New materials from reversible covalent self-assembly

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The properties of materials depend both on the nature of the molecules, and on the way these molecules are organized and interact with one another.  The field of supramolecular chemistry uses specific attractive forces between molecules to control the intermolecular interactions and build assemblies of molecules.  These attractive forces are not as strong as chemical bonds, so the assemblies are often easily disrupted.  A newly emerging strategy for making new materials, known as dynamic covalent chemistry, replaces the attractive forces between molecules with special chemical bonds to form large molecular assemblies.  These chemical bonds are strong, but can be reversed so that the links between individual components can disassemble and reassemble to form the most stable arrangement.  The reversibility of the bond formation helps to control the molecular organization and makes dynamic materials that can be changed when new molecules are added or when the chemical environment is changed.This research program plans to exploit this reversible covalent assembly to make new types of materials and control their properties.  Specifically, the principles of reversible covalent assembly will be applied to the preparation new types of liquid crystals that can be used in liquid crystal displays (LCDs) or photovoltaic solar cells.  The research program will also focus on applying this approach to make rigid, three-dimensional molecular networks that have tiny pores that can soak up small molecules like sponges.  These porous materials could be used as media for hydrogen storage in vehicles, or could be designed to catalyze certain types of chemical reactions.