students, particularly females and underrepresented minorities, to partake in the research experience as early as their Sophomore or Junior years.<br/><br/>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.
