This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
The Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program in the Chemistry Division at the National Science Foundation supports Professors Joseph W. Lauher and Frank W. Fowler of the State University of New York (SUNY) at Stony Brook. Their research focuses on the synthesis of polymeric compounds unobtainable by using other synthetic methods. Networks of molecules will be synthesized with precise control of certain supramolecular features where the products are formed in a perfectly ordered crystalline environment, something that may be important for an application or specific function. The poly(diacetylenes) and poly(triacetylenes) synthesized are conjugated polymers with potential applications as electronic and optical materials. The current national emphasis on new energy sources, particularly solar energy, highlights the national need for such refined materials. At a molecular level, the proposed new materials are analogous to the known single-walled carbon nanotubes whose properties have shown great promise for the construction of optical and electrical devices, as molecular containers, and delivery devices.
As a broader impact of the proposed research, synthetic nanotubes could offer considerable advantages over the well known carbon nanotubes. With all the functionality of organic chemistry available, tubes can be fine tuned for applications such as water purification, molecular sensors and storage, molecular electronics and photonics. Students will be trained in organic synthesis and solid-state characterization methods. SUNY at Stony Brook has made a major commitment to undergraduate research, as a natural complement to its well recognized strength at the graduate level. As part of this commitment, the PIs have made a major effort to bring aspects of their proposed research into undergraduate courses. An excellent website (www.ic.sunysb.edu/class/orgchem/) has been developed that is a directory to organic chemistry resources. The web page highlights recent literature and has links to journals, chemistry search websites, problems of the day, as well as tools for calculations.
