Conformationally Programmable Molecular Receptors

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This project seeks to develop a new line of reprogrammable molecular receptors, in which recognition abilities could be reversibly written, saved, and erased. This is in contrast to the static nature of most synthetic molecules in which the molecular properties can only be set during its synthesis. This ability to alter and change recognition properties is accomplished using molecules that can adopt multiple room temperature stable conformations due to restricted rotation about C-N bonds. The molecules can be annealed in the presence of a guest to form complementary structures. These can then be saved as stable conformers by cooling to room temperature. Saved conformations can be erased by heating in the absence of guest or rewritten by heating with a different guest. With this award, the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program is supporting the research of Professor Ken D. Shimizu of the Department of Chemistry at University South Carolina Research Foundation. Professor Shimizu's research efforts revolve around the development of recognition materials that are multifunctional due to dynamic control over their molecular properties. The proposed strategy could be extended to other conformationally dependent properties, such as solubility, viscosity, and refractive index. The proposed mechanism also shares many similarities with dynamic biological processes such as protein folding and could serve as models for these.