Fernando, Sandun Professor

Progression of chemical reactions often requires the presence of a substance called a catalyst that selectively accelerates the desired reaction(s) without itself being consumed. In this regard, enzyme catalysts are very selective towards specific reactions. However, their ability to tolerate a wide range of reaction conditions is poor. On the other hand, non-enzymatic catalysts (inorganic and organic) are robust and tolerant to a wide range of conditions, but they are not very selective. The long-term goal of my research program is to integrate (marry) desirable traits of both these catalysis systems in order to develop catalytic systems with novel functionalities.