Modulation of Catalytic activity in Molecular Enclosures

潜在中间体的精细结构控制和稳定对于催化过程的功能性和特异性至关重要。该项目将通过仔细研究调制自组装的基本原理，为多孔材料的孔和腔功能化开发通用协议，从分子笼和MOFs到多孔分子金属氧化物胶囊，同时研究精心设计的分子主体在小分子活化和高度特异性的非均相催化剂中的潜在应用。具体而言，我们将使用自组装协议来生成具有一系列拓扑结构的高度官能化的分子主体，这些拓扑结构可以容纳化学稳定的分子催化剂，并关联结构-性质关系。将与专家网络合作，进一步探索最有前途的材料，以适应催化和能源应用。因此，该研究项目是高度跨学科的，在无机/有机化学，材料和工程的接口，有可能对功能材料的发展产生重大影响。

The fine structural control and stabilisation of potential intermediates is crucial for the functionality and specificity of the catalytic process. The project will develop general protocol for pore and cavity functionalisation of porous materials ranging from molecular cages and MOFs to porous molecular metal oxide capsules by careful investigation of the fundamentals of modulated self-assembly, while scoping out the potential applications carefully designed molecular hosts in small molecule activation and highly specific heterogeneous catalysts. Specifically, we will use self-assembly protocols to generate highly functionalised molecular hosts with a range of topologies which can accommodate chemically stable molecular catalysts, and correlate structure-property relationships. The most promising materials will be explored further for tailored for catalytic and energy applications, in collaboration with a network of experts. The research project is thus highly interdisciplinary, at the interface of inorganic/organic chemistry, materials and engineering, with the potential to have a major impact on the development of functional materials.