Professor Dan Weix and his lab of the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Department of Chemistry will join a team of researchers led by Todd Krauss, the Jay Last Professor in Arts, Sciences & Engineering in the Department of Chemistry and the Institute of Optics of the University of Rochester, in an awarded major grant from W.M. Keck Foundation to tackle a chemistry grand challenge. The $1.3 million grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation has been awarded to the University of Rochester for the project “Quantum Electrodynamics for Selective Transformations.” The team includes a team of researchers that includes Frank Huo, the Dean and Laura Marvin Endowed Professor in Physical Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry and associate professor of optics at the Institute of Optics; and Professor Rachel Bangle, North Carolina A&T State University. The research will aim to control and create new chemistry using quantum light.
“We are thrilled to receive support from the W. M. Keck Foundation that will allow us to pursue high-risk, high-reward research that we hope will open up new frontiers at the intersection of chemistry, photonics, and quantum science,” says Professor Krauss.
The ambitious project has the potential to unlock new opportunities for chemical and material synthesis. “The work of Professor Krauss and his team is an example of Rochester’s long tradition of working across cutting-edge disciplines to advance science and improve our understanding of the physical world,” says University President Sarah Mangelsdorf. “We’re grateful for the support of the W. M. Keck Foundation in recognizing the enormous potential in this research.”
About the research
A grand challenge in chemistry is controlling chemical bond formation at any stage in a reaction. Chemistry is governed by an established set of rules that dictate how simple molecules react with each other to form new, more complex molecules. These rules are related to how electrons are distributed in the molecules and underpin the field of synthetic chemistry. The limitations imposed by these rules have a direct impact on society because they can limit access to potential new drugs or materials. In the past, chemists have used temperature, pressure, light, and other ways to control and perform chemistry. For the “Quantum Electrodynamics for Selective Transformations” project, researchers seek to discover if it is possible to use the quantum light of an optical cavity to bend or break these fundamental rules of reactivity by changing how electrons are distributed. To test the idea, researchers will couple light inside an optical cavity to the electronic states of molecules, forming a hybrid light-matter state called an electron-polariton. While polariton chemistry has been predicted to change the rules for chemical reactivity, verifying this new concept experimentally has been challenging because of the varied expertise required. Krauss has assembled just such a diverse team, including synthetic organic chemists, materials scientists, spectroscopists, and theoreticians, who will work to help establish this new field of research.
Krauss notes, “It isn’t often that one has the chance to discover a new set of rules that govern the makeup of matter in the universe.”
About the W. M. Keck Foundation
The W. M. Keck Foundation was established in 1954 in Los Angeles by William Myron Keck, founder of The Superior Oil Company. One of the nation’s largest philanthropic organizations, the W. M. Keck Foundation, supports outstanding science, engineering, and medical research. The Foundation also supports undergraduate education and maintains a program within Southern California to support arts and culture, education, health, and community service projects.