Polyphosphorus and interpnictogen compounds towards the discovery of new materials

开发制造新化合物的有效方法是发现具有潜在日常社会用途的材料的基本基础。铅(PN)元素[磷(P)、砷(As)、锑(Sb)和铋(Bi)]在新材料发现中的重要性促使人们开发新的通用方法来制备这些元素的新化合物。许多聚合物(塑料)具有聚合物链中的致癌元素，可用作新型阻燃剂、弹性体和抗菌剂。 Burford NSERC发现赠款支持发现具有致癌元素之间化学键的新化合物，并开发新的方法来研究这些化合物的化学。这个研究小组报告的结果正在改变化学家们理解致癌元素和其他元素化学的方式。含有P-P键的化合物，称为膦膦盐，表现出更高的稳定性，其制备方法已外推到其他显色元素，以实现系统和合理地发现和开发含有PN-PN键的新系列化合物的关键里程碑。该提案描述了进化形成Pn-Pn、Pn-Pn‘和Pn-E键(E=元素Ge、Sn、Al、Ga、In)的反应的方法，以及发现代表新分子框架的化合物的方法，包括聚合物Pn-Pn和Pn-E主链。 伯福德研究小组的成员接受了实验合成化学方面的培训，包括用于化合物鉴定和评估特定新分子框架的相对稳定性的全面表征。自2004年以来，由伯福德指导的10名本科生进入了加拿大的研究生院，由伯福德指导的3名研究生现在担任教职。

The development of effective methods to make new compounds represents a fundamental foundation in the discovery of materials exhibiting new properties that have potential everyday use in society. The emerging importance of the pnictogen (Pn) elements [phosphorus (P), arsenic (As), antimony (Sb) and bismuth (Bi)] in the discovery of new materials has prompted the development of new versatile methods to make new compounds of these elements. A number of polymers (plastics) featuring the pnictogen elements in the polymer chain have utility as new flame retardants, elastomers and antimicrobial agents. The Burford NSERC Discovery Grant supports the discovery of new compounds featuring chemical bonds between the pnictogen elements and the development of new methods to study the chemistry of these compounds. The results reported by this research group are changing the way in which chemists understand the chemistry of the pnictogen elements and other elements in general. Compounds containing P-P bonds, called phosphinophosphonium salts, exhibit enhanced stability and the preparative methods have been extrapolated to the other pnictogen elements to realise key milestones in the systematic and rational discovery and development of new series of compounds containing Pn-Pn bonds. The proposal describes approaches to evolve reactions that form Pn-Pn, Pn-Pn' and Pn-E bonds (E = elements Ge, Sn, Al, Ga, In), and to discover compounds representing new molecular frameworks, including polymeric Pn-Pn and Pn-E backbones. Members of the Burford research group are trained in experimental synthetic chemistry involving comprehensive characterization for compound identification and assessment of relative stability of particular new molecular frameworks. Since 2004, 10 undergraduate research students supervised by Burford have entered graduate schools in Canada, and 3 graduate students supervised by Burford now hold a faculty position.