Dr. Jayaraman Sivaguru, a North Dakota State University (NDSU) James A. Meier Jr. professor of chemistry and biochemistry, recently received a three-year, $440,000 award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop environmentally benign, green strategies for performing chemical reactions with light.
The funding also provides research opportunities to graduate and undergraduate students. The research program in the Indian American professor’s group focuses on using light for special photochemical reactions.
“Harnessing the power of light to synthesize chemical compounds during light-induced transformations is very challenging. Our methodology has the ability to provide an opportunity to develop sustainable strategies with minimal impact on environment,” Sivaguru stated in an NDSU press release.
Based on the NSF funding, his research group will evaluate the use of visible and ultraviolet light to synthesize complex molecules. One of the research goals is to gain a fundamental understanding of interaction of light with photo-reactive substrates.