Nelson Research Lab

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Research

Green Methods for the Synthesis of Organic Materials
Carbon-carbon cross-coupling reaction technology has revolutionized the synthesis of both pharmaceuticals and materials that are optically and electronically active. However, robust green methods to facilitate carbon-carbon cross-coupling of aromatic arenes and heteroarenes remain scarce. The widely used traditional carbon-carbon cross-coupling reactions, like Stille, require that the monomers for coupling be functionalized using stoichiometric amounts of hazardous and toxic reagents. The objective of the research is to devise green and creative strategies to synthesize organic materials in a manner that reduces cost, waste, and environmental impact and improves safety.

Eumelanin-Inspired Materials as Bioinspired Organic Semiconductors
Biomaterials that interface living tissue has become a necessity in clinics to improve diagnosis and treatments. These advanced materials have been used in tissue engineering, imaging, and drug delivery. Still, there is a critical need for developing advanced biomaterials solutions for the biotic/abiotic interface that are biocompatibility and biodegradable. In terms of chemical and functional diversity, nature is a great source of new building blocks for bioinspired materials. One such inspiration is the biopolymer, Melanin, which is a class of naturally occurring pigments found in the hair, eyes, skin, and brain of mammals and acts as a natural photoprotector against the harmful effects of UV radiation. Eumelanin is the black-brown variety of melanin and exists as a heterogeneous network, formed by the oxidative polymerization of two monomers 5,6-dihydroxyindole (DHI) and 5,6-dihydroxyindole-2-carboxylic acid (DHICA). The objective of this research is to design and synthesize Eumelanin-inspired organic semiconductors for optical sensors, biosensors, and biomedical and energy applications.