Design and Self-Assembly of Giant Metallo-Supramolecules Based on Density of Coordination Sites (DOCS)

在这项由化学系高分子、超分子和纳米化学计划资助的项目中，德克萨斯州立大学的李晓鹏和他的同事们将设计和合成具有明确几何结构和多配位的配体，并表征由此产生的2D和3D超分子结构。各种各样的生物分子(如DNA和蛋白质)具有非常复杂的结构和三维(3D)结构，这对它们的生物学功能非常重要。受自然的启发，李教授进行研究，开发自组装策略，以创造具有独特性质的复杂化学结构。特别令人感兴趣的是制备具有自愈性能的金属凝胶，这可能在电池中有用。该项目有望为博士后、研究生和本科生提供一个很好的跨学科研究培训平台，特别是来自德克萨斯州中南部地区的代表性较低的少数民族。预期目标金属超分子结构是通过设计的多主题配体配位金属离子(例如，锌(II)、铁(II)和钯(II))而产生的。该研究小组将制备金属凝胶，并探索其作为电池自修复材料和粘结剂材料的潜在应用。复杂程度通常是通过结构简单的亚基(或构建块)的自组装实现的，这些亚基具有特定的功能和几何结构，将其组装成尺寸、形状和性质得到精确控制的复杂结构。LI研究小组的目标是深入了解控制超分子自组装的基本化学原理，并制备具有独特性能的新型材料。

In this project funded by the Macromolecular, Supramolecular, and Nanochemistry Program of the Division of Chemistry, Xiaopeng Li of Texas State University and his coworkers will design and synthesize ligands with well-defined geometry and multiple coordination sites and characterize the 2D and 3D supramolecular structures resuling therefrom. A wide variety of biological molecules (such as DNAs and proteins) have very complex structures and 3-dimensional (3D) architectures that are important for their biological functions. Inspired by nature, Prof. Li conducts research to develop self-assembly strategies to creating complex chemical structures with unique properties. Of particular interest is the preparation of metallo-gels with self-healing properties that may be useful in batteries. This project is expected to provide an excellent platform for interdisciplinary research training of postdoctoral associates, graduate students, and undergraduate students, especially underrepresented minorities from the South Central Texas region.The targeted metallosupramolecular structures are envisioned to result from the coordination of metal ions (e.g., Zn(II), Fe(II) and Pd(II)) by the designed multitopic ligands. The research team will prepare metallo-gels and explore their potential applications as self-healing materials and binder materials of batteries. The level of complexity is often attained by self-assembly of structurally simple subunits (or building blocks) which have specific functionalities and geometries to direct their assembly into sophisticated structures of precisely controlled size, shape and properties.The Li research group aims to gain insights into the fundamental chemistry principles that control supramolecular self-assemblies and to prepare novel materials with unique properties.