Friday, 2 May 2025 11:00am – 12:00pm

This seminar will be delivered in Chemistry Lecture Theatre 4

Speaker: Professor Voravee Hoven

Host: Dr Marcello Solomon

Title: Polymeric Micellar Nanoreactor/Nanocatalyst for Organic Reaction in Water

Abstract
Organic reactions are conventionally performed in organic solvents which are mostly toxic and eventually become wastes to be discarded and problematic from both economical and environmental perspectives. Here in this research, micellar nanoreactor/nanocatalyst were developed from amphiphilic copolymers prepared by post-polymerization modification of a polymer precursor, poly(pentafluorophenyl acrylate) (PPFPA) with designated nucleophilic modifiers.[1-2]  Sequential modification of PPFPA with benzylamine and 1-amino-2-propanal (IPA) yielded poly(N-(benzyl acrylamide))-ran-poly(N-(2-hydroxypropyl)acrylamide) that underwent self-assembly into micelles in water and were used as nanoreactors for the thia-Michael addition. High conversion and yields were achieved between a variety of two substrates, β-nitrostyrene and thiol derivatives at room temperature within 24 h. The polymeric micelles can be reused for up to 10 cycles while conversion was maintained as high as 76%.[3]   On the other hand, sequential post-polymerization of PPFPA with IPA and 1(3-aminopropyl)imidazole) followed by alkylation and copper insertion gave a polymer-supported copper catalyst, capable of assembling into micellar catalyst in water. The developed nanocatalyst with 1 mol% loaded Cu led to high reaction yields (95-99%) and complete conversion at room temperature within 4 h, with less than 0.06 ppm copper residue [4]. It is strongly believed that post-functionalization of polymer precursor to generate functional random copolymer followed by self-assembly would be a versatile route to customized nanoreactor/nanocatalyst for a variety of chemical and biochemical processes in aqueous media. This would not only comply well with “the 12 Principles of Green Chemistry” but also satisfy “the BCG economic model”.

References

1. Noree, S.; Tangpasuthadol, V.; Kiatkamjornwong, S.; Hoven, V. P. Colloid Interface Sci. 2017, 501, 94-102.
2. Pinyakit, Y.; Palaga, T.; Kiatkamjornwong, S.; Hoven, V. P. Mater. Chem. B 2020, 8, 454-464.
3. Sombat, W.; Authai, P.; Padungros, P.; Hoven, V. P. ACS Appl. Polym. Mater. 2023, 5(9), 7288-7297.
4. Sombat, W.; Padungros, P.; Hoven, V. P. “Langmuir, 2025, 41, 6729-6739.

Bio
Professor Voravee Hoven earned a Ph.D. (1997) in Polymer Science and Engineering from University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA. Currently, she is a faculty member and Deputy Dean of Research Affairs of Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University. She received a few national awards including L’Oreal Thailand “For Woman in Science” Fellowship for “Material Science” Research from L’Oreal Thailand and The Thai National Commission for UNESCO, Wiley-CST Outstanding Publication Award from John Wiley & Sons/the Chemical Society (Thailand), Outstanding Research Award in “Chemical and Pharmaceutical Science” from the National Research Council of Thailand. Her recent research interest focuses on polymer-hybrid materials for biosensing and biomedical applications, polymeric hydrogel for therapeutic and diagnostic applications, polymeric nanoparticles as nanoreactors for green synthesis and catalysis.