faculty

Assistant Professor of Chemistry
Ph.D.,Cornell University
Post Doctoral, MIT

Polymer and Organic/Materials Chemistry

Phone:   (734) 615-5204    
E-mail: ajmcneil@umich.edu

Research Group

Interest in organic materials has grown exponentially in recent decades in both industry and academia.   One key advantage organic materials have over their inorganic counterparts is that chemists can utilize the expansive toolbox of organic synthesis to tailor the materials' physical and electronic properties at the molecular level.   My research focuses on creating new functional organic materials and exploring the fundamental mechanisms involved in their synthesis, assembly, and operation.   Members of my research group design and synthesize new organic/organometallic molecules and polymers for each targeted application.   We gain insight into these systems by performing detailed mechanistic and structure-property studies using standard spectroscopic and characterization techniques. .

Functional Supramolecular Assemblies
Everything from biological macromolecules to small molecules obtained through organic synthesis can assemble into supramolecular species under certain conditions.   Our group is interested in designing ways to trigger, control, and monitor the assembly process.   We will exploit these supramolecular assemblies for chemical and biological sensing, catalysis, and the synthesis of shape-persistent materials.

Polymer Synthesis and Catalysis
Polymer synthesis lags behind conventional organic synthesis in both substrate scope and efficiency.   In addition, many polymerization mechanisms are poorly understood.   Our research goals are to design new living polymerization catalysts with enhanced reaction efficiencies and wider substrate scope, with a focus on environmentally derived polymers, conjugated polymers, and other commercially important polymers.   Our approach relies on detailed mechanistic studies to achieve these goals.

AWARDS

• 2006-07 L'Oreal USA Fellowship for Women in Science
• 2004 Tunis Wentink Award for Graduate Research

REPRESENTATIVE PUBLICATIONS

1. Collum, D. B.; McNeil, A. J.; Ramírez, A. "Solution Kinetics and Implications for Organic Synthesis." Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2007 , 46 , 3002-3017.

2. McNeil, A. J.; Müller, P.; Whitten, J. E.; Swager, T. M.   "Conjugated Polymers in an Arene Sandwich."   J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2006 , 128 , 12426-12427.

3. McNeil, A. J.; Collum, D. B. "Reversible Enolization of b -Amino Carboxamides by Lithium Hexamethyldisilazide." J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2005 , 127 , 5655-5661.

4. McNeil, A. J.; Toombes, G. E. S.; Gruner, S. M.; Lobkovsky, E.; Collum, D. B.; Chandramouli, S. V.; Vanasse, B. J.; Ayers, T. A. "Diastereoselective Alkylation of b -Amino Esters: Structural and Rate Studies Reveal Alkylations of Hexameric Lithium Enolates."   J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2004 , 126 , 16559-16568.

5. McNeil, A. J.; Toombes, G. E. S.; Chandramouli, S. V.; Vanasse, B. J.; Ayers, T. A.; O'Brien, M. K.; Lobkovsky, E.; Gruner, S. M.; Marohn, J. A.; Collum, D. B.   "Characterization of b -Amino Ester Enolates as Hexamers via 6 Li NMR Spectroscopy."   J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2004 , 126 , 5938-5939.