Caring with sustainable catalysts

Asst Prof KOH Ming Joo from the Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore received the Singapore Teaching and Academic Research Talent Scheme (START) grant in 2019 when NUS was one of the first universities to come onboard this scheme.

Asst Prof Koh’s research focuses on sustainable catalysts. Catalytic processes that can form multiple carbon–carbon bonds are highly sought-after for generating molecular complexity in chemical synthesis. One of the key challenges in such reactions is controlling the region of olefin addition, especially in cases where the two newly introduced motifs have similar electronic or spatial arrangement attributes. The problem is further exacerbated in reactions involving less reactive alkenes. Conventionally, substrate and auxiliary control strategies were used to implement efficient and site-selective olefin addition, but both approaches are costly and generate excessive waste.

Asst Prof Koh and his team have developed a catalytic system where dimeric nickel(I) catalysts are used instead, and pre-installed functionalities and directing auxiliaries will not be needed. This significantly enhances the efficiency and shortens the steps required to access a target chemical compound, which helps to save costs and reduce waste. 

START provides both undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships and awards to Singaporeans who are interested in building an academic career at the different autonomous universities.