Dr. James Eagan

Title: Assistant Professor
Dept/Program: School of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering
Office: GDYR 703
Phone: 330-972-7510
Fax: 330-972-5290
Email: eagan@uakron.edu
Website: https://eaganlab.com/

Biography

Dr. James M. Eagan develops synthetic methodologies for the synthesis of new polymers, with a focus on polyolefin materials. He joined the University of Akron in 2019 as an assistant professor after working at Aramco Performance Materials and Ascribe Bioscience. He graduated from Emory University in 2009 with a B.S. in Chemistry suma cum laude and received a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Columbia University in 2014. Dr. Eagan’s thesis work, under the direction of Professor Scott A. Snyder, investigated the Diels-Alder cycloaddition as a general strategy for the total synthesis of oligomeric sesquiterpenes natural products. Following his doctoral studies, under the guidance of Professor Geoffrey W. Coates at Cornell University, Dr. Eagan studied the synthesis and properties of polyolefin block copolymers. This research focused on combining the two most abundant plastics, polyethylene and polypropylene, into mechanically robust blends through the use of multiblock copolymers.

Research

Plastics are essential to modern life. However, the pervasive use and careless disposal of these materials has resulted in economic wastefulness and created an environmental catastrophe. Research in the Eagan lab is focused on how plastics can be deployed pragmatically to address the needs of today, without compromising the future. Utilizing the tools of chemistry and catalysis, we synthesize new polymeric materials for sustainable applications. These molecules provide tools for understanding polymer behavior and technologies for improving recycling, degrading plastics, and enhancing polymer performance.

Publications

ResearchGate | Ohio Innovation Exchange

• Compatibilization of Isotactic Polypropylene ( i PP) and High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) with i PP–PE Multiblock Copolymers
  13 Nov 2018 Macromolecules 51(21):8585-8596
  Xu J, Eagan JM, Kim S-S, Pan S, Lee B, Klimovica K, Jin K, Lin T-W, Howard MJ, Ellison CJ, LaPointe AM, Coates GW, Bates FS
  10.1021/acs.macromol.8b01907
• Combined Experimental and Theoretical Approach for Living and Isoselective Propylene Polymerization
  6 Oct 2017 ACS Catalysis 7(10):6930-6937
  Domski GJ, Eagan JM, De Rosa C, Di Girolamo R, LaPointe AM, Lobkovsky EB, Talarico G, Coates GW
  10.1021/acscatal.7b02107
• Combining polyethylene and polypropylene: Enhanced performance with PE/<i>i</i>PP multiblock polymers
  24 Feb 2017 Science 355(6327):814-816
  Eagan JM, Xu J, Di Girolamo R, Thurber CM, Macosko CW, LaPointe AM, Bates FS, Coates GW
  10.1126/science.aah5744
• Semi‐Crystalline Polar Polyethylene: Ester‐Functionalized Linear Polyolefins Enabled by a Functional‐Group‐Tolerant, Cationic Nickel Catalyst
  13 Jun 2016 Angewandte Chemie International Edition 55(25):7106-7110
  Long BK, Eagan JM, Mulzer M, Coates GW
  10.1002/anie.201601703
• Synthesis and Applications of Hajos–Parrish Ketone Isomers
  26 Jun 2015 Angewandte Chemie International Edition 54(27):7842-7846
  Eagan JM, Hori M, Wu J, Kanyiva KS, Snyder SA
  10.1002/anie.201500925
• Identification of Uric Acid Gluconucleoside-Ascaroside Conjugates in Caenorhabditis elegans by Combining Synthesis and MicroED.
  4 Sep 2020 Organic Letters 22(17):6724-6728
  Curtis BJ, Kim LJ, Wrobel CJJ, Eagan JM, Smith RA, Burch JE, Le HH, Artyukhin AB, Nelson HM, Schroeder FC
  10.1021/acs.orglett.0c02038
• Total synthesis, reactivity, and structural clarification of lindenatriene
  1 Jun 2019 Tetrahedron 75(24):3145-3153
  Eagan JM, Kanyiva KS, Hori M, Snyder SA
  10.1016/j.tet.2019.04.051

Education

• Ph.D., 2014, Columbia University
• B. Sc., 2009, Emory University