CAREER: Biomimetic Metal-Organic Super-Containers

南达科他州大学的王振强博士致力于开发有效的方法，将小分子构建块组装成复杂的功能结构。球形病毒具有内腔（用于存储遗传物质）和外腔（用于识别目标宿主）的结构，受到这种结构的启发，王博士设计了一类新的合成容器分子，通过连接杯状结构来创建一个新的封闭中空空间，同时保留杯状构建块的自由空隙。他开发了一种合成这些容器分子家族的通用方法，并研究了它们的性质。对这种新型容器性质的基本了解可能会导致新材料的开发，并应用于许多不同的领域，如气体分离和水修复。这项研究与教育和推广活动相结合，旨在促进包括印第安人在内的代表性不足的学生的科学素养。在化学系大分子、超分子和纳米化学项目的CAREER奖的支持下，王博士开发了一种结构和功能多样化的金属有机超级容器（MOSCs）的通用合成方法，这是一种新型的合成受体，由磺酰基杯芳烃基构建块、金属离子和有机羧酸盐连接剂组成。这种新颖的合成方法利用杯芳烃大部分未开发的下缘来构建包含内腔和外腔的分层超分子组装体，可能适合于不同客体的选择性和变构结合。本研究的另一个目的是研究功能化MOSCs在固相和固相中的结构-性质关系和客体结合行为。

Dr. Zhenqiang Wang of the University of South Dakota aims to develop effective approaches to assemble complex functional architectures from small molecular building blocks. Inspired by the structure of spherical viruses, which feature an endo (internal) cavity for storage of genetic materials and exo (external) cavities for recognition of targeted hosts, Dr. Wang designs a new class of synthetic container molecules by linking cup-shaped structures to create a new enclosed hollow space while retaining the free voids of the cup-shaped building blocks. He develops a general approach to synthesize a family of these container molecules and investigates their properties. A fundamental understanding of the properties of this new class of containers could lead to the development of novel materials with applications in many different fields, such as gas separation and water remediation. This research is integrated with educational and outreach initiatives that specially aim to promote scientific literacy among underrepresented students including Native Americans. Under the support of this CAREER award from the Macromolecular, Supramolecular and Nanochemistry Program of the Division of Chemistry, Dr. Wang develops a general synthetic approach to structurally and functionally diverse metal-organic super-containers (MOSCs), a new class of synthetic receptors, from sulfonylcalixarene-based building blocks, metal ions, and organic carboxylate linkers. This novel synthetic approach utilizes the largely unexplored lower rim of calixarenes to construct hierarchical supramolecular assemblies that contain both endo and exo cavities potentially suitable for selective and allosteric binding of different guests. Another objective of this research is to investigate the structure-property relationship and the guest-binding behavior of functionalized MOSCs in both solution phase and the solid state.