A molecular balance for studying the non-covalent interactions of aromatic surfaces

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The goal of this project is to study the weak attractive forces between aromatic surfaces. A better understanding of these cohesive forces will allows chemists to design better pharmaceuticals, stronger material and more efficient catalysts. Despite their importance, current models are not able to accurately predict the strength of these interactions due to a lack of experimental data. The difficulty is that these interactions are very weak and are hard to measure accurately. The Shimizu group's solution is to use molecular balances to measure these interactions. The balances have two aromatic surfaces connected together by a hinge. When the hinge is closed, the surfaces are forced together, and when the hinge is open, the surfaces are forced apart. Therefore, the molecular balances are very sensitive to the magnitude of the attractive forces between the aromatic surfaces. Measuring the ratio of balances in the open and closed states provides a direct and accurate measure of the attractive forces. The group plans to synthesize balances with different aromatic surfaces and test them in a range of chemical environments in order to study systematically the factors that favor and disfavor aromatic-aromatic interactions. The broader scientific impact of this research will be improved predictive models for the rational design for pharmaceuticals, materials, and catalysts. Specifically, the data acquired in this project will be used in formulating and testing new computational models of aromatic-aromatic interactions. The boarder educational aims will be: 1) training of graduate and undergraduate student in interdisciplinary research, 2) K-12 outreach where the PI and graduate students give chemistry demonstrations at local elementary, middle, and high schools, 3) support of undergraduate research and 4) the development of a high school/undergraduate laboratory specifically based on the molecular balance research. This laboratory will be tested in our SCienceLab program, which brings a high school class to the University for a full day, hands-on laboratory.