Diazirine Crosslinkers on Display at Annual Conference

June 14, 2023 – Each year, the Canadian Society for Chemistry (CSC), a not-for-profit association of students and professionals, hosts the country’s premier conference for the chemical sciences. This year’s conference – CSC 2023: Chemistry at the Edge – was held in beautiful Vancouver, BC from June 4th to 8th, and members of the XLYNX Materials team were on-hand to organize, present and learn. 

As a company rooted in academic science, XLYNX Materials is a proud supporter of the CSC and the advancement of the chemical sciences. This year, XLYNX sponsored a symposium on Strategies for Organic Materials Modification, which was organized by two of the company’s research scientists, Dr. Stefania Musolino and Dr. Miranda Baran. 

“Overall, I think the symposium was well received and the presentations sparked some insightful, engaging conversations,” Dr. Baran reflected after the conference. “I also appreciated the chance to attend other material chemistry talks and learn about the challenges being faced by other chemists; particularly where our products might be able to address those challenges, like in the field of 3D bioprinting.”  

XLYNX co-founder, Dr. Jeremy Wulff (University of Victoria Professor of Chemistry), played a key role at this year’s conference as the Organic Chemistry Division Chair. In addition to his coordination and fundraising responsibilities, Dr. Wulff was also a key speaker at CSC 2023, presenting on the development of the company’s diazirine-based crosslinkers in a session called Diazirine Reagents as (Near) Universal Tools for On-Demand Modification of Organic Materials

“In my opinion, the annual CSC conference is one of the best things about the Canadian chemistry scene,” Dr. Wulff described. “Almost every academic chemist in the country attends every year or two, and participation from industrial and international chemists is also very high. As a result, the meeting provides a unique opportunity to connect and create a real sense of community.”

In addition to Dr. Wulff’s session, two other presentations at CSC 2023 highlighted some of the exciting new research being supported by XLYNX Materials; one describing how diazirine-based cleavable crosslinkers can be used in polymer upcycling applications, the other demonstrating how diazirine technology can be used to apply antimicrobial surface treatments. 

“It was a great conference, and with three presentations, we were able to reach a large audience,” Dr. Wulff concluded. “There are people that I’ll definitely be following up with over the next few days, and I expect deeper collaborations will directly result from this conference.”

Initially developed to solve polymer adhesion challenges, XLYNX’s diazirine crosslinkers are now marketed to a broad range of industries. Beyond bonding and priming applications, the company’s team of chemists and material scientists are collaborating with clients to add strength to performance textiles, stabilize perovskite solar cells, and solve surface treatment problems for engineered plastics. 

We transform how materials work at the surface to enable innovation, new applications, enhanced product performance and new technologies. To find out more, visit us at www.xlynxmaterials.com or contact us at https://xlynxmaterials.com/contact/.