Wiley J. Youngs and Claire A. Tessier, Department of Chemistry, University of Akron, are supported by the Inorganic, Bioinorganic and Organometallic Chemistry Program for the synthesis and study of heterocyclynes. These cyclic polyalkynes contain silicon, germanium, platinum, titanium and other heteroatoms that will tune the size and chemistry of a binding pocket. The project will also extend heterocyclynes to complexes containing metal-metal bonds, dipocket heterocyclynes that contain a Lewis acidic site and a Lewis basic site, heterocyclynes that have larger pockets or can act as molecular tweezers, and heterocyclynes that have unique materials properties such as liquid crystallinity, semiconductivity or non-linear optical activity.
Heterocyclynes are a key building block in supramolecular chemistry. These analogs of tribenzocyclotriyne have well-defined pockets that can selectively bind metal ions and other guest species. They are also potential components of molecular electronics. Students trained in this area will develop skill in synthesis, spectroscopy and crystallography.
