Contact Information
University of Illinois
468 RAL
600 South Mathews Avenue
Urbana, IL 61801
Research Areas
Biography
Professor Strauss received his B.S. in Biochemistry from Winona State University in 2016, where he conducted undergraduate research in the laboratories of Professors Francis Mann and Robert Koptizke. He subsequently earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Northwestern University in 2021 under the mentorship of Professor William Dichtel where he was supported by an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and an International Institute for Nanotechnology Ryan Fellowship. Following the completion of his doctoral studies, he pursued postdoctoral research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as an NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein Postdoctoral Fellow in the laboratory of Professor Stephen Buchwald. Professor Strauss began his independent career in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Illinois in 2025.
Research Interests
organic chemistry – catalyst design, reagent development, reaction discovery
organic materials chemistry – polymerization methods, environmental remediation of plastic waste, dynamic and emergent materials properties, application-based materials design
Research Description
The Strauss Research Group (SRG) operates at the interface of synthetic methods development and polymer science. The broad goal of our research program is to challenge conventional synthetic ideologies in the design of polymeric materials of varying dimensionality. We believe that by harnessing the power of modern catalytic reactions, we can develop new synthetic tools to enable unprecedented control of polymer microstructure. Developing these new synthetic methods will allow us to engineer emergent physical, mechanical, and transport-based phenomena in soft-materials. We believe that a collaborative approach is essential in developing, understanding, and applying these newly developed methods in a practical and targeted fashion. Researchers within the SRG will receive training in synthetic, organometallic, physical organic, polymer, and materials chemistry.
Awards and Honors
- National Institutes of Health Ruth L. Kirschstein Postdoctoral Fellowship
- Edmund W. Gelewitz Award
- International Institute for Nanotechnology Ryan Fellowship
- National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship
- Winona State University Biochemistry Graduate of the Year
- ACS Chemistry Graduate of the Year – Winona State University
- Organic Chemistry Lifetime Achievement Award – Winona State University
- ACS Outstanding Organic Chemistry Graduate
- Inorganic Chemistry Student of the Year – Winona State University
- Biochemistry Student of the Year – Winona State University
- Organic Chemistry Student of the Year – Winona State University
- ACS PolyEd Award
- General Chemistry Student of the Year – Winona State University
Courses Taught
CHEM 532: Advanced Physical Organic Chemistry
Highlighted Publications
Strauss, M.J.; Liu, K.X.; Greaves, M.E.; Kim, S.-T.; Dahl, J.C.; Wu, Y.-J.; Schmidt, M.A.; Scola, P.M.; Buchwald, S.L. Cu-Catalyzed Amination of Base-Sensitive Aryl Bromides and the Chemoselective N- and O-Arylation of Amino Alcohols. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2024, 146, 18616–18625.
Strauss, M.J.‡; Greaves, M.E. ‡; Kim, S.-T.; Teijaro, C.N.; Schmidt, M.A.; Scola, P.M.; Buchwald, S.L. Room-Temperature Cu-Catalyzed Etherification of Aryl Bromides. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2024, 63, e202400333.
Kim, S.-T.‡; Strauss, M.J.‡; Cabré, A.; Buchwald, S.L. Room-Temperature Cu-Catalyzed Amination of Aryl Bromides Enabled by DFT-Guided Ligand Design. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2023, 145, 6966–6975.
Strauss, M.J.; Evans, A.M.; Roesner, E.K.; Monsky, R.J.; Bardot, M.I.; Dichtel, W.R. Divergent Nanotube Synthesis Through Reversible Macrocycle Assembly. Acc. Mater. Res. 2022, 3, 935–947.
Strauss, M.J.‡; Hwang, I.‡; Evans, A.M.; Natraj, A.; Aguilar-Enriquez, X.; Castano, I.C.; Roesner, E.K.; Choi, J.W.; Dichtel, W.R. Lithium-Conducting Self-Assembled Organic Nanotubes. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2021, 143, 17655–17665.
Strauss, M.J.; Jia, M.; Evans, A.M.; Castano, I.C.; Li, R.L.; Aguilar-Enriquez, X.; Roesner, E.K.; Swartz, J.L.; Chavez, A.D.; Enciso, A.E.; Stoddart, J.F.; Rolandi, M.; Dichtel, W.R. Diverse Proton-Conducting Nanotubes via a Tandem Macrocyclization and Assembly Strategy. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2021, 143, 8145–8153.