Developing Reliable Strategies for Hydrogen- and Halogen Bond Driven Supramolecular Synthesis

Kansas State University, Manhattan KS

Investigators

Abstract

With the support from the Macromolecular, Supramolecular, and Nanochemistry Program, Professor Christer Aakeröy of the Department of Chemistry at Kansas State University, will establish versatile supramolecular design strategies based on site-specific intermolecular interactions, by determining how relatively small molecules prefer to bind to each other. In particular, the team will (i) design and synthesize ditopic molecules that utilize tunable halogen-bond interactions for constructing supermolecules and co-crystals with pre-determined motifs and stoichiometries; (ii) determine how hydrogen bonds and halogen bonds can be made to operate side-by-side in a hierarchical fashion in the assembly of binary and ternary co-crystals; and (iii) establish whether hydrogen-bond/halogen-bond based synthetic methodologies can be informed by a systematic analysis that integrates experimental thermodynamic data with calculated binding energies. Chemistry is the science of communication and change, and these interrelated processes are primarily initiated and controlled by reversible interactions between molecules. A better understanding of these inter-molecular forces can be refined into versatile pathways for improving processing, performance and shelf-life of a wide range of specialty chemicals such as pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, agrochemicals, semiconductors, dyes, and energetic materials. Students who participate in this research will obtain an interdisciplinary foundation that will prepare them particularly well for scientific challenges that arise at intersections of biology, chemistry, and materials science. The research team contains a high proportion of women and minority students, and all group members are expected to attend and present their work at scientific meetings as frequently as possible, and results from this research will therefore be disseminated quickly via conferences and peer-reviewed publications. To further broaden outreach efforts, the PI will participate in campus-based programs that specifically offer research opportunities for female high school students and undergraduate minority students, respectively.