Development of heavy p-Block heterocycles

杂环系统在化学和生物科学中的各个领域都具有重要的意义。它们通常是制药中的关键结构单元，当与金属结合时，可以在一系列重要的工业转化中充当催化活性物种。这类杂环通常会获得或失去电子，形成稳定的“自由基”。它们在许多生物过程中也扮演着重要的角色，例如电子转移和信号传递。最近，杂环自由基在分子材料的设计中得到了应用，包括新的导体、磁体和开关。然而，这些领域中的许多仅限于含有较轻非金属的杂环，特别是碳、氮和氧。这项提议旨在开发合成策略，以获得一系列以前未被探索或研究较少的含有较重P-嵌段元素的杂环，特别是硫、硒、磷、砷和锑。这将提供一个独特的机会来探索系统地将较重的P-嵌段元素引入到传统杂环中的基本效应。

Heterocyclic ring systems are of fundamental importance across a diversity of fields within chemistry and the biosciences. They are often key structural units in pharmaceuticals and, when bound to metals, can act as catalytically-active species in a range of industrially important transformations. Such heterocycles can often gain or lose electrons forming stable 'free radicals'. These too have important roles in many biological processes such as electron-transfer and signalling. More recently heterocyclic free radicals have found applications in the design of molecular materials including new conductors, magnets and switches. Yet many of these areas are limited to heterocycles containing the lighter non-metals especially carbon, nitrogen and oxygen. This proposal aims to develop synthetic strategies to access a range of previously unexplored or poorly studied heterocycles containing the heavier p-block elements, especially sulfur, selenium, phosphorus, arsenic and antimony. This will offer a unique opportunity to explore the fundamental effects of systematic introduction of heavier p-block elements into conventional heterocyclic rings.