Yzurdiago Professor in Chemistry & Biochemistry
Co-Director of BioPACIFIC MIP, Co-Director of COAST PCL
PSBN 1631D
(805) 893-6103
Specialization:
Stimuli-Responsive Materials
Molecular Design
Functional Polymers
Degradable Polymers
Education:
Javier Read de Alaniz is a Yzurdiago Professor in Chemistry and Biochemistry, Co-Director of BioPACIFIC MIP, and Co-Director of Coast PCL at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Javier Read de Alaniz joined the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry at UC Santa Barbara in 2009. Born and raised in Las Vegas, New Mexico, he received his B.S. degree from Fort Lewis College (Durango, Colorado) in 1999 where he conducted undergraduate research under the direction of Professor William R. Bartlett. He obtained his Ph.D. under the supervision of Professor Tomislav Rovis at Colorado State University in 2006. His doctoral research focused on asymmetric catalysis. Javier then moved to California, where he worked in the area of total synthesis with Professor Larry E. Overman at the University of California, Irvine. During that time he was the recipient of the University of California President's Postdoctoral Fellowship.
Research:
The Read de Alaniz research group seeks creative, synthetic solutions to problems at the interface of chemistry and material science. Just as traditional organic chemist invents new reaction methodologies to access complex biologically active molecules, they develop new methods for the construction of stimuli-responsive materials and efficient approaches to chemical reaction for applications in synthesis of both small molecule and macromolecules. Their highly interdisciplinary work can be broken down into two key research areas: (1) development and application of a stimuli- responsive materials, (2) synthesis of well-defined and functional polymers.
Publications:
Selected Research Publications
1. “Visible Light-Responsive Materials: The (Photo)chemistry and Applications of Donor-Acceptor Stenhouse Adducts in Polymer Science” Clerc, M.; Sandlass, S.; Rifaie-Graham, O.; Peterson, J. A.; Bruns, N.; Read de Alaniz, J.; Boesel, L. F. Chem. Soc. Rev. 2023, 52, 8245–8294.
2. “Scalable Synthesis of Degradable Copolymers Containing a-Lipoic Acid via Mini-emulsion Polymerization” Morris, P. T.; Watanabe, K.; Albanese, K. R.; Kent, G. T.; Gupta, R.; Gerst, M.; Read de Alaniz, J.; Hawker, C. J.; Bates, C. M. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2024, 146, 30662–30667.
3. “Visible Light-Responsive Materials: The (Photo)chemistry and Applications of Donor-Acceptor Stenhouse Adducts in Polymer Science” Clerc, M.; Sandlass, S.; Rifaie-Graham, O.; Peterson, J. A.; Bruns, N.; Read de Alaniz, J.; Boesel, L. F. Chem. Soc. Rev. 2023, 52, 8245–8294.
4. “Radical-Free Digital Light Processing 3D Printing of Hydrogels Using a Photo-Caged Cyclopentadiene Diels–Alder Strategy” Kaneko, T.; Garcia, R. V.; Chau, A. L.; Pitenis, A. A.; Huang, S.; Moran, B. D.; Bailey, S. J.; Hawker, C. J.; Read de Alaniz, J. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2025, e14415.
5. Pendent No More: Direct Backbone Integration of Stenhouse Salt Enables Multi-Responsive Commodity Polyurethanes” Muff, L. F.; Helwig, L.; Nandi, A.; Bates, C. M.; Hawker, C. J.; Read de Alaniz, J. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2025, 137, e202514632.
6. “From Lipoic Acid to 1,2-Dithianes: Expanding Radical Ring-Opening to Less-Activated Monomers Such as Vinyl Acetate” Morris, P. T.; Olsen, S. C.; Santiago, M.; Wang, H. M.; Denton, E. H.; Read de Alaniz, J.; Bates, C. M.; Albanese, K. R.; Hawker, C. J. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2026, 148, 9680-9687