Chemical Upconversion for Renewable Energy Catalysis Lab

The Hwang group uses synthetic inorganic and organometallic chemistry to develop new catalytic methods for energy delivery, storage and recycling. We develop interdisciplinary approaches to tackle unsolved problems in catalysis and sustainable chemistry. Particular emphases will be placed on the rational design of catalysts utilized by photo- and electro-chemistry, which will allow for selective conversion of readily available small molecules into highly value-added commodity chemicals via clean and sustainable reaction routes. Enzymatic systems activate small molecules such as O₂, CO₂, and C–H bonds under mild conditions with remarkable efficiency. Traditional approaches to mimicking these transformations have relied on transition metal complexes that recreate the coordination environments of metalloenzyme active sites. Our research takes a fundamentally different approach by developing main group element-based catalysts that replicate the essential reactivity of metalloenzymes while offering unique advantages, including earth abundance, low toxicity, and versatile bonding capabilities. By strategically exploiting counterion effects and orthogonal orbital interactions, we design catalytic systems for CO₂, N–H, and C–H activation that go beyond structural mimicry to achieve functional equivalence with enzymatic catalysis. Heterogeneous catalysts drive critical industrial processes, yet their inherent complexity creates barriers to mechanistic understanding and rational design. Key reactive intermediates remain difficult to characterize, limiting catalyst optimization to empirical approaches. Our research constructs well-defined homogeneous model systems that capture the essential features of heterogeneous catalysts, enabling direct structural and spectroscopic character