Research Projects

This research project aims to develop sustainable catalytic solutions for chemical transformation, focusing on designing and optimizing catalysts and reaction environments for various reactions. The project uses "catalysis by design" principles inspired by Mother Nature, aiming to reduce waste, energy consumption, and toxic solvents and reagents, thereby lowering the environmental impact of chemical synthesis. The ultimate goal is to provide commercially viable catalytic solutions that translate discoveries into technologies beneficial for society. The project will synthesize and explore the use of earth-abundant first row transition metals like Fe, Co, Ni, and Cu for small molecule bond activation and bond formation processes, paving the way for sustainable and environmentally friendly approaches. The project also highlights the use of main-group elements, particularly homogeneous Bismuth-redox catalysis, as a potential redox platform to replace transition metal catalysts and step in the paradigm of new chemical reactivity. The project will explore diverse redox catalysis and the robust nature of Bi complexes for different redox catalytic cycles, utilizing renewable resources. The project will also explore design strategies for stabilizing low-valent and high-valent bismuth species. Shutdown catalysis will be proposed for in situ transfer of sensitive functional groups, avoiding conventional hazardous reagents. The project will use as many spectroscopies as possible to obtain experimental electronic structure information and unfold reaction mechanisms. The project is expected to be executed with a synthesis-driven, catalysis-focused approach, identifying downstream organic synthesis applications relevant to clean energy, fuel, and chemicals.