Automated Small-Molecule Purification for Research on CatalyticAlkene Functionalization for Energetic Materials Development
Abstract
The development of next-generation energetic materials, including explosives, propellants, and pyrotechnics, to support national de fense requires advanced synthetic capabilities. Specially, the ability to quickly and selectively synthesize, isolate, and characte rizefamilies of new molecules bearing precisely controlled structures is of paramount importance. With this proposal we seek to ob tain state-of-the-art automated purification technology in order to expedite synthetic methodology research in our laboratory geare d towards energetic materials discovery and development. Our research seeks to develop new synthetic methods to convert alkenes, a type of readily available chemical feedstocks, into novel energetic materials through use of transition metal catalysis. Once ful ly developed this synthetic toolkit will facilitate rapid prototyping of new energetic materials and reduce the cost and environmen tal impact of large-scale production. In the early phase of development, new organic reactions often furnish mixtures of products t hat must be isolated and characterized to understand how to rationally improve the process. A pervasive bottleneck is that purific ation of compound mixtures traditionally uses a manual procedure that is typically time-, cost-, and labor-intensive, which hampers the entire research workflow. To overcome these issues, we seek to integrate cutting-edge commercial separations technology that is commonly employed in the industrial sector yet seldom used in academia. With the enhanced separations capabilities supported by this proposal, we anticipate that we will be to decrease the time needed to develop enabling synthetic transformations for energet ics research. Moreover, access to such instrumentation will enhance the educational experience of graduate student and postdoctora l trainees, consistent with our goal of educating the next generation of synthetic chemists for careers in academic, industrial, an d national research laboratories
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Oct 22, 2021
- Source ID
- N000142112847
Entities
People
- Keary M Engle
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- Scripps Research
- United States Navy