Synthesis, Photophysics, and Chemistry of Novel Fullerene Derivatives

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With this renewal award the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program supports the work of Dr. David I. Schuster and Stephen R. Wilson in the Department of Chemistry of New York University in New York City. Part of the work is aimed at the synthesis and photophysical investigation of supramolecular complexes with a variety of rotaxanes and catenanes in which non-covalently linked metal porphyrin complexes and C60 fullerenes are held in unusual spatial relationships. It is based on earlier work with porphyrin-fullerene dyads connected by flexible polyether or rigid steroid linkers. Other studies will involve [2+2] photocycloaddition of cyclic enones to C70, and the synthesis, photochemistry and self-assembly of fullerene derivatives with highly fluorinated molecular tails.Most of the work involves the synthesis and study of molecules which contain both an electron donor (a metal (usually zinc) porphyrin complex), which can be readily put into an electronically excited state using light, and an electron acceptor (a ball of 60 or 70 carbon atoms), to which an electron can be transferred after the donor has been excited. The process mimics the first step of photosynthesis in green plants, which use a magnesium porphyrin complex to absorb light, followed by electron transfer. The novel molecules to be studied will shed light on the details of the electron excitation and transfer process, and could eventually lead to novel optical and electronic materials. Because the work involves synthesis, characterization, photochemistry, photophysics, and computational design, it is expected to provide excellent training for the students involved.