An IIT Madras alumni, who is a chemistry professor at North Dakota State , was granted nearly a half a million dollar grant last week by the National Science Foundation to develop environmentally benign, green strategies for performing chemical reactions with light.
Jayaraman Sivaguru (Siva) who is James A. Meier Jr. Professor of chemistry and biochemistry at North Dakota State University, Fargo, was given the NSF award to evaluate the use of “visible and UV light to synthesize complex molecules that are enantiomerically pure.”
One of the research goals is to gain a fundamental understanding of interaction of light with atropisomeric photoreactive substrates.
The three-year-$440,000 award also provides research opportunities to graduate and undergraduate students.
Based on the funding from NSF, his research group will evaluate the use of visible and UV light to synthesize complex molecules that are enantiomerically pure.
One of the research goals is to gain a fundamental understanding of interaction of light with atropisomeric photoreactive substrates.
“Harnessing the power of light to synthesize chiral compounds with high stereoselectivity during light-induced transformations is very challenging. Our proposed methodology has the ability to provide an opportunity to develop sustainable strategies with minimal impact on the environment,” Sivaguru said, according to an university press statement July 31.
“The project also provides students an opportunity to learn modern chemical methods that are utilized for synthesizing compounds with minimal environmental impact,” added Sivaguru.
Through the research, area high school students receive opportunities in PICNICS (Parents Involvement with Children, Nurturing Intellectual Curiosity in Science). Top area high school students conduct research each summer alongside graduate students and postdoctoral fellows at NDSU.
Sivaguru developed the PICNICS program as an outreach component in an earlier NSF CAREER award. PICNICS engages high school students and their parents to learn more about recent science and technology advancements and to encourage high school students to consider science as a career path. The program has trained 42 high school students since 2007.
At NDSU, Sivaguru has received the Excellence in Research Award, Excellence in Teaching award and Peltier Award for Innovation in Teaching. He completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Columbia University, New York, after receiving his Ph.D. from Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana.
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