New Carbon-Rich Compounds With Unusual Structures and Properties

Boston College, Chestnut Hill MA

Investigators

Abstract

Professor Lawrence T. Scott, of the Department of Chemistry at Boston College, is supported by the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program for his studies of the rational synthesis of fullerenes and other carbon-rich materials, including achiral, single-wall carbon nanotubes which are closed at one end and open at the other, with predefined uniform diameter, pitch, cap structure, and rim structure. As test cases for the methods and strategies employed, Professor Scott also explores the synthesis of low molecular weight (<1500 amu) carbon-rich organic compounds with unusual structures, for which unusual molecular properties are anticipated. Fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, and related carbon-rich substances that are characterized by curved networks of carbon atoms have been widely acclaimed as materials of enormous potential value for future applications in materials science and the emerging field of nanotechnology. They also hold considerable intrinsic scientific interest owing to the unusual nature of their chemical structures. These fascinating substances are typically prepared by poorly-understood empirical methods, making control over which fullerenes or nanotubes are formed exceedingly difficult. With the support of the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program, Professor Lawrence T. Scott, of the Department of Chemistry at Boston College, is developing rational synthetic routes to fullerenes and other "Buckymaterials," as well as to smaller carbon-rich organic molecules also anticipated to display unusual properties.