DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY

Affiliations

Chemistry of Life Processes Institute (CLP)

International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN)

Paula M. Trienens Institute for Sustainability and Energy

Dow Chemical Company Research Professor in Chemistry

Research Statement

The Kalow group engages in research at the interface of organic synthesis, polymer chemistry, and materials science through two distinct approaches: materials-inspired reaction discovery and reactivity-driven materials discovery. In the first, we develop new synthetic transformations that take advantage of the light-absorbing properties of organic materials to control their reactivity. In the second, we use our knowledge of organic reactivity to tune the properties and functions of soft materials. These efforts enable the study of structure-property relationships and materials optimization for targeted applications, including optoelectronics, sustainable polymers, and biomaterials. Projects in the Kalow lab provide trainees with experience in method development, polymer synthesis, mechanistic analysis, and materials characterization and testing.

Selected Publications

Zhang, V.; Accardo, J. V.; Kevlishvili, I.; Woods, E. F.; Chapman, S. J.; Eckdahl, C. T.; Kulik, H. J.; Kalow, J. A. Hydrogels with tunable stress relaxation through control of associative exchange rates. Chem 2023, 9, 2298–2317.

Zhang, V.;^† Kang ,B.;^† Accardo, J. V.;^† Kalow, J. A. “Structure–reactivity–property relationships in covalent adaptable networks.” J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2022, 144, 22358–22377. (^†equal contribution)

Barsoum, D. N.; Kirinda, V. C.;^† Kang, B.;^† Kalow, J. A. “Remote-controlled exchange rates by photoswitchable internal catalysis of dynamic covalent bonds.” J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2022, 144, 10168–10173. (^†equal contribution)

Woods, E. F.; Berl, A. J; Kantt, L. P.; Eckdahl, C. T.; Wasielewski, M. R.; Haines, B. E.; Kalow, J. A. “Light directs monomer coordination in catalyst-free Grignard photopolymerization.” J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2021, 143, 18755–18765.

Accardo, J. V.; McClure, E. R.; Mosquera, M. A.; Kalow, J. A. “Using visible light to tune boronic acid–ester equilibria.” J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2020, 142, 19969–19979.

Woods, E. F.; Berl, A. J.; Kalow, J. A. “Photocontrolled synthesis of n-type conjugated polymers.” Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2020, 59, 6062–6067.

Accardo, J. V.; Kalow, J. A. “Reversibly tuning hydrogel stiffness through photocontrolled dynamic covalent crosslinks.” Chem. Sci., 2018, 9, 5987–5993.

Ishibashi, J. S. A.; Kalow, J. A. “Vitrimeric silicone elastomers enabled by dynamic Meldrum’s acid-derived crosslinks.” ACS Macro Lett., 2018, 7, 482–486. 

Selected Honors/Awards

• DOE Early Career Award, 2023
• American Chemical Society Pure Chemistry Award, 2023
• Marion Milligan Mason Award for Women in the Chemical Sciences, AAAS, 2021
• Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, 2021
• Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, 2021
• Arthur K. Doolittle Award, 2019
• NSF CAREER Award, 2019
• PMSE Young Investigator, 2019
• 3M Non-Tenured Faculty Award, 2018
• Thieme Chemistry Journal Award, 2018
• Young Investigator Award, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, 2017