Mahdi Abu-Omar

Prof. Mahdi Abu-Omar is a Professor of Chemistry & Biochemistry and holds the Mellichamp Chair of Green Chemistry at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). He also has a joint appointment in Chemical Engineering. His research focuses on inorganic and organometallic chemistry applied to catalytic biomass conversion, bio-inspired catalyst design, and sustainable materials. He leads the Abu-Omar Research Group, which develops renewable alternatives to petrochemical-derived materials, emphasizing catalyst design based on molecular-scale mechanisms. Key projects include lignin-first biorefinery strategies, polyethylene upcycling into alkylaromatics, and recyclable epoxy thermosets derived from biomass.

Abu-Omar earned his Ph.D. from Iowa State University and completed a postdoc at Caltech under Harry Gray. He is the Associate Director of the DOE-funded Center for Catalytic Conversion of Biomass to Biofuels (C3Bio) and founder of Spero Energy, Inc., a green chemicals company. His honors include AAAS Fellowship (2012), Senior Fulbright Fellowship (2008), and the 2022 ACS Award for Affordable Green Chemistry. He has chaired major conferences like the Gordon Research Conference on Inorganic Reaction Mechanisms (2013).

His research group explores catalyst design for biomass-derived chemicals, including lignin conversion to phenolic monomers and cellulose upgrading. Recent advances include valence tautomerization studies in manganese oxo corroles and platinum-catalyzed polyurethane acidolysis. Abu-Omar emphasizes interdisciplinary collaboration, with students and postdocs engaged in projects spanning catalysis, polymer chemistry, and sustainable materials science.

• Education:
  • Ph.D., Iowa State University
  • Postdoctoral Research, California Institute of Technology (with Harry Gray)
• Awards:
  • AAAS Fellow (2012)
  • ACS Award for Affordable Green Chemistry (2022)
  • NSF CAREER Award (1998)
• Grants & Centers:
  • Director, C3Bio Energy Frontier Research Center (DOE-funded)
  • Principal Investigator on multiple NIH and DOE grants

His lab develops scalable processes for plastic upcycling and biomass valorization, with applications in renewable fuels, recyclable polymers, and bio-based chemicals. Recent innovations include catalytic depolymerization of polyethylene and polycarbonate into valuable monomers, and designing thermosets with tunable degradability for closed-loop recycling.