Alison Wendlandt is an American chemist who is an assistant professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her research considers the development of catalysts for organic synthesis.
Early life and education
Wendlandt is from Colorado.[1] She earned her bachelor's degree in chemistry at the University of Chicago.[2] She acquired her master's degree at Yale University.[2] Her graduate research initially considered chemical biology: how certain molecules interact human health. During her research she became more interested in reaction processes and what she could do to make them more efficient.[3] She moved to Wisconsin for her doctoral studies, where she worked alongside Shannon Stahl on the development of catalysts that mediate amine oxidation.[3] She then joined Harvard University as a postdoctoral fellow working alongside Eric Jacobsen.[2][4]
Research and career
In 2018, Wendlandt joined the department of chemistry at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She works on the development of catalysts for organic chemistry. In particular, she develops dual catalysts for selective synthesis. Wendlandt used an enzyme from Streptomyces fradiae to drive the conversion of rare sugar isomers.[5] This simple one-site reaction allowed for the conversion of D-Glucose to D-allose (a potential candidate for low-calorie sweeteners) with a 40% yield.[6]
Wendlandt showed that a combination of polyanionic tungsten and disulfide could be used to drive enantioselective reactions.[7][8][9] The dual catalyst approach allowed her to make a breakthrough in alkene isomerization, making it possible to precisely control the interconversion of alkene regioisomers.[10][11]
Wendlandt is queer, and was included as one of Chemical & Engineering News' Trailblazers in 2021.[1][16] In an interview, Wendlandt described her experience of being LGBTQ+ in science: "I think being different, whatever that means — in my case, being LGBTQ — has been like a superpower."[17]
