Photoresponsive Organoboron Compounds and Chemistry

光响应性有机硼化合物在光电和能量转换器件(如非线性光学、有机发光二极管、有机晶体管、有机光伏、智能窗等)、生物成像/探头和传感系统等方面有着重要而广泛的应用。有机硼烷化学和基于有机硼烷的材料的发展一直是我们研究的一个持续和中心主题。我们使用光作为刺激来激励分子，以便它们能够执行有用的任务，或者经历在基态下不可能或难以实现的罕见的结构转变/键激活。我们的目标是了解、发现和开发新的有机硼烷化合物的光化学和反应活性，以促进硼化学和获得更好的功能材料。*我们的研究将集中在以下项目：I.不对称光致变色硼化合物，II.通过光异构化打破芳烃中的无张力C-C键，III.不对称硼体系的光异构化与光消除，以及IV.杂化BN嵌入的共轭材料。项目I将使我们能够获得关于有机硼烷光反应性的新知识和见解，并开发打破化学键的创新方法。项目二将允许我们建立一种新的光促进方案，在温和的条件下断裂和转化苯等分子中高度稳定的C-C键，而不使用过渡金属活化剂或还原试剂。项目III将使我们能够控制有机硼化合物的光转化，并在创造用于光电子器件的新的光致变色材料和新的BN掺杂共轭材料方面开发新的和非常规的策略。项目四将使我们能够开发高效稳定的蓝色荧光粉和橙色发光二极管和有机场效应晶体管的电荷传输材料，这是一种非常具有挑战性的材料，将用于下一代能源转换设备。*申请的拨款将资助我在皇后大学的研究组的7名理学硕士、9名博士生、10名暑期本科生和10名4年级荣誉研究论文学生，以及多名来自日本、德国和中国的访问研究生，为期5年。

Photoresponsive organoboron compounds have important and broad applications in optoelectronic and energy conversion devices (e.g. non-linear optics, organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), organic transistors, organic photovoltaic, smart windows etc), bio-imaging/probes and sensory systems. The development of organoborane chemistry and organoborane-based materials has been an on-going and central theme of our research. We use light as the stimulus to energize molecules so that they can perform useful tasks or undergo rare structural transformation/bond activation that is not possible or difficult to achieve in the ground state. We aim to understand, discover and exploit new photochemistry and reactivity of organoborane compounds in order to advance boron chemistry and achieve better functional materials.******Our research will focus on the following projects: I. Asymmetric Photochromic Boron Compounds, II. Breaking Unstrained C-C bonds in Arenes via Photoisomerization, III. Photoisomerization vs Photoelimination of Asymmetric Boron Systems, and IV. Hybrid BN-Embedded Conjugated Materials. Project I will allow us to acquire new knowledge and insights on photoreactivity of organoboranes and develop innovative approaches in breaking chemical bonds. Project II will allow us to establish a new light-facilitated protocol of breaking and transforming highly stable C-C bonds in molecules such as benzene under mild conditions without the use of transition metal activators or reducing reagents. Project III will enable us to control phototransformation of organoboron compounds and develop new and unconventional strategies in creating new photochromic materials and new BN-doped conjugated materials for optoelectronic devices. Project IV will allow us to develop highly efficient and stable blue phosphors and charge transport materials for orangic light emitting diodes and organic field effect transistors, a very challenging class of materials that will be used in the next generation of energy conversion devices. ******The requested funding will support the research activity of 7 M.Sc, 9 Ph.D. students, 10 summer undergraduate students and 10 4th year honours research thesis students in my group at Queen's University and a number of visiting graduate students from Japan, Germany and China for a period of 5 years.