Wenyu Huang
Iowa State University, IA·Chemistry
Catalysts are substances that speed up chemical reactions without being consumed, and much of their behavior depends on what can physically reach them. Work here centers on controlling that access by locking catalysts inside molecular-scale containers, and on applying catalysis to two very different problems: making magnetic resonance signals vastly stronger for medical imaging, and making polymer chains grow cleanly to a precise length.
- Fields
Chemistry
Materials Science
Biomedical Engineering
- Topics
hyperpolarization
parahydrogen-induced polarization
NMR spectroscopy
- Grants
- 2 known grants, through Jul 2029
What they work on
- Build a continuous-flow parahydrogen-induced polarization platform that links hydrogenation of carbon-13-labeled precursors, spin-order transfer to create hyperpolarized carbon-13 signals, and membrane-based extraction into water.
- Compare homogeneous catalysts with separable heterogeneous ones, including complexes confined in metal–organic frameworks and silica-encapsulated intermetallic nanoparticles, for hyperpolarization performance.
- Use density matrix simulations, a quantum-mechanical modeling method, to optimize spin conversion efficiency and operating conditions and to limit polarization loss from spin relaxation.
- Design homogeneous and heterogeneous zirconium-based molecular cages with reversible aperture opening and closing, and use them to encapsulate Grubbs and Hoveyda-Grubbs ruthenium ROMP catalysts.
- Test whether cage-confined catalysts allow processive ring-opening metathesis polymerization of low-strain and degradable monomers, yielding high molecular weight polymers with low dispersity, and map the reaction kinetics.
More about the research
Both projects use confined metal catalysts, including metal–organic frameworks, porous crystalline materials built from metal nodes and organic linkers, and both are collaborations with partners at other institutions.
Why it matters
Stronger magnetic resonance signals from a continuously operating hyperpolarization platform could enable metabolic imaging that detects molecules at concentrations found in the body, supporting earlier detection and better monitoring of diseases such as cancer that alter metabolism, and could help move hyperpolarized MRI toward clinical and industrial use. Separately, confined ROMP catalysts could give polymer makers precise control over chain length and uniformity, including for monomers designed to be degradable, which matters for more sustainable plastics.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Clifford Bowers
University of Florida, FL·Chemistry
Build a continuous-flow parahydrogen-induced polarization (PHIP) system that adds hydrogen to carbon-13-labeled precursor molecules to make hyperpolarized biomolecules on demand.
Jonathan Pokorski
University of California-San Diego, CA·Chemistry
Develop ways to grow polymer chains of norbornene and oxanorbornene directly from cell surfaces using ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP), a catalyst-driven reaction that links ring-shaped building blocks into chains.
Gannon Jennings
Vanderbilt University, TN·Engineering
Identify, synthesize and test new polymer membranes that separate water from polar organic solvents by pervaporation, using ring-opening metathesis polymerization and spin coating.
The school
Iowa State University: 23 labs on PI Pages, $462M a year on research, 327 research doctorates a year.
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