New Directions in Supramolecular Macrocycle and Coordination Chemistry

将构建块自组装成复杂的超分子结构是一个重要的挑战，可能会对许多领域产生重大影响。通过将分子和生物维度连接起来，具有全新性能的材料可以出现。例如，从分子、纳米粒子和纳米纤维自下而上的自组装构建晶体管和其他设备可能会带来更大的复杂性和功能。 在我们最近的NSERC发现资助期间，我们在超分子化学领域做出了几项重大贡献，包括通过纤维素的自组装开发手性纳米结构玻璃，发现嵌段共聚物/普鲁士蓝纳米蠕虫和胶囊，以及开发基于大环自组装的纤维和凝胶。在这个提案中，我们在过去的研究成果的基础上，研究了通过头到尾(H2T)组装来构建新型的形状持久的大环。具体地说，基于3个不同基序的大环将使用H2T组装来构建。我们将使用弱的非共价相互作用来研究分子的超分子组织，以生成具有感兴趣的性质(例如，液晶性、孔隙率、催化)的材料，并研究它们的配位化学。这些研究将有助于不断发展的金属超分子化学领域，并将为复杂的无机大环的组装和聚集提供新的基础见解。将大环组织成一维堆栈是生产单分散、化学可调纳米管的一种很有前途的方法。长期目标是使用自组装的大环作为模板，构建金属和半导体纳米线，这可能成为未来计算机技术的一部分。 这笔发现助学金将培训所有级别的学生：研究生、本科生和博士后。参与这项工作的总部基地将在动态的、多学科的研究环境中接受世界级的培训。除了接受关于现有设备的实践培训外，受训人员还将致力于具有挑战性的项目，以激发他们对科学的好奇心和敏锐度，为他们的职业生涯做好最好的准备。

Self-assembly of building blocks into complex supramolecular structures is an important challenge that may significantly impact many fields. By bridging molecular and biological dimensions, materials with completely new properties can emerge. For example, constructing transistors and other devices from a bottom-up self-assembly of molecules, nanoparticles, and nanofibres may introduce greater complexity and function. During our most recent NSERC Discovery Grant, we have made several significant contributions to the field of supramolecular chemistry, including development of chiral nanostructured glasses via self-assembly of cellulose, discovery of block copolymer / Prussian Blue nanoworms and capsules, and development of fibres and gels from macrocycle self-assembly. In this proposal, we build on our past accomplishments to investigate the construction of new types of shape-persistent macrocycles by head-to-tail (H2T) assembly. Specifically, macrocycles based on 3 different motifs will be constructed using H2T assembly. We will investigate the supramolecular organization of the molecules using weak non-covalent interactions to generate materials with interesting properties (e.g., liquid crystallinity, porosity, catalysis) and investigate their coordination chemistry. These studies will contribute to the growing field of metallosupramolecular chemistry and will deliver new fundamental insight into the assembly and aggregation of complex inorganic macrocycles. Organizing macrocycles into 1-D stacks is a promising way to produce monodisperse, chemically tunable nanotubes. The long term goal is to use the self-assembled macrocycles as templates for constructing metallic and semiconducting nanowires that may become the part of future computer technology. This Discovery grant will train students at all levels: graduate, undergraduate, and post-doctorate. HQP involved in this work will receive world-class training in a dynamic, multidisciplinary research environment. In addition to receiving hands-on training on extensive equipment available, the trainees will work on challenging projects that stimulate their curiosity and acumen in science, best preparing them for their careers.