Chemistry and Advanced Materials Licensing Opportunities

Silicon and Aluminum Complexes:
5-and 6-coordinate silico- and alumino-glycolates.
Researchers at the University of Washington have developed simple, direct, and extremely economical methods of transforming silica and alumina into reactive glycolato compounds, thus avoiding the high temperature carbothermal reduction step typically employed in making reactive silicon compounds. These well characterized and easily prepared glycolates have proven to be useful and versatile intermediates in the synthesis of zeolites and ion conducting polymers, and have great potential as progenitors to a wide range of glasses, ceramics, gels, and other novel polymers.

Silicon and Aluminum Complexes: Ion Conducting Polymers
University of Washington researchers have discovered that glycolate silicates undergo ready ligand exchange with other diols. The use of long chain diols, such as polyethylene oxide, favors bridging coordination and promotes polymerization to form ionic polymers containing penta-alkoxy silicate centers. These optically transparent polymers are viscous to glassy materials that exhibit ambient ionic conductivity, good thermal stability, and cure to hard solids at less than 200 degrees centigrade.

CHARM™ drug delivery technology
Self-assembled lipid-based CHARM (complex high axial ratio microstructure) devices are being developed for controlled drug delivery or vaccination. The microstructures in this system present a unique method for controlled release of a wide range of molecules including peptides and DNA. This system could provide continuous drug release independent of any macroscopic encapsulation or delivery devices.