Synthesis and Properties of Novel Metal Carboxylates

本提案中概述的研究涉及具有各种潜在有用应用的新化合物的合成。该化合物是基于二金属四羧酸盐，其由两个键合的金属离子组成，通常是钌，其上附着四个桥接有机羧酸(例如。（醋酸）基团。他们正在研究化学的四个方面。1)发展新的合成方法，将配合物“分解”成其他途径无法获得的“更简单”的化合物。这允许创造新的手性（手性）配合物和聚合物前体，它们将应用于不对称催化（创造特定的左手或右手“手性”配合物）和导电聚合物。2)二钌化合物固有的高磁性可以通过改变羧酸盐和/或轴向基团来调节。例如，这可能导致高磁矩和低磁矩之间的“切换”，作为温度的函数。我们希望这些化合物将用于制造有用的磁/电子分子器件，即执行所需功能的超小型机器。分子装置，在我们的例子中，是从头开始的。今天在计算机中发现的所有电路都是通过将较大的元件有限地小型化来构建的。基于这些配合物的液晶的合成将通过将羧酸酯转变为长链脂肪酸基团来进行，这些长链脂肪酸基团可能包含也可能不包含额外的金属。液晶显示液体和固体的特性，使其在显示器和传感器等方面很有用。我们正在创造无机液晶，以改善现有有机系统的性能。对我们的一些化合物的早期研究表明，它们对某些癌细胞系有活性。通过提高它们的水溶性（以帮助吸收和降低毒性），并将“生物相关”部分附着在它们上面，我们将生成对耐药癌细胞系具有更好活性的复合物。该提案涵盖了广泛的概念和技术。接触这些领域对于培养各级学生将来从事科学和非科学职业至关重要。

The research outlined in this proposal deals with the synthesis of novel compounds with a variety of potentially useful applications. The compounds are based on dimetal tetracarboxylates which consist of two bonded metal ions, usually ruthenium, to which are attached four bridging organic carboxylic acid (eg. acetic acid) groups. Four aspects of their chemistry are being investigated. 1) The development of new synthetic methodology that "disassembles" the complexes into "simpler" compounds which are not accessible from other routes. This allows for the creation of new chiral (handed) complexes and polymer precursors which will have application in asymmetric catalysis (creation of specifically left or right-"handed" complexes) and conducting polymers. 2) The high magnetism that is inherent in the diruthenium compounds will be tuned by varying the carboxylate and/or axial groups. This could lead to a "switching" between high and low magnetic moments as a function of temperature, for example. We hope that such compounds will be used to create useful magnetic/electronic molecular devices, i.e. ultra small-scale machines that perform a desired function. The molecular device, in our case, is created from the ground up. All circuitry found in computers today is constructed by the limited miniaturization of larger components. 3) The synthesis of liquid crystals based on these complexes will be undertaken by changing the carboxylates to long-chain fatty acid groups that may or may not include additional metals. Liquid-crystals display properties of both liquids and solids, making them useful in such things as display screens and sensors. We are creating inorganic liquid crystals in order to improve on the properties of existing organic systems. 4) Early studies on some of our compounds have shown them to be active against some cancer cell lines. By improving their water-solubility (to aid in uptake and to reduce toxicity) and by attaching "biologically relevant" portions to them, we will generate complexes that show better activity against drug-resistant cancer cell lines. The proposal covers a wide range of concepts and techniques. Exposure to these areas is essential in training students at all levels for futures in scientific and non-scientific careers.