Prof. Juchen Guo and his research team have discovered novel methods that use a liquid reagent to extract close to 100% of the metals lithium (Li), cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni) and manganese (Mn) from LiCoO2 (LCO) and LiNixMnyCo(1-x-y)O2 (NMC) cathodes, efficiently. This low cost process is easy to implement, scale up, low cost and is environmentally friendly.

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Professor Matthew Conley from the University of California, Riverside has developed heterogeneous ruthenium catalysts for olefin metathesis. These catalysts have higher activity than state-of-the-art homogeneous catalysts in metathesis of terminal olefins.  They are combined with state-of-the-art anion capped materials that anchor positively charged Grubbs catalyst to the surface to form active heterogeneous olefin metathesis catalyst. This technology has the potential to produce heterogeneous catalysts that are less expensive, more efficient, and faster than the available homogenous ruthenium catalysts for olefin metathesis. Fig 1: Chemical structure of UCR’s heterogneous Grubb’s catalyst supported on functionalized silica for olefin metathesis.  

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Prof. Charles Cai and colleagues from the University of California, Riverside have developed a method for high yield co-conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to produce high octane fuel additives dimethyl furan (DMF) and methyl furans (MF). This technology works by using Cu-Ni/TiO2, a unique catalytic material that enables high yield (~90%) conversion of 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural (HMF) and furfural (FF) sourced from lignocellulosic biomass into methylated furans (MF) in either single or co-processing schemes. This invention is advantageous compared to existing technologies due to its high yield and efficiency, low cost, and stable conversion process.   Fig 1: UCR’s furfural conversion and product yields as function of reaction time over Cu-Ni/TiO2.  

Professor Charles Cai from the University of California, Riverside has developed a method to produce a high-performance, renewable polyurethane material made from biomass lignin for use as an adhesive, resin, coating, or plastic. In this method, diols were introduced to realize faster and complete dissolution of technical lignins in volatile organic solvents, which improve lignin miscibility with other components and its dispersion in the PU materials. This technology is advantageous because it improves the economic viability of lignocellulosic biorefinery, can replace petroleum-based polyols in commercial polyurethanes products to reduce carbon footprint, and, as a natural UV-block, lignin reduces the UV aging of PU materials.   Fig 1: The UCR method to produce polyurethane material from biomass lignin.  

Profs. Matthew P. Conley and Richard R. Schrock from the University of California, Riverside have developed a new catalyst that may be used to synthesize propylene from ethylene under mild conditions. The key steps involved in the direct conversion of ethylene to propylene are ring-contraction of a metallacyclopentane complex to a metallacyclobutane complex followed by rearrangement of the metallacyclobutane complex to propylene. This technology is advantageous because it consists of a single reaction overall that operates at mild temperatures, because the catalyst efficiency can be engineered to optimize turnover frequency and yield, and because propylene is the only product of the reaction.   Fig 1: The UCR catalytic cycle for ethylene to propylene  

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Prof. Thomas Kuhlman at the University of California, Riverside has developed a high yield method to scale and purify native, full-length SARS-CoV-2 Membrane (M) protein.  This method may be utilized to scale the production and purification of M protein for research purposes.

Prof. Min Xue from the University of California, Riverside and Prof. Wei Wei from the Institute for Systems Biology have developed materials and  methods to detect and measure FA uptake alone or simultaneously with protein detection in multiplex down to single-cell resolution. FA analogs with an azide functional group mimics natural FAs. Specially designed small polymers are used to efficiently assay the FA analogs and produce fluorescent or chemical signals upon binding. The technology is compatible with protein analysis and generally applicable to other metabolites and proteins. Fig 1: Schematic of the UCR-ISB method for detecting fatty acid uptake from single cells.  

Prof. Sean Cutler and colleagues at the University of California, Riverside have engineered a system and methods to induce gene expression in plants and organisms, including mammals, using the chemical compound mandipropamid. Using the PYR/PYL/HAB1 promoter system, the PYR1/HAB1 system is reprogrammed to be activiated with mandipropamid.  When the PYR1/HAB1 system dimerizes through chemical induced dimerization (CID) with mandipropamid, the system functions as a control switch for gene expression. This technology has been demonstrated to advantageously accelerate citrus breeding.  It may be applied to improve CAR T-cell therapy and agricultural crops. Fig 1: UCR’s PYR1/HAB1 system is programmed through chemical induced dimerization (CID) initiated by mandipropamid to function as a switch for agrochemical control of gene expression.  

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