New Families of Molecules and Designed Interactions for Supramolecular Assembly

University Of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

In this project funded by the Macromolecular, Supramolecular and Nanochemistry Program of the Chemistry Division, Paul Weiss of the University of California at Los Angeles will study fundamental surface substrate-molecule interactions that underpin important surface chemistries and engineering. The approach is to synthesize, prepare and characterize self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of cage thiols that have limited degrees of conformational freedom, to prepare SAMs of bifunctional cage molecules and study their lateral interactions and fundamental reactivities, and to map the surface potentials experienced by asymmetric molecules such as thiophenes on metal surfaces. The broader impacts involve training undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers, disseminating research results through publications and presentations at national conferences, and enhancing research infrastructure through establishing collaborations with four-year colleges. This work would advance our fundamental, atomic scale knowledge about how molecules interact with surfaces. The proposed work could have significant impacts on the fields of nanoscience, nanotechnology, and electronic materials and devices and could generate innovations for industries ranging from microelectronics to catalytic chemical manufacturing.