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Dennis Cheng ’12 has been awarded a Richards-Norris Summer Research Scholarship to support research in the Boston College Merkert Chemistry Center.
Cheng, a Newton native, will study the development of enantioenriched scaffolding ligands — ions or molecules that bind to a central metal atom to form a coordination complex — for the asymmetric hydroformylation of homoallylic alcohols that would favor the formation of the branched aldehyde in high enantiomeric excess. He will investigate structure activity relationship for both the selectivity and reactivity of the ligands.
The project also will involve a publication of his research findings in the Northeast Sector of American Chemical Society‘s journal The Nucleus, and a poster presentation at the Northeast Student Chemistry Research Conference next April.
“This project is meaningful to me is a couple of ways,” said Cheng. “Academically, it will serve as the starting point of my senior thesis, which will be an intellectual synthesis of what I have learned in my four years at BC. Professionally, this project and the fellowship will allow me to have the chance to publish in a journal and enable me to exchange and see what other chemistry students in different colleges are researching.”
Following graduation next spring, Cheng plans to work in biomedical research and apply for medical school.