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Damion Meany
Philosophy

Bruce Branchaud, Mentor

Flavin Derivative Imprinted Polymers for Environmentally Safe Oxidative Catalysis

Past research has shown that newly formed elemental solids and specially treated polymers can surround introduced molecules and form an imprint of them. In addition, antibodies, which are grown to bind the transition-state analog of a reaction, act as catalysts when introduced to that reaction. Most living organisms use isoforms of the biodegradable molecule flavin as co-factors for metabolically essential oxidative reactions. Riboflavin derivatives with the properties of transition-state analogs will be created and then imprinted within a polymer, and that polymer will then be used to catalyze novel oxidative reactions. This polymer can replace the environmentally hazardous heavy metal compounds commonly used to catalyze the oxidative reactions often used in organic synthesis. Polymer catalysts will also have enzyme-like specificity unlike the non-specific oxidation that occurs with heavy metal oxidizing agents.