This grant from the Organic Dynamics Program supports the work of Professor Plummer at Trinity University, who will synthesize cyclopentene fused polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons that are deformed from their normal planar geometries as verified by X-ray analyses. The ground and excited state properties of these deformed aromatic molecules will be studied experimentally and compared with semi-empirical molecular orbital and molecular mechanics calculations. Their photochemistry will be pursued to study the mechanism and the effect of ground state strain energy on excited state transformations. The syntheses of measurable temporal domain zwitterionic cation radical-anion radical species is also targeted. The potential for selected compounds to be used in molecular devices will be explored. %%% Non-planar aromatic hydrocarbons are recognized as important new compounds with many intriguing chemical and physical properties. In this project Professor Plummer and his undergraduate students will synthesize many new compounds, determine their non-planar geometries by X-ray analyses, investigate their photochemical properties, and provide an extensive computational survey on their physical-organic features.
