Formation of Novel Structures of Metal-Organic Cages

在过去的几十年里，金属-有机配位笼得到了广泛的研究，包括形成更复杂的几何结构和选择性客体结合。然而，指导形成更复杂结构的基本原则，特别是关于从一系列其他可能性中选择性地形成一个结构的基本原则，仍然没有得到充分的理解。本项目将专注于了解不同体系结构形成的基本规则。该项目的一部分将专注于设计铜(I)配位笼，初步结果表明，其形成的结构比最初预期的更复杂，对称性更低。该项目的第二条同时进行，将专注于形成低对称性、异感的棱镜笼子，并试图破译支配一种结构相对于另一种结构形成的规则。

Metal-organic coordination cages have been researched extensively over the past few decades, with advances including the formation of more complicated geometries and selective guest binding. However, the underlying principles dictating the formation of more complex structures, particularly concerning the selective formation of one structure out of a range of other possibilities, are still not fully understood. This project will focus on understanding the fundamental rules for the formation of different architectures. One strand of the project will focus on designing Cu(I) coordination cages, which preliminary results have suggested form more complicated and lower-symmetry structures than initially anticipated. The second strand of the project, to run simultaneously, will focus on the formation of low-symmetry, heteroleptic prismatic cages and attempting to decipher the rules governing the formation of one structure over another.