Current Position: Associate Scientist, AstraZeneca

B.S.E Research:

Ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) has been used for polymerizing various kinds of cycle olefins including norbornene-based monomers and cycloalkenes. Norbornene derivatives are high strain monomers, which facilitate a fast ring-opening. Cycloalkenes, on the other hand, are low strain monomers and therefore cannot be polymerized in a controlled way.
 
This thesis investigates the ROMP of exo-oxanorbornene anhydride, endo-norbornene anhydride, and exo-norbornene anhydride, with cyclooctene, cyclopentene, and cyclooctadiene, using the first-generation Grubbs catalyst.
 
Elucidating the chemical behavior of these polymerizations will help establish a framework for synthesizing these polymers with a target composition, molecular weight, and sequence. This copolymerization could have a wide range of potential applications due to the ability to functionalize both the norbornene-derivative and the cycloalkene. Specifically, norbornene anhydride can be functionalized with a primary amine, forming norbornene imide, introducing new initiating sites for bottle brush polymers. Cycloalkenes can have an ester, carbonate, or acetal moiety in the cyclic ring, which would incorporate hydrolyzed sites along the backbone of the polymer for polymer degradation.