Photoresponsive Organoboron Compounds and Chemistry

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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.