LEAPS-MPS: Synthesis of Photoactive Manganese Complexes With Carbene Ligands

在这个由NSF化学部管理的项目中，卡拉马祖学院的Daniela Arias-Rotondo教授和她的学生将设计、制备和研究锰基化合物，这些化合物可能在将太阳能转化为电能方面具有潜在的应用。锰是目前用于这些应用的材料的低成本、低毒性替代品。不同背景的学生将在这个项目上工作，由Arias-Rotondo教授密切指导，他还将为项目参与者建立同行指导机会。此外，Arias-Rotondo教授将重新设计卡拉马祖学院提供的无机化学课程的实验室部分，为学生提供课堂上的研究体验。为了实现这一目标，在这个研究项目中开发的一些化合物将被纳入无机化学教学实验室。锰配位络合物的电子物理学是一个未开发的研究领域，因为是锰的有机金属化学在低氧化态。Arias-Rotondo教授和她的学生的目标是合成卡宾配体，以与几种氧化态的锰配位，并通过NMR和光谱学，X射线衍射和电化学的组合来表征所得化合物。计算建模将被用来帮助解释实验数据，创建一个更彻底的描述这些配位络合物的分子和电子结构。PI寻求合成改性配体以研究取代基对Mn化合物性质的影响。该项目可能产生强大的光活性锰配合物与电荷分离的激发态，可以与可见光以及设计原则，以制备其他锰化合物和定制其性能。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过评估使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准的支持。

In this project managed by the Chemistry Division at NSF, Professor Daniela Arias-Rotondo and her students at Kalamazoo College will design, prepare, and study manganese-based compounds that could have potential applications in converting solar energy into electricity. Manganese is a low-cost, low-toxicity alternative to the materials currently used for these applications. Students of varied backgrounds will work on this project, closely mentored by Prof. Arias-Rotondo, who will also establish peer-mentoring opportunities for the project participants. Additionally, Prof. Arias-Rotondo will re-design the laboratory portion of the Inorganic Chemistry course offered at Kalamazoo College to give students a research-like experience in the class. To accomplish this goal, some of the compounds developed in this research project will be incorporated into the Inorganic Chemistry teaching lab.The photophysics of manganese coordination complexes is an underexplored research area, as is the organometallic chemistry of manganese in low oxidation states. Prof. Arias-Rotondo and her students aim to synthesize carbene ligands to coordinate to manganese in several oxidation states and characterize the resulting compounds through a combination of NMR and optical spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, and electrochemistry. Computational modelling will be used to aid the interpretation of experimental data, creating a more thorough description of the molecular and electronic structure of these coordination complexes. The PI seeks to synthetically modified ligands to study the effect of substituents on the properties of the Mn compounds. This project could potentially yield robust photoactive manganese complexes with charge-separated excited states that can be accessed with visible light as well as design principles to prepare other Mn compounds and tailor their properties.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.