Directory

Paul Rupar received his Ph.D. under the guidance of Prof. Kim Baines at Western University (London, Ontario, Canada). He was first an NSERC postdoctoral fellow and then a Marie Curie Fellow at the University of Bristol (United Kingdom) in the research group of Prof. Ian Manners. Paul joined the faculty at the University of Alabama in 2012 where he is currently an Associate Professor.

Research Interests

The Rupar group is interested in the design, synthesis, and characterization of polymers. We are a leader in the ring-opening polymerizations of aziridines and azetidines for the preparation of nitrogen-containing polymers, with potential applications in drug delivery, CO2 capture, and high-performance polymers.

Students in the Rupar group use a wide range of characterization techniques including NMR, IR, UV-Vis, size-exclusion chromatography, x-ray crystallography, light scattering, thermal analysis, and electron microscopy. We also work with other chemists and chemical engineers to study, model, and process the materials that we create.

Examples of current research projects in the group include the use of aziridines in the chemical upcycling of polyesters, the synthesis of charged polymers for use in membranes, the preparation of photochromic materials, and post-polymerization modification of chlorinated polymers. Please see the Rupar group website for more details or feel free to email Paul.

“Carbonyl Aziridines: Strained Amides for Rapid Polyamide Synthesis” Qu, T.; Rupar, P. A. Macromolecules, 2022, doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.2c01748

“Anionic Ring-Opening Polymerizations of N-Sulfonylaziridines in Ionic Liquids” Giri, C.; Sisk, S. E.; Reisman, L.; Kammakakam, I.; Bara, J. E.; West, K. N.; Rabideau, B. D. Rupar, P. A.; Macromolecules, 2022, 55, 623-629.

“The Activated Monomer Polymerization of an N-Sulfonylazetidine” Reisman, L.; Rowe, E. A. ;Jefcoat, J. A.; Rupar, P.A.; ACS Macro Letters, 2020, 9, 334-338.

“Aziridines and azetidines: building blocks for polyamines by anionic and cationic ring-opening polymerization” Gleede, T.; Reisman, L.; Rieger, E.; Mbarushimana, P. C.; Rupar, P.A.; Wurm, F. R.; Polymer Chemistry 2019, 10, 3257.

“The Anionic Polymerization of N-(tolylsulfonyl)azetidines to Produce Linear Poly(trimethylenimine) and Closed-System Block-Copolymers” Reisman, L.; Rowe, E. A.; Jackson, E.M.; Thomas, C.; Simone, T.; Rupar, P.A. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2018, 140, 15626-15630.