Donor-stabilzation and Atom Exchange Chemistry as Important Tools for Advanced Materials Synthesis

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Many of the comforts of modern society such as LED lighting, TV displays, computers and clean energy generation are built using fundamental discoveries in inorganic chemistry. If one can control how atoms are assembled into higher ordered structures then the logical fabrication of advanced materials with improved light emitting, insulating/conducting or stimuli responsive behavior can be developed. In this proposal we adopt a two-pronged approach to access functional solid state materials (such as efficient electrical insulators for nanoscale circuitry) and flexible plastic-based electronics by focusing on economical, safe and mild fabrication procedures. In approach #1, we will use molecular tweezers, termed donors, to hold onto reactive molecular species that were either unknown, or only isolable in free form in the gas phase or under cryogenic conditions. Once trapped, we will then coax the donors to release their reactive molecular cargo by either mild heating or chemical treatment to enable the spontaneous growth of materials with pre-programmed structure and function. Focus will be given to methods that operate in commonly available organic solvents in order to later fabricate optoelectronic devices in a cost-effective manner. In approach #2, we combine efficient atom exchange chemistry with Nobel Prize (2010) winning chemical bond-forming chemistry to generate polymeric (plastic) materials for flexible light emitting devices (LEDs). This combined approach gives us the power to dial in the appropriate atom combinations and structural arrangements (e.g. ring shaped units) which should give us rapid access to high performance materials. Both of these approaches have the potential to be universally adopted by the scientific and industrial communities and should help to advance Canada’s position as a leading innovator in clean energy (i.e. low energy lighting via non-toxic LEDs) and computing/information storage by providing new routes to next generation device components.