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SUMMARY:Development of Pendular Zwitterions as Novel Organocatalysts
LOCATION:Chemistry, A101
TZID:America/Denver
DTSTART:20210913T160000
UID:2026-04-25-06-17-08@natsci.colostate.edu
DTSTAMP:20260425T061708
Description:Independent Research Proposal:  Most modern catalysts utilize 
 stationary nodes where catalyst- substrate interactions are intended. We a
 re proposing a new class of organocatalysts that contain pendular nodes\, 
 where rapid isomerization or electron transport can give a single catalyst
  a set of moving nodes which allow one point on the molecule to rapidly sw
 itch from basic/nucleophilic to acidic/electrophilic\, thus enabling dynam
 ic interactions with intermediates and transition states. This will allow 
 for advanced chemo-\, regio-\, and stereoselectivity. To realize this conc
 ept\, we propose the natural coupling of isocyanates with N- heterocyclic 
 olefins (NHOs) to yield a molecule with two imidazolium-based zwitterionic
  forms as well as a neutral enamine form that are readily interchangeable.
  While we would like to emphasize pendular catalyst as a concept with broa
 d utility in catalytic chemistry\, we will start by benchmarking their rea
 ctivity in the field of ring-opening polymerization (ROP) which offers a d
 iverse set of chemical challenges and is a highly impactful frontier of su
 stainable/green chemistry. We will also use chiral variants of the pendula
 r zwitterions to meaningfully target precise substrate-catalyst interactio
 ns in a chiral enrichment reaction based on stereoselective transesterific
 ation 4:00 pm
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