CAREER: Allosteric Tuning of Transition Metal Photophysics

该奖项由西密歇根大学化学系的Marc W. Perkovic博士颁发，授予无机、生物无机和有机金属化学项目的CAREER奖，支持过渡金属配合物变构的研究和教育。变构是一种现象，其中一个分子的结构变化是由引入另一个分子、离子或分子片段引起的。新的配体可以同时诱导初级配位位点的结构变化，并配位光物理活性过渡金属和光物理良性金属离子。变构相互作用对光物理活性过渡金属的d轨道能量的影响将通过发光和瞬态吸收方法来确定。该项目将确定金属配合物是否可以作为其他光物理安静离子的发光指示器。使用这些变构相互作用的系统将作为分子级化学传感器用于检测对环境有害的有毒和重金属离子或其他不友好分子的痕迹。当这些金属离子与传感器相互作用时，该方法涉及传感器发光的变化。这个职业奖的教育部分提出了创新的想法，如何将基于激光的实验引入几个现有的实验课程，以向本科生介绍激光技术。特别有趣的是，本科生将在一门实验课程中构建激光设备的部件，然后在另一门课程中使用。这样做，学生将有一个更好的理解激光。

This CAREER award in the Inorganic, Bioinorganic, and Organometallic Chemistry Program supports research and education on allosterism in transition metal complexes by Dr. Marc W. Perkovic of the Chemistry Department, Western Michigan University. Allosterism is a phenomenon in which structural change in one molecule is induced by introduction of another molecule, ion, or molecular fragment. Novel ligands that simultaneously induce a structural change in the primary coordination site and coordinate a photophysically active transition metal and a photophysically benign metal ion will be synthesized. The effect of the allosteric interaction on the d-orbital energies of the photophysically active transition metal will be determined using luminescence and transient absorbance methods. The project will determine if metal complexes can function as luminescent indicators for other photophysically quiet ions. Systems using these allosteric interactions will be useful as molecular-level chemical sensors to detect environmentally-unfriendly traces of toxic and heavy metal ions or otherwise unfriendly molecules. The method involves changes in the luminescence of the sensor as these metal ions interact with the sensor. The educational component of this CAREER Award presents innovative ideas on how to bring laser-based experiments into several existing laboratory courses in order to introduce undergraduate students to laser technology. Of particular interest, undergraduates will build parts of the laser equipment in one laboratory course to be subsequently used in another course. In so doing, students will have a better comprehension of lasers.