Photochemical Studies of Multicomponent Molecular Devices inSolution and in Organized Assemblies

在有机动力学计划和数学和物理科学局多学科活动办公室的支持下，J·德文斯·古斯特教授。亚利桑那州立大学化学和生物化学系的托马斯·A·摩尔教授正在对溶液中和有组织的组装中的多组分分子设备进行光化学研究。天然的光合作用反应中心是分子尺寸的光伏设备，决定反应中心运行的原理为合成光电开关提供了设计元素。新型颜料和电子给体和受体部分，包括官能化的巴克明斯特富勒烯、芳香族酰亚胺和胺，以及卟啉衍生物，正被用于构建分子规模的光伏、开关和逻辑门。还将研究收集光并将激发能量传输到这些分子光伏和开关的仿生天线系统。将通过分子物种与微电子电路的接口以及通过将分子光伏并入脂质体来检验开关在更大规模的设备中的应用。J·德文斯·古斯特教授。和亚利桑那州立大学化学和生物化学系的托马斯·A·摩尔教授，得到了有机动力学项目和数学和物理科学局多学科活动办公室的支持，他们研究旨在获取光能的分子和分子组件。古斯特教授和摩尔教授模仿自然界为进行光合作用过程而设计的结构主题进行研究，他们准备并研究吸收和利用光能的分子。通过分子系统的适当设计，这些研究解决了分子与光相互作用背后的基本现象，同时为制备分子规模的电子和计算设备铺平了道路，这些设备提供了光学处理和超高密度信息存储的可能性。

With the support of the Organic Dynamics Program and the Office of Multidisciplinary Activities of the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate, Professor J. Devens Gust, Jr. and Professor Thomas A. Moore, of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Arizona State University, are carrying out photochemical studies of multicomponent molecular devices in solution and in organized assemblies. Natural photosynthetic reaction centers are photovoltaic devices of molecular dimensions, and the principles dictating the operation of reaction centers suggest design elements for synthetic optoelectronic switches. New types of pigments and electron donor and acceptor moieties, including functionalized buckminsterfullerenes, aromatic imides and amines, and porphyrin derivatives, are being used to construct molecular-scale photovoltaics, switches, and logic gates. Biomimetic antenna systems that gather light and transport excitation energy to these molecular photovoltaics and switches will also be studied. Incorporation of switches into larger-scale devices will be examined both by interfacing molecular species with microelectronic circuits and by incorporation of molecular photovoltaics into liposomes. Professor J. Devens Gust, Jr. and Professor Thomas A. Moore, of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Arizona State University, are supported by the Organic Dynamics Program and the Office of Multidisciplinary Activities of the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate for their studies of molecules and molecular assemblies designed to harvest the energy of light. Modeling their studies after the structural motif designed by nature to carry out the process of photosynthesis, Professors Gust and Moore prepare and study molecules which absorb and use the energy of light. By appropriate design of molecular systems, these studies address the fundamental phenomena behind such interactions of molecules with light while paving the way for the preparation of molecular-scale electronic and computational devices which offer the possibility of optical processing and extraordinarily high density storage of information.