NSF awards $1.7M to sustainable chemistry research in U.S.-French collaboration

The U.S. National Science Foundation Division of Chemistry (NSF CHE) has awarded four projects in collaboration with the French Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR) under a joint agreement to promote opportunities for closer scientific partnership between the two countries. Under this agreement, ANR and NSF jointly identify thematic research areas to address critical scientific challenges and leverage research talents in both countries. In its first round of competition, the research focus is on Sustainable Chemistry: Catalysis with Earth-Abundant Elements.

"To address global challenges in sustainability, development of more effective catalysts and catalytic processes is crucial to unlock innovations in chemical manufacturing and address the supply chain issue of critical elements," says Lin He, acting division director of NSF CHE. "We are excited for this joint effort with ANR to further strengthen sustainable chemistry research through collaborations between research teams in France and the U.S."

The following projects are jointly funded by two agencies in this first year of collaboration:

Encapsulated Bimetallic Complexes Based on Earth-abundant Metals for (Photo)Catalysis
Led by the University of Illinois at Chicago and Sorbonne University at the Institut Parisien de Chemie Moleculare.

Bridging Innovative Coordination Complexes of Earth-abundant Metals for Efficient Photocatalysis
Led by the University of New Hampshire and the University of Nantes.

Cycloadditions of Azines and Their N-oxides
Led by The University of Texas at San Antonio, Université de Strasbourg and University of Rouen Normandy.

Design and Application of Highly Reactive Redox-Active Organophosphorus Catalysts
Led by Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Laboratoire Hétérochimie Fondamentale et Appliquée-University of Toulouse.