Hao Sun, Ph.D.

Hao Sun's Headshot
Assistant Professor
Chemistry Graduate Program Coordinator

Department of Chemistry and Chemical & Biomedical Engineering
Tagliatela College of Engineering
Education

Postdoctoral Fellow, Polymer Chemistry, Northwestern University
Ph.D., Organic Chemistry, University of Florida
M.Sc., Polymer Chemistry & Physics, Sun Yat-sen University
B.Sc., Chemistry, Wuhan University

About Hao

Hao is an organic and polymer chemist. He joined the faculty of the University of New Haven in August 2021. He will teach Organic Chemistry (CHEM2201) and Advanced Organic Chemistry (CHEM4501) in the fall of 2021.

Hao’s research program seeks chemistry-centered multidisciplinary approaches to addressing the challenges in global health and environment. Several areas in the intersection of synthetic polymer chemistry, materials, and biomedicine will be investigated, with particular focus on those most closely related to environmental and biomedical applications. His current research interests are centered in: (1) developing chemically-recyclable polymer materials for environmental applications; (2) developing modular and scalable approach for polymer-based delivery systems of therapeutics (e.g., gene, peptides, and proteins); (3) designing next-generation sequence-defined polymers for understanding the role of monomer sequence in governing the material properties.

Professor Sun’s research group website:

Publications

† denotes the co-first author.
*denotes the corresponding author.

  1. Sun, H.†, Liang, Y.†, Thompson, M.P., Gianneschi, N.C., "Degradable Polymers via Olefin Metathesis Polymerization", Prog. Polym. Sci., 2021, 120, 101427.
  2. Scheutz, G.M., Elgoyhen, J., Bentz, K.C., Xia, Y., Sun, H., Zhao, J., Savin, D.A., Sumerlin, B.S., "Mediating Covalent Crosslinking of Single-Chain Nanoparticles through Solvophobicity in Organic Solvents", Polym. Chem., 2021, in press.
  3. Zhou, X., Gong, X., Cao, W., Forman, C.J., Oktawiec, J., D’ Alba, L., Sun, H., Thompson, M.P., Hu, Z., Kapoor, U., McCallum, N.C., Malliakas, C.D., Farha, O.K., Jayaraman, A., Shawkey, M.D., Gianneschi, N.C., "Anisotropic Synthetic Allomelanin Materials via Solid State Polymerization of Self-Assembled 1,8-Dihydroxynaphthalene Dimers", Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2021. DOI: 10.1002/anie.202103447.
  4. Hu, Z., Sun, H., Thompson, M.P., Xiao, M., Allen, M.C., Zhou, X., Ni, Q., Wang, Z., Li, W., Burkart, M.D., Deheyn, D.D., Dhinojwala, A., Shawkey, M.D., Gianneschi, N.C. "Structurally Colored Inks from Synthetic Melanin-Based Crosslinked Supraparticles", ACS Materials Lett., 2021, 3, 50–55.
  5. Sun, H.†, Cao, W.†, Zang, N.†, Clemons, T. D., Scheutz, G. M., Hu, Z., Thompson, M. P., Liang, Y., Vratsanos, M., Zhou, X., Choi, W., Sumerlin, B. S., Stupp, S. I, Gianneschi, N. C. “Proapoptotic Peptide Brush Polymer Nanoparticles via Photoinitiated Polymerization-Induced Self-Assembly.” Angew. Chemie. Int. Ed. 2020, 59, 43, 19136-19142.
  6. Choi, W.; Sun, H.; Battistella, C.; Berger, O.; Vratsanos, M.A.; Wang, M.; Gianneschi, N. C., “Biomolecular densely grafted brush polymers: oligonucleotides, oligosaccharides and oligopeptides”, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2020, 59, 45, 19762-19772.
  7. Zhu, J.; Sun, H.; Callmann, C. E.; Thompson, M. P.; Battistella, C.; Proetto, M. T.; Carlini, A.S.; Gianneschi, N. C., “Paclitaxel-terminated peptide brush polymers”, Chem. Commun., 2020, 56, 6778-6781.
  8. Liang, Y.; Sun, H.*; Cao, W.; Thompson, M. P.; Gianneschi, N. C.* "Degradable Polyphosphoramidate via Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization." ACS Macro Lett. 2020, 9, 10, 1417–1422.
  1. Noh, J.; Cao, W.; Sun, H.; Yang, Y.; Gianneschi, N. C.; Abbott, N., “Self-Assembly of Macromolecules within Single Topological Defects of Nematic Solvents”, Chem. Mater., 2020, 32, 15, 6753–6764.
  2. Cao, W.; McCallum, N. C.; Ni, Q. Z.; Li W., Boyce, H.; Mao, H.; Zhou, X.; Sun, H.; Thompson, M. P.; Battistella, C.; Wasielewski, M. R.; Dhinojwala, A.; Shawkey, M. D.; Burkart, M. D.; Wang, Z.; Gianneschi, N. C., “Selenomelanin: An Abiotic Selenium Analogue of Pheomelanin”, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2020, 142, 29, 12802–12810.
  3. Cavell, A.; Krasecki, V.; Li, G.; Sharma, A.; Sun, H.; Thompson, M.P.; Forman, C.J.; Guo, S.; Hickman, R. J.; Parrish, K.; Aspuru-Guzik, A.; Cronin, L.; Gianneschi, N. C.; Goldsmith, R. H., “Optical monitoring of polymerizations in droplets with high temporal dynamic range”, Chem. Sci., 2020, 11, 2647-2656
  4. Dobbins, D. J.; Scheutz, G. M.; Sun, H.; Crouse, C.A.; Sumerlin, B. S., “Glass Transition Temperature Governs the Thermal Decrosslinking Behavior of Diels-Alder Crosslinked Polymethacrylate Networks”, J. Polym. Sci., 2020, 58, 193-203.
  5. Sun, H.; Choi, W.; Zang, N.; Battistella, C.; Thompson, M. P.; Cao, W.; Zhou, X.; Forman, C.; Gianneschi, N. C., “Bioactive Peptide Brush Polymers via Photoinduced Reversible-Deactivation Radical Polymerization”, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2019, 58, 17359-17364 (Selected for Back cover).
  6. Sun, H.; Yang, L; Thompson, M. P; Schara, S; Cao, W; Choi, W; Hu, Z; Zang, N; Tan, W; Gianneschi, N. C., “Recent Advances in Amphiphilic Polymer-Oligonucleotide Nanomaterials via Living/Controlled Polymerization Technologies”, Bioconjug. Chem., 2019, 30, 7, 1889-1904.
  7. Liu, D.; Zeng, R.; Sun, H.; Zhang, L.; Tan, J., “Blue Light-Initiated Alcoholic RAFT Dispersion Polymerization of Benzyl Methacrylate: A Detailed Study”, Polymers, 2019, 11(8), 1284.
  8. Touve, M. A.; Wright, D. B.; Mu, C.; Sun, H.; Park, C.; Gianneschi, N. C., “Block Copolymer Amphiphile Phase Diagrams by High-Throughput Transmission Electron Microscopy”, Macromolecules, 2019, 52, 5529-5537.
  9. Fuller, E.G. †; Sun, H. †; Dhavalikar, R.D.; Unni, M.; Scheutz, G. M.; Sumerlin, B. S.; Rinaldi, C., “Externally Triggered Heat and Drug Release from Magnetically Controlled Nanocarriers”, ACS Applied Polymer Materials, 2019, 1, 211-220. (Editor’s top pick)
  10. Sun, H.; Kabb, C. P.; Sims, M. B.; Sumerlin, B. S., “Architecture-Transformable Polymers: Reshaping the Future of Stimuli-Responsive Polymers”, Prog. Polym. Sci., 2019, 89, 61-75. (ESI highly cited paper)
  11. Tan, J.; Dai, X.; Zhang, Y.; Yu, L.; Sun, H.; Zhang, L., “Photoinitiated polymerization-induced self-assembly via visible light-induced RAFT-mediated emulsion polymerization”, ACS Macro Lett, 2019, 8, 205-212. (Selected for cover; ESI highly cited paper).
  12. Yang, L.; Sun, H.; Liu, Y.; Hou, W.; Yang, Y.; Cai, R.; Cui, C.; Zhang, P.; Pan, X.; Li, X.; Li, L.; Sumerlin, B. S.; Tan, W., “Self-Assembled Aptamer-Hyperbranched Polymer Nanocarrier for Targeted and Photoresponsive Drug Delivery”, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2018, 57, 17048-17052.
  13. Tang, H.; Luan, Y.; Yang, L.; Sun, H.*, “A Perspective on Reversibility in Controlled Polymerization Systems: Recent Progress and New Opportunities”, Molecules, 2018, 23(11), 2870. (Corresponding author).
  14. Liu, Y.; Sun, H.; Yang, L.; Liang, J.; Li, X.; Jiang, Y.; Hou, W.; Ferreira, C.; Talham, D. R.; Tan, W., “Chelation-Assisted Assembly of Multidentate Colloidal Nanoparticles into Metal-Organic Nanoparticles”, Nanoscale, 2018, 10, 21369-21373.
  15. Yang, L.; Tang, H.; Sun, H.*, “Progress in Photo-Responsive Polypeptide Derived Nano-Assemblies”, Micromachines, 2018, 9, 296. (Corresponding author).
  16. Li, X.; Figg, A.; Wang, R.; Jiang, Y.; Lyu, Y.; Sun, H.; Liu, Y.; Wang, Y.; Hou, W.; Cai, R.; Cui, C.; Li, L.; Pan, X.; Sumerlin, B. S.; Tan, W., “Cross-Linked Aptamer-Lipid Micelles for Excellent Stability and Specificity in Target Cell Recognition”, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2018, 57, 115899-11593.
  17. Sun, H.; Kabb, C. P.; Dai, Y.; Hill, M. R.; Ghiviriga, I.; Bapat, A. P.; Sumerlin, B. S., “Macromolecular Metamorphosis via Stimulus-Induced Transformations of Polymer Architecture”, Nature Chemistry, 2017, 9, 817-823. (Highlighted in Chemistry World 2017, February 21st).
  18. Dai, Y.; Sun, H.; Pal, S.; Zhang, Y.; Park, S.; Kabb, C. P.; Wei, W.; Sumerlin, B. S., “Near-IR-Induced Dissociation of Thermally-Sensitive Star Polymers”, Chem. Sci., 2017, 8, 1815-1821.
  19. Liu, Y.; Hou, W.; Sun, H.; Cui, C.; Zhang, L.; Jiang, Y.; Wu, Y.; Wang, Y.; Li, J.; Sumerlin, B. S.; Liu, Q.; Tan, W., “Thiol-Ene Click Chemistry: A Biocompatible Way for Orthogonal Bioconjugation of Colloidal Nanoparticles”, Chem. Sci., 2017, 8, 6182-6187.
  20. Wan, S.; Zhang, L.; Wang, S.; Liu, Y.; Wu, C.; Cui, C.; Sun, H.; Shi, M.; Jiang, Y.; Li, L.; Qiu, L.; Tan, W., “Molecular Recognition-Based DNA Nanoassemblies on the Surfaces of Nanosized Exosomes”, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2017, 139 (15), 5289-5292. (ESI highly cited paper).
  21. Alfurhood, J. A.; Sun, H.; Kabb, C. P.; Tucker, B. S.; Matthews, J. H.; Luesch, H.; Sumerlin, B. S., “Poly(N-(2-Hydroxypropyl) Methacrylamide)-Valproic Acid Conjugates as Block Copolymer Nanocarriers”, Polym. Chem., 2017, 8, 4983-4987.
  22. Wang, Y.; Wu, C.; Chen, T.; Sun, H.; Cansiz, S.; Zhang, L.; Cui, C.; Hou, W.; Wu, Y.; Wan, S.; Cai, R.; Liu, Y.; Sumerlin, B. S.; Zhang, X.; Tan, W., “DNA Micelle Flares: A Study of the Basic Properties that Contribute to Enhanced Stability and Binding Affinity in Complex Biological Systems”, Chem. Sci., 2016, 7, 6041-6049
  23. Dong, P.; Sun, H.; Quan, D., “Synthesis of Poly(L-lactide-co-5-amino-5-methyl-1,3-dioxan-2-ones)[P(L-LA-co-TAc)] Containing Amino Groups via Organocatalysis and Post-Polymerization Functionalization”, Polymer, 2016, 97, 614-622.
  24. Alfurhood, J.A.; Sun, H.; Bachler, P. R.; Sumerlin, B. S., “Hyperbranched Poly(N-(2-Hydroxypropyl) Methacrylamide) via RAFT Self-Condensing Vinyl Polymerization”, Polym. Chem., 2016, 7, 2099-2104.
  25. Sun, H.; Dobbins, D. J.; Dai, Y.; Kabb, C. P.; Wu, S.; Alfurhood, J. A.; Rinaldi, C.; Sumerlin, B. S., “Radical Departure: Thermally-Triggered Degradation of Azo-Containing Poly(β-Thioester)s”, ACS Macro lett, 2016, 5, 688-693.
  26. Tan, J.; Sun, H.; Yu, M.; Sumerlin, B. S.; Zhang, L., “Photo-PISA: Shedding Light on Polymerization-Induced Self-Assembly”, ACS Macro lett, 2015, 4, 1249-1253. (ESI highly cited paper)
  27. Sun, H.; Kabb, C.P.; Sumerlin, B. S., “Thermally-Labile Segmented Hyperbranched Copolymers: Using Reversible-Covalent Chemistry to Investigate the Mechanism of Self-Condensing Vinyl Copolymerization”, Chem. Sci., 2014, 5, 4646-4655.
Patents
  1. Rinaldi, C.; Sun, H.; Sumerlin, B. S., “Magnetic Particle Conjugates, Micelles, and Methods of Delivering Agents” PCT/US17/028852, WO2017189356A1, 2019.
  2. Gianneschi, N.C.; Lavine, J.A.; Zhang, B.; Berger, O.; Choi, W.; Wang, M.; Battistella, C.; Sun, H., “Brush Polymers for Therapeutic Applications” PCT/US2020/045729, WO/2021/030326, 2020.
  3. Gianneschi, N.C.; Sun, H., “Bioactive Peptide Brush Polymers via Photoinduced Reversible-Deactivation Radical Polymerization” PCT/US2020/053308, WO/2021/067293, 2020.
  4. Gianneschi, N.C.; Liang, Y.; Sun, H., “Fully and Partially Backbone-Degradable Polymers via Low Temperature Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization (ROMP)” US Provisional 63/047,799, 2020.