Wenqi Liu
University of South Florida, FL·Chemistry·Early-career
Many important chemical tasks come down to molecular recognition: one molecule picking out a specific ion or partner from a crowded mixture, often in water. Living systems do this well, but synthetic molecules struggle, especially in water, where surrounding water molecules compete for binding.
- Fields
Chemistry
Materials Science
- Topics
supramolecular chemistry
molecular recognition
synthetic receptors
- Grants
- 2 known grants, through Jul 2029
What they work on
- Design and synthesize acyclic (open-chain) receptors that use ion-dipole and electrostatic interactions to bind lithium ions selectively over competing metal ions, and measure their binding in solution.
- Immobilize the best lithium receptors on solid supports and test their capture and release of lithium under conditions typical of industrial extraction from salt lakes and geothermal brines.
- Develop dynamic imine chemistry with imine-to-amide oxidation to build water-soluble macrocycles and cages that combine hydrogen-bonding groups with hydrophobic surfaces or charged residues.
- Vary hydrophobic surfaces, charge densities and hydrogen-bond placement in these receptors to uncover design rules for strong, selective hydrogen-bond-based binding in water.
More about the research
Both projects design and make synthetic receptors, molecules built to grab specific targets, and test how well and how selectively they bind.
Why it matters
Better lithium-selective sorbents could make extracting lithium from brines cheaper and less damaging, supporting battery supply chains and US self-reliance in critical minerals. Receptors that use hydrogen bonding in water could eventually inform medical diagnostics, anti-infective agents, synthetic antibodies, carbohydrate sensors, precise fertilization, and sensors or scavengers for pollutants and radioactive contaminants.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Lyle Isaacs
University of Maryland, MD·Chemistry
Synthesize acyclic cucurbit[n]uril (CB[n]) containers that vary in glycoluril building blocks, aromatic walls and solubilizing groups, and map how each change alters binding strength toward drugs and toxins in buffered water.
Jovica Badjic
Ohio State University, OH·Chemistry
Synthesize polyanionic, dendritic pillar[6]arenes with stable pS or pR planar chirality and a nonpolar pocket shielded by anionic groups, and test their ability to bind chiral steroids differing in charge and number of stereocenters in water.
Christopher Hartley
Miami University-Oxford, OH·Chemistry
Determine how chains that combine attractive and repulsive interactions within a single molecule fold, programming structure by inserting pyrazine-2,3-diyl units, nitrogen-containing aromatic rings, into ortho-phenylene sequences.
The school
University of South Florida: 20 labs on PI Pages, $522M a year on research, 305 research doctorates a year.
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