Kurtis Carsch

 

Assistant Professor of Chemistry

College of Natural Sciences

Email: kcarsch@utexas.edu

Research Group Website: https://kcarsch.wixsite.com/my-site-3/news 

 

2021–2024, University of California, Berkeley; Arnold O. Beckman Postdoctoral Fellow

2016–2021, Harvard University, PhD; Fannie and John Hertz & National Science Foundation Fellow

2012–2016, Caltech, BS/MS

2010–2012, University of North Texas, Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science Program

My research program focuses on advancing chemical separations, small molecule functionalization, and the processability of materials. Since 2025, my group and I design castable and solution-phase sorbents to overcome inherent limitations with microporous adsorbents, leveraging novel microporous metallopolymers, metallomesogenic chemisorbents, and mixed-matrix membranes. Central in our approach is the translation of concepts and design principles from the molecular literature to address the selective activation and transformation of small molecules using novel sorbents with unconventional mechanisms. Key separation targets under ambient conditions include oxygen removal from air, alkene purification, CO2 capture and functionalization, and isotope separations.

• Design, characterization, and utilization of metal–organic frameworks for batch chemical separations

• Synthesis of microporous membranes for selective gas separations

• Cooperative liquid-phase chemisorption with liquid crystal metallomesogens

• Ambient temperature isotope separation with selective bond activation

•  International Adsorption Society Award for Excellence in Publications (2025)

•  2022 CAS Future Leader (2022)

•  Fannie and John Hertz Thesis Prize (2022)

•  Arnold O. Beckman Postdoctoral Fellowship (2021)

•  Peter Strauss Fellowship (2021)

•  Ludo Frevel Crystallography Scholarship (2020)

•  Harvard Distinction in Teaching Award (2019)

•  2016 ACS Undergraduate Award in Inorganic Chemistry (2016)

•  Richard P. Schuster Memorial Prize (2016)

•  George W. Green Memorial Prize (2016)

•  Fannie and John Hertz Foundation Fellowship (2016)

•  National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (2016)

•  Caltech Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (2015)

•  Arie J. Haagen-Smit Memorial Award (2015)

•  Copenhagen Scholars Study Abroad Scholarship (2014)

•  American Chemical Society/Society for Chemical Industry Scholarship (2014)

•  Renuka D. Sharma Award (2014)

•  Caltech Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (2012)

•  Intel Science Talent Search Finalist (2012)

•  University of North Texas Dean’s Research Award (2011)

•  Texas Academy of Math and Science Summer Research Scholarship (2011)

• Rohde, R. C.†; Carsch, K. M.†; Dods, M. N.; Jiang, H. Z. H.; McIsaac, A. R.; Klein, R. A.; Kwon, H.; Karstens, S. L.; Wang, Y.; Huang, A. J.; Taylor, J. W.; Yabuuchi, Y.; Tkachenko, N. V.; Meihaus, K. R.; Furukawa, H.; Yanhe, D. R.; Engler, K. E.; Bustillo, K. C.; Minor, A. M.; Reimer, J. A.; Head-Gordon, M.; Brown, C. M.; Long. J. R. High-Temperature Carbon Dioxide Capture in a Porous Material with Terminal Zinc Hydride Sites. Science 2024, 386, 814–819.

• Yabuuchi, Y.; Furukawa, H; Carsch, K. M.; Klein, R.A.; Tkachenko, N. V.; Huang, A. J.; Cheng, Y.; Taddei, K. M.; Novak, E.; Brown, C. M.; Head-Gordon, M.; Long, J. R. Geometric Tuning of Coordinatively Unsaturated Copper(I) Sites in Metal−Organic Frameworks for Ambient-Temperature Hydrogen Storage. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2024, 146, 22759–22776.

• Carsch, K. M.; Huang, A. J.; Dods, M. N.; Parker, S. T.; Rohde, R. C.; Jiang, H. Z. H.; Yabuuchi, Y.; Kwon, H.; Karstens, S. L.; Chakraborty, R.; Bustillo, K. C. Meihaus, K. R.; Furukawa, H.; Minor, A. M.; Head-Gordon, M.; Long. J. R. Oxygen-Selective Adsorption from Air with a Metal–Organic Framework Featuring Open Copper Sites. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2024, 146, 3160–3170.

• Carsch, K. M.†; Iliescu, A.†; McGillicuddy, R. D.; Mason, J. A.; Betley, T. A. Reversible Scavenging of Dioxygen from Air by a Copper Complex. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2021, 143, 18346–18352.

• Carsch, K. M.; DiMucci, I. M.; Iovan, D. A.; Li, A.; Zheng, S.-L.; Titus, C. J.; Lee, S. J.; Irwin, K. D.; Nordlund, D.; Lancaster, K. M.; Betley, T. A. Synthesis of a Copper-Supported Triplet Nitrene Complex Pertinent to Copper-Catalyzed Amination. Science 2019, 365, 1138–1143.