CAREER: Biomimetic Metal-Organic Super-Containers

University Of South Dakota Main Campus, Vermillion SD

Investigators

Abstract

Dr. Zhenqiang Wang of the University of South Dakota aims to develop effective approaches to assemble complex functional architectures from small molecular building blocks. Inspired by the structure of spherical viruses, which feature an endo (internal) cavity for storage of genetic materials and exo (external) cavities for recognition of targeted hosts, Dr. Wang designs a new class of synthetic container molecules by linking cup-shaped structures to create a new enclosed hollow space while retaining the free voids of the cup-shaped building blocks. He develops a general approach to synthesize a family of these container molecules and investigates their properties. A fundamental understanding of the properties of this new class of containers could lead to the development of novel materials with applications in many different fields, such as gas separation and water remediation. This research is integrated with educational and outreach initiatives that specially aim to promote scientific literacy among underrepresented students including Native Americans. Under the support of this CAREER award from the Macromolecular, Supramolecular and Nanochemistry Program of the Division of Chemistry, Dr. Wang develops a general synthetic approach to structurally and functionally diverse metal-organic super-containers (MOSCs), a new class of synthetic receptors, from sulfonylcalixarene-based building blocks, metal ions, and organic carboxylate linkers. This novel synthetic approach utilizes the largely unexplored lower rim of calixarenes to construct hierarchical supramolecular assemblies that contain both endo and exo cavities potentially suitable for selective and allosteric binding of different guests. Another objective of this research is to investigate the structure-property relationship and the guest-binding behavior of functionalized MOSCs in both solution phase and the solid state.