Adventurous Research in Chemistry at the University of Manchester

这份提案概述了一些将在曼彻斯特大学进行的具有冒险精神的化学项目。这些项目都有可能改变我们对整个化学领域的理解。它们的范围涵盖了整个化学科学，从化学生物学到新材料的开发。在生物界面上，我们建议使用DNA和RNA等生物分子作为支架和模具，使我们能够从简单的构建块构建复杂的分子。其他项目需要在分子水平上的物理理解：例如，在界面上控制粒子的组装或催化剂的制备，这些催化剂依赖于电子转移过程，使我们能够高效、清洁地制造其他分子。在光谱的另一端，我们希望制造分子本身可以用作新材料，或者作为新的液晶相，或者作为结构可以随温度变化的聚合物——有效地制造易于拆卸的模具。利用形状和结构来控制过程的想法贯穿了所有这些提议，并代表了化学的未来。

This proposal outlines some adventurous chemistry projects that will be carried out at the University of Manchester. These projects all have the potential to change our understanding of a whole area of chemistry . Their scope covers the whole of the chemical sciences, from chemical biology to the development of new materials. At the biological interface, we propose to use biological molecules like DNA and RNA as scaffolds and moulds that will enable us to build complicated molecules from simple building blocks. Other projects require a physical understanding at the molecular level: for instance in the controlled assembly of particles at interfaces or the preparation of catalysts that rely on electron transfer processes to enable us to make other molecules efficiently and cleanly. At the other end of the spectrum, we wish to make molecules that are themselves of use as new materials, either as new liquid crystal phases or as polymers whose structures can be changed with temperature- effectively making moulds that can easily be removed. The idea of using shape and structure to control processes runs through all these proposals, and represents the future of chemistry.