Event

-Porous framework materials, including metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), are highly tunable materials with myriad potential applications ranging from chemical separations to gas storage to catalysis. This is due to the unusual local environment offered by their pores. Herein we will discuss how this tunability can be used to unlock new reactive species relevant to organic synthesis and catalysis, focusing on fluorination chemistry, which is critical to the pharmaceutical, polymer, and agrochemical industries. We will also draw inspiration from organic chemistry for the design of new chemical separations and electrocatalytically active materials.

Research Focus

One major focus of research in the Milner group is the design of materials to not only enable new synthetic transformations, but also to change the ways in which reactions are carried out. To achieve these goals, we are interested in unlocking the untapped potential of porous materials such as metal-organic frameworks as tools for organic synthesis. In addition, we will employ electrochemistry to effect controlled redox processes that cannot be achieved in any other manner, with an emphasis on understanding and ultimately controlling how chemistry at the electrode surface governs the outcome of reactions. As a second major direction, the group is investigating the application of strategies from physical and synthetic organic chemistry in the design of new porous materials for which synthesis remains a barrier to their application in areas such as chemical separations, gas storage, organic electronics, and catalysis.

Host. Kozlowski