CAREER: Functional Materials Derived from Molecular Containers

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The research objectives of this CAREER program are to develop and investigate new materials derived from molecular containers--synthetic molecules capable of completely encapsulating smaller molecular substrates. The specific goals are: i) to synthesize a series of new metal-organic "microcavity-within-micropore" materials using container molecules as ligands; ii) to establish kinetic and thermodynamic relationships between the unique solution-phase complexation behaviors of molecular containers and the inclusion properties of the related materials; iii) characterize the molecular motions of encapsulated species and investigate recently discovered molecular "implosion" behavior. The targeted materials should possess enforced microcavities, arising from the molecular containers, and concomitant microporosity, arising as a consequence of the engineered frameworks. Of particular interest will be the kinetics of sorption and/or desorption of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are expected to be governed, in part, by the container-like molecular building blocks. This CAREER project is aimed toward the development and study of a new class of microporous materials to be derived from so-called molecular containers--synthetic molecules capable of completely encapsulating smaller molecules. Microporous materials represent an enormously important class of industrial compounds, and recent years have seen rapid growth in the discovery of new molecule-based examples that provide the advantage of structural design. To be studied here are materials that are anticipated to possess unique "microcavity-within-micropore" structures, with certain improved physical properties concomitant with the embedded molecular microcavities. Such studies will have implications for storage of volatile organic compounds (e.g. fuel and gas storage), chemical separations and purification, as well as more fundamental aspects of solid-state chemistry. This program also seeks to improve the training of students by integrating research concepts into the laboratory curriculum at the freshman through graduate levels and through the development of new discovery-based experiments. Additionally, an outreach program will be instigated--directed toward the general public and various levels of the scientific community--that provides an experimental forum for personal and professional development and fosters breadth of knowledge and expertise in solid-state chemistry.