Radical Materials: Molecular and Supramolecular Architectures using Paramagnetic Ligands

纵观历史，每一项重大的技术进步都是新材料的发现和发展的直接结果。青铜器时代、铁器时代和信息时代（或许应该被称为硅时代）都是技术与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”，利用量子逻辑功能彻底改变我们的计算领域。可以肯定的是，下一个时代将涉及(1)小型化到分子水平，(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这些领域材料设计的极限。这个研究计划主要是合成无机化学的努力。我们创造分子基材料的核心方法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），我们用这些分子把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理想的（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（即连接分子）的设计。我们开创了一系列顺磁配体，这些配体基于含硫和含氮的循环化学“构建块”，称为噻唑，这些允许创建具有增强或全新技术相关特性的分子基材料。目前的研究计划包括六个具体的项目，为我们的伞式研究计划的广泛适用性提供了很好的例子。短期项目目标之一是通过将锕系离子纳入我们的噻嗪基配体配合物来推进单分子磁铁（SMM）的设计。这有助于当前全球专注于改进smm设计的努力，smm已知能够充当量子计算比特（量子位）。其他几个项目包括与增强所谓的“材料记忆”有关的短期目标，这些“材料记忆”是基于分子的材料，可以在具有不同材料性质（例如，磁性或光学性质）的两种或多种状态之间切换。从长远来看，我们的努力将对我们的技术做出重大贡献，提高我们电子产品的能源效率，使曾经不可思议的事情成为可能。这些努力与加拿大创新在全球范围内得到认可的部门直接相关（例如，Research in Motion），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.