Calixarenes: Metal-Organic Frameworks and Discrete Superstructure

顺磁性过渡金属离子的多核笼在单分子磁学和分子自旋电子学领域具有很好的应用前景。超分子化学被定义为超越分子的化学，涉及（除其他外）设计分子构建块，用于构建新的结构，这些结构可以是聚合的或离散的。我们最近发现了一系列新的多核笼，它们具有有趣的磁性，可以作为单分子磁铁或分子制冷剂（当磁场作用于材料时，分子会自我冷却）。我们打算将这些簇类型与新的和大规模的分子构建块结合起来，以提供新的离散和聚合的超结构。由此产生的材料将具有量身定制的磁性（取决于我们选择合并的簇类型），我们将探索这些组件发挥主客分子的能力（例如，通过分子通过含有空隙的无限结构中的孔隙，或在含有分子的单个腔中）。他将与利物浦大学材料发现中心主任安德鲁·库珀教授合作，研究合成材料（有机材料或金属有机材料）中重要气体的储存和分离。Scott J. Dalgarno在杯芳烃合成和大型超分子多核金属团簇系统的晶体学研究方面具有专长。Euan K. Brechin博士是分子磁学和多核金属团簇合成领域的世界领导者。这些合成和分析技术对于阐明要形成的材料的结构和性质至关重要，并且已经使我们能够确定上述显示单分子磁铁或分子制冷剂行为的金属团簇的磁性，从而支持本文提出的工作。

Polynuclear cages of paramagnetic transition metal ions can exhibit fascinating physical properties and have great potential in the field of single molecule magnetism and molecular spintronics. Supramolecular chemistry is defined as chemistry beyond the molecule, and involves (amongst other things) the design of molecular building blocks for the construction of novel structures that can be polymeric or discrete in nature. We recently discovered a range of new polynuclear cages that have interesting magnetic properties and that act as Single-Molecule Magnets or Molecular Refrigerants (molecules that cool themselves down when a magnetic field is applied to the material). We intend to marry these cluster types with new and large scale molecular building blocks to afford novel discrete and polymeric superstructures. The resulting materials will have tailored magnetic properties (depending on the cluster type we choose to incorporate) and we will explore the ability of these assemblies to play host to guest molecules (e.g. by the passage of molecules through pores in infinite structures containing voids, or in individual cavity containing molecules). The storage and separation of important gases within all of the materials to be synthesised (either organic or metal-organic) will be studied in collaboration with Prof. Andrew Cooper, head of the Centre for Materials Discovery at the University of Liverpool.Dr. Scott J. Dalgarno has expertise in calixarene synthesis and crystallographic studies on large supramolecular polynuclear metal cluster systems. Dr. Euan K. Brechin is a world leader in molecular magnetism and polynuclear metal cluster synthesis. These synthetic and analytical techniques will be critical in elucidating the structures and properties of the materials to be formed, and have already allowed us to determine the magnetic properties of the aforementioned metal clusters that display Single-Molecule Magnet or Molecular Refrigerant behaviour to underpin the work proposed here.