CAREER: Water-Soluble Metallofullerene Derivatives with Defined Structures and Tailorable Functions

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WIth support from the Macromolecular, Supramolecular, and Nanochemistry (MSN) Program of the Division of Chemistry, Jianyuan Zhang of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey and his team will synthesize and structurally characterize water soluble endohedral metallofullerenes (EMFs) and explore their potential utility. EMFs are nanometer-sized soccer ball-shaped carbon molecules that encapsulate metal ions within their cages. Electronic, energy, quantum materials, catalysis, electronics, and biotechnologies are potential applications where EMFs show promise. However, realizing their full potential will require a better understanding of their behavior in aqueous solution. Typical approaches to making water-soluble EMF derivatives do not yield structurally defined molecules; they invariably disrupt the structure of the EMF cage and downgrade its electronic properties. This project will use a modular synthetic approach to create a family of water-soluble EMFs with precisely defined structures and study the correlation between their structural parameters and electro-optic properties. In the course of conducting this project, students will be trained in a multidisciplinary research environment. Active learning techniques with real world experiments that are integrated with the research results will be developed. Outreach activities targeting a diverse population in local community colleges will be carried out to introduce economically disadvantaged and underrepresented students future career paths in science.This project will utilize a modular “metallobuckytrio” (MBT) platform that was recently developed in the laboratory of the principal investigator. The MBT platform, which consists of two metallofullerenes covalently bonded to one C60 fullerene, allows the synthesis of a family of structurally defined water-soluble EMF derivatives with desirable properties via judicious selection of ligands. Three research aims will be pursued. In Aim 1, saccharide-functionalized ligands will be introduced to enhance the T1 relaxivity of gadolinium (Gd) MBTs for the next-generation MRI contrast agents. In Aim 2, porphyrin-functionalized ligands will be introduced and photo-induced charge separation and recombination processes of the resulting porphyrin-fullerene tridecads will be investigated. In Aim 3, dye-functionalized ligands will be introduced to form synergistic photosensitizers with potential long term scientific impact in photodynamic therapy (PDT).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.