Design and Self-Assembly of Giant Metallo-Supramolecules Based on Density of Coordination Sites (DOCS)

在这个由化学系大分子、超分子和纳米化学项目资助的项目中，南佛罗里达大学的李小鹏和他的同事将设计和合成具有明确几何形状和多个配位位点的配体，并表征由此产生的二维和三维超分子结构。 各种各样的生物分子（如DNA和蛋白质）具有非常复杂的结构和三维（3D）架构，这对它们的生物功能非常重要。 受大自然的启发，李教授进行研究，开发自组装策略，以创造具有独特性质的复杂化学结构。 特别令人感兴趣的是制备可用于电池的具有自修复特性的金属凝胶。 该项目预计将为博士后助理，研究生和本科生，特别是代表性不足的少数民族的跨学科研究培训提供一个很好的平台。预期目标金属超分子结构是由金属离子的配位产生的（例如，Zn（II）、Fe（II）和Pd（II））。研究小组将制备金属凝胶，并探索其作为电池自修复材料和粘合剂材料的潜在应用。 复杂程度通常是通过结构简单的亚基（或构建块）的自组装来实现的，这些亚基具有特定的功能和几何形状，可以指导它们组装成精确控制尺寸，形状和性能的复杂结构。Li研究小组的目标是深入了解控制超分子自组装的基本化学原理，并制备具有独特性能的新型材料。

In this project funded by the Macromolecular, Supramolecular, and Nanochemistry Program of the Division of Chemistry, Xiaopeng Li of the University of South Florida and his coworkers will design and synthesize ligands with well-defined geometry and multiple coordination sites and characterize the 2D and 3D supramolecular structures resuling therefrom. A wide variety of biological molecules (such as DNAs and proteins) have very complex structures and 3-dimensional (3D) architectures that are important for their biological functions. Inspired by nature, Prof. Li conducts research to develop self-assembly strategies to creating complex chemical structures with unique properties. Of particular interest is the preparation of metallo-gels with self-healing properties that may be useful in batteries. This project is expected to provide an excellent platform for interdisciplinary research training of postdoctoral associates, graduate students, and undergraduate students, especially underrepresented minorities.The targeted metallosupramolecular structures are envisioned to result from the coordination of metal ions (e.g., Zn(II), Fe(II) and Pd(II)) by the designed multitopic ligands. The research team will prepare metallo-gels and explore their potential applications as self-healing materials and binder materials of batteries. The level of complexity is often attained by self-assembly of structurally simple subunits (or building blocks) which have specific functionalities and geometries to direct their assembly into sophisticated structures of precisely controlled size, shape and properties.The Li research group aims to gain insights into the fundamental chemistry principles that control supramolecular self-assemblies and to prepare novel materials with unique properties.