Kevin Noonan

Professor, Associate Department Head, Chemistry

Education

Ph.D. in Chemistry, University of British Columbia, 2003–2008

Research

Keywords: Polymer chemistry, organometallics, homogeneous catalysis, organophosphorus chemistry

Research in our group is focused on the synthesis of new compounds possessing main group elements to impact polymer chemistry and catalysis. The advent of synthetic polymer chemistry has had an enormous impact on our modern world. Though most commercial polymeric materials are made from organic synthons, the incorporation of main group elements or transition metals into polymer backbones can afford materials with unique properties. The synthetic preparation of these materials remains challenging and continued development will result in unique macromolecular architectures. New design strategies to incorporate inorganic elements such as boron and phosphorus into electronic materials will be explored.

The chemistry of transition metals and their use as catalysts to install functionality while controlling regio- and stereochemistry remains an important challenge in chemical synthesis. Sophisticated ligand design can offer mechanistic insight to known reactions while also leading to new catalytic activity. Our research group aims to build unique ligand frameworks using organophosphorus chemistry and apply these in catalyst systems. Many areas of catalysis will be explored including polyolefin synthesis and the development of methodologies to prepare functional organic substrates.

Publications

Rapid Analysis of Tetrakis(dialkylamino)phosphonium Stability in Alkaline Media
C. Tyler Womble, Jamie Kang, Kristina M. Hugar, Geoffrey W. Coates, Stefan Bernhard, and Kevin J. T. Noonan. Organometallics, 2017, 36 (20), 4038-4046 DOI: 10.1021/acs.organomet.7b00663

Nickel-Catalyzed Suzuki Polycondensation for Controlled Synthesis of Ester-Functionalized Conjugated Polymers
Qiu, Y.; Worch, J. W.; Fortney, A.; Gayathri, C.; Gil, R. R.; Noonan, K. J. T., Macromolecules. 2016, 49, 4757-4762

Conjugated Polymers with Repeated Sequences of Group 16 Heterocycles Synthesized through Catalyst-​Transfer Polycondensation
Tsai, C.-H.; Fortney, A.; Qiu, Y.; Gil, R. R.; Yaron, D. Kowalewski, T.; Noonan, K. J. T. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2016, 138, 6798–6804

Synthesis of Polyfuran and Thiophene-Furan Alternating Copolymers Using Catalyst-Transfer Polycondensation
Qiu, Y.; Fortney, A.; Tsai, C.-H.; Baker, M. A.; Kowalewski, T.; Noonan, K. J. T. ACS Macro Letters 2016, 5, 332-336

Tetrakis(dialkylamino)phosphonium Polyelectrolytes Prepared by Reversible Addition Fragmentation Chain Transfer Polymerization
Womble, C. T.; Coates, G. W.; Matyjaszewski, K.; Noonan, K. J. T., ACS Macro Letters 2016, 5, 253-257

Stability and Reactivity of 1,​3-​Benzothiaphosphole: Metalation and Diels-​Alder Chemistry
Worch, J. C.; Hellemann, E.; Pros, G.; Gayathri, C.; Pintauer, T.; Gil, R. R.; Noonan, K. J. T.,Organometallics 2015,34, 5366-5373

Electron-​poor thiophene 1,​1-​dioxides: synthesis, characterization, and application as electron relays in photocatalytic hydrogen generation
Tsai, C.-H.; Chirdon, D. N.; Kagalwala, H. N.; Maurer, A. B.; Kaur, A.; Pintauer, T.; Bernhard, S.; Noonan, K. J. T., Chemistry — A European Journal 2015, 21, 11517-11524

Stille catalyst-transfer polycondensation using Pd-PEPPSI-IPr for high molecular weight regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene)
Qiu, Y.; Mohin, J.; Tsai, C.-H.; Tristram-Nagle, S.; Gil, R. R.; Kowalewski, T.; Noonan, K. J. T., Macromolecular Rapid Communications 2015, 36,840-844

Tuning thiophene with phosphorus: synthesis and electronic properties of benzobisthiaphospholes
Qiu, Y.; Worch, J. C.; Chirdon, D. N.; Kaur, A.; Maurer, A. B.; Amsterdam, S.; Collins, C. R.; Pintauer, T.; Yaron, D.; Bernhard, S.; Noonan, K. J. T., Chemistry — A European Journal 2014, 20, 7746-7751

Towards sustainable polymer chemistry with homogeneous metal-based catalysts
Schröder, K.; Matyjaszewski, K.; Noonan, K. J. T.; Mathers, R. T., Green Chemistry 2014, 16, 1673-1686

Synthesis of thiophene 1,1-dioxides and tuning their optoelectronic properties
Tsai, C.-H.; Chirdon, D. N.; Maurer, A. B.; Bernhard, S.; Noonan, K. J. T.. Organic Letters 2013, 15, 5230-5233

Synthetic tuning of electronic and photophysical properties of 2-aryl-1,3-benzothiaphospholes
Worch, J. C.; Chirdon, D. N.; Maurer, A. B.; Qiu, Y.; Geib, S. J.; Bernhard, S.; Noonan, K. J. T., Journal of Organic Chemistry 2013, 78, 7462–7469

Appointments

Years	Position
2024–present	Associate Department Head, Department of Chemistry, Carnegie Mellon University
2024–present	Professor of Chemistry, Carnegie Mellon University
2017–2024	Associate Professor of Chemistry, Carnegie Mellon University
2011–2017	Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Carnegie Mellon University
2008–2011	Postdoctoral Fellow, Cornell University

Awards and Distinctions

Years	Award
2015	NSF Career Award
2013	Army Research Office Young Investigator Award
2009–2011	NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowship
2006–2008	NSERC Postgraduate Scholarship (Doctoral Level)
2005–2006	NSERC Postgraduate Scholarship (Masters Level)