Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200100949
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$425,364.00
Summary
Metal-free strategies for sustainable light-driven synthesis. Innovation in synthetic chemistry drives the discovery of new life-saving drugs, agrochemicals and functional materials. This project aims to use visible light to access underexploited reactive intermediates and harness their unique reactivity in new sustainable synthetic transformations. The new chemical processes are expected to deliver increased economy, efficiency and precision in the synthesis of bioactive molecules that are inac ....Metal-free strategies for sustainable light-driven synthesis. Innovation in synthetic chemistry drives the discovery of new life-saving drugs, agrochemicals and functional materials. This project aims to use visible light to access underexploited reactive intermediates and harness their unique reactivity in new sustainable synthetic transformations. The new chemical processes are expected to deliver increased economy, efficiency and precision in the synthesis of bioactive molecules that are inaccessible or challenging to prepare with existing technologies. The conceptual and practical outcomes of this project are expected to benefit both academia and industry as the use of hazardous and expensive metal catalysts can be avoided, reducing chemical waste and simplifying purification.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150100517
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$360,000.00
Summary
Organocatalysis: A New Horizon for Synthesis of Organic Structures. The current technologies to synthesise organic substances, an important part of human life, often involve the use of excess amounts of reagents or precious and toxic metal catalysts, which incur high production costs and severe environmental impact. This project aims to use organocatalysis, chemical processes catalysed by stable, small, easily accessible, non-metallic organic compounds, to find a solution for these issues. Novel ....Organocatalysis: A New Horizon for Synthesis of Organic Structures. The current technologies to synthesise organic substances, an important part of human life, often involve the use of excess amounts of reagents or precious and toxic metal catalysts, which incur high production costs and severe environmental impact. This project aims to use organocatalysis, chemical processes catalysed by stable, small, easily accessible, non-metallic organic compounds, to find a solution for these issues. Novel organocatalytic methods will be designed and developed in order to promote environmentally friendly, highly efficient and selective chemical procedures for low cost production of laboratory organic substances and application in the industrial synthesis of potential agrochemicals and medicinal agents.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170100315
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$360,000.00
Summary
Combinatorial design of multivalent polymers for cell receptor clustering. This project aims to design biologically active multivalent peptide-polymer conjugates. This project will use an enzyme to conduct the reactions in tiny volumes in the open air, and prepare and screen large libraries of different architectures for their ability to kill cancer cell lines through the clustering of death receptor proteins on the cell surface. Such combinatorial techniques have been crucial to the development ....Combinatorial design of multivalent polymers for cell receptor clustering. This project aims to design biologically active multivalent peptide-polymer conjugates. This project will use an enzyme to conduct the reactions in tiny volumes in the open air, and prepare and screen large libraries of different architectures for their ability to kill cancer cell lines through the clustering of death receptor proteins on the cell surface. Such combinatorial techniques have been crucial to the development of small molecule drugs. This project aims to apply this technique to well-defined macromolecules, studying their structure-activity relationships, and could lead ultimately to the generation of lead compounds for therapeutics with high commercial relevance.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE130100689
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Applying nature's chemistry to the synthesis of complex bioactive natural products. Organic molecules come in all shapes and sizes, and the synthesis of them is crucial to industries as diverse as pharmaceuticals, electronics, cosmetics and agrochemicals. This project aims to develop new ways of making unusual and potentially useful naturally occurring organic molecules using chemistry that mimics how they are formed in nature.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE240100664
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$451,847.00
Summary
Pushing the limits of electronic delocalization in organic molecules. This project aims to uncover the factors which control how molecules delocalize electrons in 1, 2, and 3 dimensions. Electronic delocalization is essential for many applications of molecular materials, such as light-harvesting and energy storage, but it remains poorly understood. The expected outcomes of this project include new highly-conductive molecules, transferrable knowledge about aromaticity, and design principles for f ....Pushing the limits of electronic delocalization in organic molecules. This project aims to uncover the factors which control how molecules delocalize electrons in 1, 2, and 3 dimensions. Electronic delocalization is essential for many applications of molecular materials, such as light-harvesting and energy storage, but it remains poorly understood. The expected outcomes of this project include new highly-conductive molecules, transferrable knowledge about aromaticity, and design principles for future organic materials. The expected benefits flow from the foundational nature of this research: pi-conjugated organic molecules have many potential uses, including: sensors (e.g. for environmental monitoring), solar cells, and OLED screens, and this project is expected to improve these technologies and industries.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120102113
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Total synthesis inspired by nature. This project aims to improve and develop the way in which we make organic substances; our medicines, agrochemicals, and designed materials. This will be achieved through biomimetics; which harnesses the power of evolution by mimicking how nature synthesises organic compounds.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE180100294
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$368,446.00
Summary
Topochemical conversion of layers of graphene into diamond-like thin films. This project aims to experimentally convert layers of graphene into diamond-like thin films via novel chemical hydrogenation and fluorination approaches. Unconventional diamond-like thin films that possess remarkable physicochemical properties will be produced to trigger significant theoretical and technological interests in nano-carbon research. The project expects to impact the fundamental understanding of this new cla ....Topochemical conversion of layers of graphene into diamond-like thin films. This project aims to experimentally convert layers of graphene into diamond-like thin films via novel chemical hydrogenation and fluorination approaches. Unconventional diamond-like thin films that possess remarkable physicochemical properties will be produced to trigger significant theoretical and technological interests in nano-carbon research. The project expects to impact the fundamental understanding of this new class of graphene-derived materials whilst driving cutting-edge technological advances in electrochemical applications, membrane technologies and quantum computing.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140100318
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$391,575.00
Summary
Surface coated nanodiamonds as drug delivery carriers and simultaneous imaging. The design and development of next-generation nanocarriers as drug delivery platforms is an ongoing challenge in chemical and material sciences. Nanodiamonds are attractive candidates due to their biocompatibility, ease of functionalisation, and non-bleaching fluorescence. This project proposes an innovative approach to graft various polymer chains onto the surface of nanodiamonds to produce polymer-inorganic hybrid ....Surface coated nanodiamonds as drug delivery carriers and simultaneous imaging. The design and development of next-generation nanocarriers as drug delivery platforms is an ongoing challenge in chemical and material sciences. Nanodiamonds are attractive candidates due to their biocompatibility, ease of functionalisation, and non-bleaching fluorescence. This project proposes an innovative approach to graft various polymer chains onto the surface of nanodiamonds to produce polymer-inorganic hybrid materials. This project will expand our knowledge of the influence of polymer chains on the stability of nanodiamonds and cellular uptake. The model drug gemcitabine and targeting bioactive ligands will also be conjugated onto the optimum produced hybrid materials for the drug delivery study.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE180100462
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$364,975.00
Summary
Molecular complexity through multi-bond forming reactions. This project aims to develop techniques for the synthesis of many, highly valuable natural and designed molecules which are too complex to be synthesised on scale with current methodologies. The project aims to develop new strategies for the simultaneous construction of several chemical bonds, with a focus on molecular scaffolds that can be readily converted into pharmaceuticals, potential drug candidates, chiral ligands, and agrochemica ....Molecular complexity through multi-bond forming reactions. This project aims to develop techniques for the synthesis of many, highly valuable natural and designed molecules which are too complex to be synthesised on scale with current methodologies. The project aims to develop new strategies for the simultaneous construction of several chemical bonds, with a focus on molecular scaffolds that can be readily converted into pharmaceuticals, potential drug candidates, chiral ligands, and agrochemicals. This will ultimately lead to advancements in both the production and application of organic molecules in these fields.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE190100327
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$405,000.00
Summary
Linking supramolecular nanocages into multi-functional materials. This project aims to advance the complexity of metal-organic materials by ordering discrete nano-cage structures called "metal-organic polyhedra" in a multi-functional porous solid. The project expects to generate critical knowledge in the synthesis of high-performance materials by combining the advantages of metal-organic and dynamic covalent chemistry. The expected outcomes of the project include the development of materials tha ....Linking supramolecular nanocages into multi-functional materials. This project aims to advance the complexity of metal-organic materials by ordering discrete nano-cage structures called "metal-organic polyhedra" in a multi-functional porous solid. The project expects to generate critical knowledge in the synthesis of high-performance materials by combining the advantages of metal-organic and dynamic covalent chemistry. The expected outcomes of the project include the development of materials that are able to sequentially catalyse chemical reactions in a single-batch process. This project should deliver benefits for Australia’s emerging chemical manufacturing industry, such as a reduction in the cost, wastage and environmental impact of the chemical manufacturing industry.Read moreRead less