With this award, the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program continues its support of the work of Professor Robert Liu of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Hawaii. The research will extend the PI's investigations of the fundamental aspects of alkene photoisomerization in confined media. The focus of the project is the Hula-Twist (HT) mechanism for photochemical conversion of cis to trans alkenes, which was discovered by the PI and is now thought to be important in many photobiological processes. A series of experiments designed to explore the effect of substitution and spin multiplicity on the H-T photoisomerization will be undertaken. The regeoselectivity and the isotope effects on this reaction will also be examined. In a series of experiments that are relevant to photobiology and photoprocesses in material science, the role of HT isomerizations in retinals, cyanine dyes, and pyrrole based alkenes will be investigated.
These investigations of alkene photoisomerization, which will provide fundamental new information on photochemical reactivity, will have significant impact on areas ranging from the chemistry of vision to materials science. The project provides an excellent way of introducing undergraduate students to a sophisticated research program.
