International Collaboration in Chemistry: New Approaches to Cyclodextrin-Based Organic Nanotubes

佐治亚理工学院的Haskell Beckham教授得到了化学系大分子、超分子和纳米化学（MSN）项目的支持（国际科学与工程办公室的资助），并获得了国际化学合作（ICC）的资助，以开发基于环糊精构建块的可加工有机纳米管的新有效方法。他在这项工作中的合作者是德国萨尔大学的Gerhard Wenz教授。Wenz教授参与了这个项目，得到了德国研究基金会的支持。Beckham教授和Wenz教授共同领导着一个国际研究团队，为衍生化环糊精开发新的模板定向交联策略，以制备直径、长度和溶解度可控的有机环糊精纳米管（CyNTs）。采用先进的核磁共振（NMR）技术对模板化中间体和碳纳米管的组成、结构和尺寸进行了表征。利用固态和脉冲场梯度核磁共振研究了探针分子在cynt中的平移和旋转动力学。研究了环糊精纳米管中小分子的输运特性，为其进一步应用奠定了基础。这位美国研究生每年将花五周时间在德国学习新的合成方法。与碳纳米管和无机纳米管相比，有机纳米管的广泛研究还不常见，因为它们不存在简单的制备途径。由环糊精制备的有机纳米管尤其有前景，因为环糊精是生物可再生的原料，并且在商业上大量可用。在这个项目中，基于环糊精的有机纳米管的新方法正在被开发，以使这些生物相容性、生物可再生的纳米管广泛可用，最终导致大规模的基础研究和应用。预计cynt可以形成新技术平台的基础，用作组织工程的生物相容性支架（特别是各向异性的结合和血管化），用于分离目的，用于纳米流体的前沿应用，作为聚合（特别是导电聚合物）的一维基质，以及活性化合物（例如药物，农用化学品）的缓慢释放。参与该项目的学生将每年到国际合作伙伴实验室进行长期的交流访问，以进行合作工作和培训。

Professor Haskell Beckham of the Georgia Institute of Technology is supported by the Macromolecular, Supramolecular, and Nanochemistry (MSN) Program in the Division of Chemistry (with contribution from the Office of International Science and Engineering) with an International Collaboration in Chemistry (ICC) grant to develop new efficient approaches to processable organic nanotubes based on cyclodextrin building blocks. His collaborator in this work is Professor Gerhard Wenz of Saarland University in Germany. Professor Wenz is being supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation) for his participation in this project. Together, Professors Beckham and Wenz are leading an international team of researchers to develop novel template-directed crosslinking strategies for derivatized cyclodextrins to prepare organic cyclodextrin nanotubes (CyNTs) with controlled diameters, lengths, and solubilities. Composition, structure, and size of templated intermediates and CyNTs are being characterized by advanced nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques. Translational and rotational dynamics of probe molecules in CyNTs are being examined using solid-state and pulsed-field-gradient NMR. Transport of small molecules in cyclodextrin nanotubes are being characterized to lay a foundation for advanced applications of CyNTs. The U.S. graduate student will spend five weeks each year in Germany to learn about novel synthetic methodologies.In contrast to carbon and inorganic nanotubes, widespread investigations of organic nanotubes are not yet common because facile preparative routes to them do not exist. Organic nanotubes prepared from cyclodextrins are particularly promising because cyclodextrins are bio-renewable feedstocks and available commercially in large quantities. In this project, new approaches to cyclodextrin-based organic nanotubes are being developed to allow widespread availability of these biocompatible, bio-renewable nanotubes, ultimately leading to wide-scale basic studies and applications. It is envisioned that CyNTs can form the basis of new technology platforms for use as biocompatible scaffolds for tissue engineering (especially for incorporation of anisotropy and for vascularization), for separation purposes, for frontier applications in nanofluidics, as 1D matrices for polymerization (especially conducting polymers), and for slow release of active compounds (e.g., drugs, agrochemicals). The students working on the project will make annual, extended exchange visits to the international partner laboratory for collaborative work and training.