He was hooked.

After a seventh-grade science project on acid rain and metals whetted his appetite for higher-level research, Jonathan Rajaseelan discovered he and scientific experimentation had quite good chemistry.

For the rising senior at Lancaster Country Day School, his interest has paid off - literally.

Rajaseelan, 17, was recently awarded a $50,000 scholarship from the Davidson Institute for Talent Development for his research project, "Novel Rhodium N-heterocyclic Carbene Complexes for Green Chemistry."

The name may be a mouthful, but for Rajaseelan, an enthusiastic chemist, the project may eventually yield everyday benefits.

In his experiment, which made him one of three students nationally to win the Davidson Institute's $50,000 scholarship prize, Rajaseelan produced six new chemical complexes with the metal rhodium.

The rhodium complexes act as catalysts in organic synthesis reactions used to produce pharmaceuticals and industrial chemicals.

Rajaseelan explained that his project's practical application lies in the fact that hydrogen gas is usually the catalyst used in such reactions but can be replaced by the safer and more inexpensive compounds he manufactured.

"It applies to many industries," said Rajaseelan, who began research on the experiment the summer after his freshman year.

His work has the potential to contribute to greener medicine-making methods.

Rajaseelan lives at 166 Springdale Lane in Millersville, with his parents, Nilmini and Edward.

Rajaseelan said he is passionate about green chemistry and hopes to continue research in the field in college by studying chemistry and biology, and maybe even going to medical school.

Even now, Rajaseelan plans to continue experimentation with his rhodium complexes. In fact, the Lancaster teen said, he was in the lab just a few weeks ago doing just that.

"When you're studying, it's just sort of knowledge," Rajaseelan said. "There are the fundamentals; there's a toolbox."

He wants something more.

"It's just really neat to do as a researcher," he said of making his ideas come to life in the lab. "You can apply what you've learned."

And he's learned a lot.

Rajaseelan took high-school level biology in eighth grade and completed a chemistry course the following summer.

While he hasn't neglected physics - he took his first course in ninth grade and is taking Advanced Placement this year - Rajaseelan's heart is in chemistry and biology, so much that he has taken molecular biology and organic chemistry, both college-level courses.

While the high school student said it would be "a bit of a reach right now" for his project to immediately take on practical significance within the medical industry, he acknowledged this as his ultimate goal.

"It would be an amazing thing," Rajaseelan said. "If it ended up making any difference, it really makes all the work worth it."


Taylor Bundy is a Lancaster Newspapers reporter. Contact her at tbundy@lnpnews.com.