SGER: Highly Functionalized Highly Symmetrical Nano Building Blocks From Silsesquioxanes

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With this award, the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program supports Proferssor Richard Laine of the University of Michigan whose research will synthesize easily accessible cubic structures with organic moities to target well-defined octafunctional 3-D conjugated molecules with cubic symmetry. These materials because of their 3-D shape, high solubility, high temperature stability, ease of synthesis and purification, potential for multiple functionalization of phenyl groups, appear to offer opportunities to: (1) develop new methods of assembling 2- or 3-D structures with extraordinary densities of functional groups nm by nm, (2) design families of materials with numerous combinations of functional groups, and (3) the potential for 3-D conjugation of excited states for semiconducting, electronic and photonic applications. The approach will be stepwise, building on stilbene incorporation in the cube structure to introduce traditional donor and acceptor (DA) substituents to determine the feasibility of observing internal charge transfer behavior through the apparent low lying LUMO. Second will be the introduction of more highly conjugated substituents at all cube vertices and at the internal double bond. Later, still more complex conjugated systems will be added. The overall objective will be to not only lower the band gap but also to create 3-D pi-pi and/or DA interactions between these highly symmetrical cubes. Specifically, the work is directed toward tailoring materials for organic electronics with the hope that these materials will exhibit the equivalent of 3-D conjugation in the excited state, thereby offering the potential to revolutionize organic electronics,This award from the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program supports Proferssor Richard Laine of the University of Michigan whose research will involve collaborations with five other groups at the University of Michigan. These collaborations will allow Professor Laine to assess the utility of these compounds for various organic electronic applications including OLEDs, white light, photovoltaics, and NLO applications and through modeling studies that map their photophysical and electronic properties as individual compounds and after assembly. More broadly, the results of this study would be richly rewarding in terms of new materials that are easily synthesized, purified, and exceptionally robust and that permit 3-D assembly. Professor Laine and his group annually hosts and trains 4-5 undergraduate and 2 high school summer student researchers from local high schools including under-represented minorities, with 50% of these being women scholars.