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SUMMARY:Catalytic strategies to control dechlorination of poly(vinyl chlori
 de)
LOCATION:Chemistry A101
TZID:America/Denver
DTSTART:20261106T160000
UID:2026-10-28-18-29-55@natsci.colostate.edu
DTSTAMP:20261028T182955
Description:Seminar Abstract:\n\nPoly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) is the third-mo
 st mass-produced polymer\, with applications ranging from long-term constr
 uction to disposable medical application. However\, this polymer has the m
 ost harmful end-of-life to the environment. Regardless of if PVC items end
  up in a landfill or recycling stream\, thermal and photochemical degradat
 ion cause harmful production of hydrochloric acid\, dioxins and leaching o
 f toxic additives. While many polymers can be pyrolyzed to smaller hydroca
 rbon reagents\, the HCl release\, which is 58 wt% of PVC\, complicates the
  process. This problem requires removal of chlorine from PVC without the p
 roduction of corrosive byproducts\, while leaving behind an organic produc
 t and Cl-containing product that have use and value. Discussed herein are 
 some of the first catalytic routes to full and controlled partial dechlori
 nation of PVC to yield selective polymer products and benign chlorinated p
 roducts under mild conditions. Two strategies have been realized to promot
 e dechlorination of PVC. Metal catalysis with sodium formate can show full
  dechlorination with minimal branching in the polyethylene-like product. A
 lternatively\, silylium catalysis can show partial and full dechlorination
  to synthesize a range of products.\n\nSpeaker Bio:\n\nMegan received a B.
 A. in chemistry at Washington University in St. Louis. She went on to earn
  her Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California\, Irvine\, worki
 ng with Bill Evans on the \"Spectroscopic and Computational Analysis of Ra
 re Earth and Actinide Complexes in Unusual Coordination Environments and O
 xidation States\". She then moved to pursue postdoctoral studies with Prof
 . Bill Tolman at the University of Minnesota within the NSF Center for Sus
 tainable Polymers. There she collaborated with Prof. Geoff Coates and Prof
 . Chris Cramer on mechanistic studies of the perfectly alternating copolym
 erization of epoxides and cyclic anhydrides with an aluminum catalyst and 
 PPNCl co-catalyst. Megan started as a Gabilan Assistant Professor of Chemi
 stry at the University of Southern California in 2018. She has built a res
 earch program in catalysis to address polymer sustainability. She was prom
 oted to Associate Professor in 2026. Her research program prioritizes mole
 cular inorganic chemistry and polymer chemistry\, often combined\, to addr
 ess challenges in sustainability. 4:00 pm
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