Radical Materials: Molecular and Supramolecular Architectures using Paramagnetic Ligands

纵观历史，每一次重大技术进步都是一种新材料发现和发展的直接结果。青铜时代、铁器时代和信息时代，都是技术和材料之间这种联系的熟悉例子。预测下一个时代是困难的，但可能性包括“自旋电子时代”，利用导电电子的量子自旋，或“量子计算时代”，使用量子逻辑函数来彻底改变我们的计算格局。可以肯定的是，下一个时代将包括(1)分子水平的小型化，以及(2)具有前所未有的磁性、导电性和光学性能的新材料。我们的研究正在推动材料设计在这些领域的极限。 这个研究项目主要是一项合成的、无机化学的工作。我们创造基于分子的材料的方法的核心是设计和使用顺磁性分子作为配体。我们制造有磁矩的分子(因为它们有一个未配对的电子)，我们用这些分子将金属离子连接在一起。我们可以选择金属离子，使它们也具有大的磁矩以及其他所需的(例如，光学)性质，但我们方法的独特和最重要的方面是顺磁性配体(即连接物分子)的设计。我们率先开发了一系列基于被称为噻唑基的含硫和含氮环化学“构件”的顺磁配体，这些配体允许创建具有增强的或全新的技术相关性质的基于分子的材料。 目前的研究提案包括六个具体项目，这些项目为我们伞式研究计划的广泛适用性提供了很好的例子。该项目的短期目标之一是通过在我们的噻唑配体络合物中加入鳗系离子来推进单分子磁体(SMM)的设计。这有助于当前的全球努力，重点是改进SMM的设计，众所周知，SMM能够充当量子计算比特(Qubit)。其他几个项目包括与增强基于分子的材料的所谓“材料记忆”有关的短期目标，这种材料可以在具有不同材料性质(例如，磁性或光学性质)的两个或多个状态之间切换。 从长远来看，我们的努力将对我们的技术水平做出重大贡献，提高我们电子产品的能源效率，并使曾经不可想象的事情成为可能。这些努力与加拿大创新在全球得到认可的行业(如Research in Motion)直接相关，并将改善我们所有人的生活质量。

Throughout history, every major technological advancement has been a direct result of the discovery and development of a new material. The Bronze Age, the Iron Age and the Information Age, which should arguably be called the Silicon Age, are all familiar examples of this link between technology and materials. Predicting the next Age is difficult, but possibilities include the “Spintronic Age”, harnessing the quantum spin of conducting electrons, or the “Quantum Computing Age”, using quantum logic functions to revolutionize our computational landscape. It is certain that the next Age will involve (1) miniaturization to the molecular level, and (2) new materials with unprecedented magnetic, conductive, and optical properties. Our research is pushing the envelope of materials design in these areas. This research program is primarily a synthetic, inorganic chemistry endeavor. At the core of our approach to the creation of molecule-based materials is the design and use of paramagnetic molecules as ligands. We make molecules that have a magnetic moment (because they have an unpaired electron) and we use these molecules to link metal ions together. We can choose the metal ions such that they, too, have large magnetic moments as well as other desirable (e.g., optical) properties, but the unique and most important aspect of our approach is the design of the paramagnetic ligands (i.e., the linker molecules). We have pioneered a series of paramagnetic ligands based on sulfur- and nitrogen-containing cyclic chemical “building blocks” called thiazyls and these allow for the creation of molecule-based materials with enhanced or entirely new, technologically relevant properties. The present research proposal includes six specific projects that provide good examples of the broad applicability of our umbrella research program. One of the short-term project goals is the advancement of single molecule magnet (SMM) design by incorporating actinide ions into our thiazyl ligand complexes. This contributes to a current global effort focused on improving the design of SMMs, which are known to be capable of acting as quantum-computing bits (qubits). Several of the other projects include short-term goals related to enhancing so-called “material memory” in molecule-based materials that can be switched between two or more states with different material properties (e.g., magnetic, or optical properties). In the long-term, our efforts will make a significant contribution to the state-of-art of our technology, improving the energy efficiency of our electronics and making possible what was once inconceivable. These efforts are directly related to sectors in which Canadian innovation is recognized globally (e.g., Research In Motion) and will improve the quality of life for us all.