| NSF Org: |
CHE Division Of Chemistry |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | September 8, 2013 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | September 8, 2013 |
| Award Number: | 1308485 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
George Janini
CHE Division Of Chemistry MPS Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences |
| Start Date: | September 15, 2013 |
| End Date: | August 31, 2018 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $390,000.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $390,000.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
506 S WRIGHT ST URBANA IL US 61801-3620 (217)333-2187 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
506 S. Wright Street Urbana IL US 61801-3620 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | Macromolec/Supramolec/Nano |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): | |
| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.049 |
ABSTRACT
In this project funded by the Macromolecular, Supramolecular and Nanochemistry Program of the Chemistry Division of the National Science Foundation, Jianjun Cheng at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign aims to develop methods for facile preparation of poly(alpha-hydroxy acids) bearing pendant functionalities. The project will first focus on the design and synthesis of various O-carboxyanhydride monomers containing natural or unnatural amino acid side chains. These monomers will then be used in the development of organo- and metal-catalyzed, living ring-opening polymerization of O-carboxyanhydrides to yield well-defined poly(alpha-hydroxy acids) with functionalized side chains. Finally, some applications of poly(alpha-hydroxy acids), such as their uses in encapsulation, conjugation and membrane penetration, will be explored. The broader impacts and proposed education and outreach activities include mentoring academically underperforming undergraduate students and leading summer education and outreach programs designed for stimulating interest of high school and college students in science and engineering.
Polyesters are useful materials encountered in many aspects of everyday life: clothing fiber, plastic bottles, plastic shopping bags, etc. One drawback of many commercial polyesters is that they are not easily modified to form new materials with new properties. In this research project, new classes of polyesters that incorporate different types of chemical groups are developed. Such materials could impact a range of technologies in which plastics are used, such as new technologies for recycling of polyester plastics, the generation of renewable plastics and new functional materials for biomedical applications.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
Degradable polymers such as polyesters and polypeptides are materials that we see, touch and use almost every day in our life. To give a few examples, numerous clothing, plastic bottles for beverage, plastic shopping bags, sleep bags, high strength ropes and hoses are made of these polymers. One drawback of these conventional polymers is that we cannot easily modify them to achieve new properties because they typically do not have chemical groups that can be used for property modification. In the proposed research, we aimed to develop new synthetic strategies for the access of a large variety of these degradable polymers that not only have unprecedented, new properties and but also have chemical groups that can be used for structure and chemical modification to achieve other properties. We developed a library of building blocks and catalysts that can allow for preparation of these special polymers with any desirable and uniform length, with properties suitable for bio-applications. We also explored the fundamental studies of the structure-function correlation, their direct use as therapeutic materials, and applications such as making small devices capable of on-demand release of cargos or bacteria-resistant fabric. We published a total of nine papers in leading journals such as Nature Communications, Journal of American Chemical Society, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Last Modified: 03/29/2019
Modified by: Jianjun Cheng
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