CURRENT RESEARCH PROJECTS
Dr.
DiCesare's research interests are in the area of Organic, Medicinal and
Materials Chemistry. Current projects are described below:
Synthesis
of Molecular Libraries from
Imidazole-4,5-dicarboxylic Acid. (Funded by National Institutes of Health --
Dr. Baures-PI).
This
project involves the synthesis of a library of compounds designed off of the imidazole-4,5-dicarboxylic
acid template. The resulting
library will submitted to NIH for biological evaluation against a series of
bio-assays. For more information on
this project as it progresses see Dr. Baures web page.
Functionalization
of Carbon Nanotubes for Incorporation into Polymer Composites. (Funded by the
State of
This
project involves functionalzation of single-walled (SWNT) and multi-walled
(MWNT) nanotubes with pendant norbornene rings. The norbornene rings will act as handles
for the covalent incorporation of the nanotubes into a polymer composite using
ROMP catalysts. The resulting
polymers will be evaluated for enhanced physical and electronic properties
through a collaboration with Dr. Mike
Kessler at Iowa State University.
Design
and Synthesis of Monomers for Self-Healing Plastics and Composites (with Dr.
Kessler):
See Dr. Kessler's Web
page for details. (http://mse.iastate.edu/mkessler)
Development
of Molecularly Imprinted Polymers (Funded by Department of Defense, DoD):
This project involves the
development of surfaces that are able to selectively bind and concentrate a
specific chemical warfare agent through the formation of molecularly imprinted
polymers (MIPs) to be used as a sensor.
In this approach, a polymeric network is assembled around a template
(nerve agent simulant). Upon
removal of the template, a cavity with specific size, shape and chemical
functionality for the chemical warfare agent remains. Sol-gel MIPs have been used to prepare
templated materials that show affinity for organic dyes, phosphonates,
inorganic ions and neurotransmitters.
The sol-gel approach has a number of advantages in MIPs development such
as; mild reaction conditions, flexible material processing, ease of incorporating
organic functional groups into the inorganic matrix and they are generally
optically transparent and photochemically and electrochemically stable. Additionally, sol-gel MIPs development
is adaptable to combinatorial chemistry techniques.
In addition to using
nerve agent simulants as the template, transition state (TS) analogs of the
hydrolysis of nerve agents like VX can be used. Using a TS analog as a template would
lead to a material that would act as an artificial enzyme for the destruction
of nerve agents.
Development
of TiO2/SiO2
Catalysts for Water Purification (Funded by NASA):
This
project involves developing a packed-bed catalytic system to be used in the
final water polishing step to be used by NASA on proposed long-haul manned
missions to Mars.
Investigation
of the Titanium (IV) Isopropoxide Reductive Amination Reaction:
This
project involves investigating the mechanism of the reaction to determine the
lifetime of the aminal tetrahedral intermediate. Conditions leading to a long lifetime
could allow for an asymmetric version of the reductive amination reaction to be
developed using chiral ligands bound to the titanium. Conditions leading to
short lifetimes of the intermediate would benefit reactions with weakly
nucleophilic amines or sterically hindered ketones.
Synthesis
of Anti-Cancer Compounds:
This
project involves the synthesis of compounds consisting of four fused rings in a
6-7-6-6 ring configuration via the [3+2] cycloaddition of various
4-hydroxyisoquinolines and naphthoquinones. With in this project are synthetic
methodology projects involving new ways to efficiently synthesize
4-hydroxyisoquinolines from benzaldehydes / benzo-ketones and amino acids. Additionally, we are investigating the
thermal rearrangement of the 6-7-6-6 ring compounds to 6-6-6-6 ring systems.
Currently,
two compounds have been accepted and are being evaluated by the National Cancer
Institute.
Mechanistic
Studies of Chlorination Reactions (with Dr. Purser):
See Dr. Purser's Web
page for details. (http://www.chemistry.utulsa.edu/purser.html)
RECENTLY
COMPLETED RESEARCH PROJECTS
Development
of Catalysts to Neutralize Explosives (Funded by the Memorial Institute for the
Prevention of Terrorism, MIPT):
This
project involves the use of combinatorial techniques to help optimize the
development of a mixed metal catalytic system in collaboration with Dr. Allen
Apblett at
Synthesis
of Lysine Decarboxylase Inhibitors (Funded by NIH as a subcontract with Martin
Levine, Univ. of OK-Health Science Center):
This
project involves the synthesis of the compound difluoromethyllysine (DFML) in
enantiomerically pure form and the synthesis of a dehydro-analog to be
subjected to "tritium" hydrogenation to produce a radio-labeled
version of DFML.