Organoborane Polymers and Supramolecular Materials

在化学系大分子、超分子和纳米化学（MSN）项目的支持下，罗格斯大学纽瓦克分校化学系的Frieder教授Jäkle将研究含硼聚合物作为新型超分子材料的构建模块。硼化合物的缺电子特性允许它们通过所谓的共轭键与富电子化合物如胺或磷化氢可逆地相互作用。这种添加键的可逆性对开发“智能”材料很有吸引力，因为键的形成可以通过温度、浓度和其他刺激的变化来控制。Jäkle小组的目标是利用这种行为来产生可回收的聚合物材料，包括可用于显示技术、生物成像和传感器的发光材料。该项目将有助于在一个高度跨学科的研究领域培养多样化的本科生和研究生。计划中的材料化学拓展项目将允许来自当地少数民族高中的学生体验大学的研究，并了解科学和技术领域的就业机会，而暑期实习将提供实践研究经验。聚合物分析能力将支持教学实验室对本科生的培训，并使附近大学的研究成为可能。根据该奖项，Jäkle小组将探索以硼烷刘易斯酸和刘易斯酸碱对装饰的聚合物的合成和性能，以增加功能和实现新的应用。在一个方向上，研究的目标是具有有趣的光物理、电子和刺激响应特性的聚合物刘易斯对，通过“点击”式附着在聚合物刘易斯酸上的刘易斯碱偶联发色团。含有多个路易斯碱基的发色团有望导致具有光活性动态交联的超分子聚合物网络（spn）。结合了位阻硼烷路易斯酸和路易斯碱基团的聚合物，即所谓的“受挫”路易斯对，将用于小分子的活化研究。此外，与罗格斯大学、州立大学和波士顿学院的其他研究小组的合作努力将与产生新型含硼聚合物和混合纳米材料的目标相结合。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

With the support of the Macromolecular, Supramolecular and Nanochemistry (MSN) Program in the Division of Chemistry, Professor Frieder Jäkle of the Department of Chemistry at Rutgers University-Newark will pursue boron-containing polymers as building blocks for new supramolecular materials. The electron-deficient character of boron compounds allows them to reversibly interact with electron-rich compounds such as amines or phosphines through so-called dative bonding. The reversibility of this dative bonding is appealing for developing ‘smart’ materials because the bond formation can be controlled through changes in temperature, concentration, and other stimuli. The Jäkle group aims to exploit this behavior to generate recyclable polymeric materials, including light-emitting materials that could find use in display technologies, bioimaging, and as sensors. The project will contribute to the training of a diverse body of undergraduate and graduate students in a highly interdisciplinary field of research. Planned materials chemistry outreach programs will allow students from local minority-serving high schools to experience University research and learn about career opportunities in the science and technology fields, while summer internships will provide hands-on research experiences. Polymer analysis capabilities will support the training of undergraduate students in teaching laboratories and enable research at nearby universities.Under this award, the Jäkle group will explore the synthesis and properties of polymers that are decorated with borane Lewis acids and Lewis acid-base pairs as means to add functionality and enable new applications. In one direction, the research targets polymeric Lewis pairs with interesting photophysical, electronic, and stimuli-responsive characteristics by ‘click’-like attachment of Lewis basic pi-conjugated chromophores to polymeric Lewis acids. Chromophores that contain multiple Lewis base groups are expected to lead to supramolecular polymer networks (SPNs) that feature photo-active dynamic crosslinks. Polymers that combine sterically hindered borane Lewis acid and Lewis base groups, so-called ‘frustrated’ Lewis pairs, will be studied in the activation of small molecules. In addition, collaborative efforts with other research groups at Rutgers, The State University and Boston College will be leveraged with the goal of generating fundamentally new classes of boron-containing polymers and hybrid nanomaterials.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.