Michael F. Mayer

Assistant Professor

B.S., University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, 1994
Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2000
Postdoctoral, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2001-2004
 

Awards
Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NIH), 2002-2004

 
 

 

Office: (806) 742-0019

Lab: (806) 742-3582

Fax: (806) 742-1289

 

Organic Chemistry

Currently, two projects are being investigated in the Mayer group. 

1)  Over the last thirty years, chemists have discovered/invented hundreds of efficient catalysts for a wide variety of chemical transformations.  In recent years, a number of particularly mild and selective catalysts have been developed.  The stage is set for moving to a next level.  In one project, our goal is to develop new catalytic reaction processes where multiple catalysts are used together, at one time–to allow an efficient cascade of chemical reactions within a single reaction vessel.  This is quite a challenge since the simultaneous use of multiple catalysts can cause mutual interference between the catalysts.  However, when an effective combination is discovered and the process optimized, the resulting method may be notably useful.  Such processes can be time-efficient since the isolation and purification of chemical intermediates is avoided.  Similarly, the processes are often environmentally friendly (“green”) and cost effective since the use of large volumes of organic solvents for intermediate purification can be avoided.

2)  A goal of a second project is to synthesize a polycatenane.  This is a polymer that is composed of macrocycles that are linked together in a chain.  Thus far, no method exists for the synthesis of a polycatenane.  This is unfortunate because polycatenanes are predicted to have quite unique properties in comparison to most other classes of polymers.  The difference lies in the molecular structure, where the individual monomers, that make-up the polymer, have unique degrees of freedom to move, i.e. rotate and slide within each other.  These movements, at the molecular scale, are predicted to manifest in unusual viscoelastic properties for bulk samples.  Thus we are currently working towards the first synthesis of a polycatenane polymer.  We aim to characterize these materials and test existing theories regarding the effect of structural concatenation on polymer properties.   

 Selected Publications

  • “Synthesis of a Soluble Ureido-Naphthyridine Oligomer that Self-Associates via Eight Contiguous Hydrogen Bonds”, Mayer, M. F.; Nakashima, S.; Zimmerman, S. C. Org. Lett. 2005, 7, 3005-3008.
  • "A New Route to Organic Nanotubes from Porphyrin Dendrimers”, Kim, Y.; Mayer, M.F.; Zimmerman, S.C.  Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2003, 42, 1121-1126.
  • "Iron Lewis Acid [(η5-C5H5)Fe(CO)2(THF)]+ Catalyzed Organic Reactions", Redlich, M.D.; Mayer, M.F.; Hossain, M.M. Aldrichimica Acta 2003, 36, 3-13.
  • "Synthesis of a New Iron Lewis Acid Catalyst Possessing a Chelating Cyclopentadienyldiphenylphosphinite Ligand, [(η5:η1-C5H4CH(Ph)OPPh2)", Mayer, M.F.; Hossain, M.M.  J. Organomet. Chem. 2002, 654, 202-209.
  • "An Explanation for the Apparent cis-Aziridine Selectivity in the Iron Lewis Acid-Catalyzed Reaction of N-Benzylidene Aniline and Ethyl Diazoacetate", Mayer, M.F.; Wang, Q.; Hossain, M.M.  J. Organomet. Chem. 2001, 630, 78-83.
  • "Catalytic Preparation of Aziridines with an Iron Lewis Acid", Mayer, M.F.; Hossain, M.M.  J. Org. Chem. 1998, 63, 6839-6844.

 

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