Copper(I) Networks: Structure, Luminescence, Catalysis, and Sensor Behavior

College Of William And Mary, Williamsburg VA

Investigators

Abstract

This Research award in the Inorganic, Bioinorganic and Organometallic Chemistry program supports work by Professors Robert D. Pike at the College of William and Mary and Craig A. Bayse at Old Dominion University to carry out structural, reactivity and computational studies on metal-organic networks which can act as luminescence detectors and chemical catalysts. Metal-organic networks are large molecules in which metal atoms (e.g. copper) are linked together to form long-range lattices, which may be one- two- or three-dimensional in structure. The metals in these materials have the ability to bind small molecules, including gases. In the case of copper in the +1 oxidation state, this binding changes the fluorescence color emitted by the copper ions. As a result, metal-organic networks containing copper can potentially act as sniffing devices for environmental chemicals. In addition, this same type of molecular binding may enable efficient and environmentally benign catalytic reactions of small molecules to be carried out using flow-through reactors charged with metal-organic network catalysts. The research is being conducted entirely by undergraduate chemistry students. These students, who are being trained at the interface of chemistry, materials science and photophysics, are part of the next generation of U.S. scientists and will serve as teachers for the Crystals program, aimed at enhancing interest in the sciences at the elementary school level. The Crystals program utilizes hands-on experiments to demonstrate for fifth grade students how the physical properties and mathematical symmetry of beautiful crystals reflect the underlying chemical structure. The research is ultimately intended to produce better detectors for chemical pollutants and/or weapons agents and to give rise to more environmentally-friendly catalysts for chemical synthesis.