Karen Wooley

Title:	James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor in Arts & Sciences Professor of Chemistry
Degree:	PHD, Cornell University MS, Cornell University BS, Oregon State University
Dept:	Chemistry
Office:	McMillen Lab-Chemistry 509
Mailbox:	Campus Box 1134 One Brookings Drive St. Louis, MO 63130-4899 Hide Full Mailing Address
Phone:	(314) 935-7136
E-mail:	klwooley@wustl.edu

Courses
Synthetic Polymer Chemistry; Organic Chemistry Laboratory I

Research Interests
Professor Wooley's research interests are focused broadly upon the design, synthesis and characterization of unique polymers, with emphasis upon the development of synthetic methodologies that allow for the preparation of complex nanostructured materials. Just as typical synthetic chemists prepare molecules of specific stereochemistry and connectivity, using natural products as the targets to exercise their craft, the Wooley group is identifying nanoscopic natural products, e.g. viral capsids, lipoproteins, and even dolphin skin, as synthetic targets. They do not attempt, however, to synthesize exactly these structures, but rather, to produce synthetic materials that capture the basic structural and functional elements.

The Wooley lab relies upon a combination of supramolecular assembly and covalent chemical reactions, performed in an iterative sequence, to produce and manipulate such nanoscale structures. The preparation of complex nanostructured materials is being advanced rapidly with the development of a methodology that relies upon two fundamental techniques in polymer chemistry: (1) the phase segregation of incompatible block copolymers or polymer mixtures to produce well defined nanoscopic domains over long ranges; and (2) crosslinking within selective regions of those phase segregated assemblies to provide robust materials comprised of regions that exhibit contrasting chemical, physical and mechanical properties. Although the phase segregation of incompatible polymers is not a new phenomenon, the regioselective crosslinking of the segregated assemblies is only recently being realized as a versatile methodology by which to tune the size, shape and behaviour of materials.

Selected Publications: