This one year Small Grant for Exploratory Research in the Analytical and Surface Chemistry Program supports the research of Professor Mark Meyerhoff at the University of Michigan, and is focused on the development of porphyrin-based stationary phases for the separation of members of the fullerene family of compounds. The separation characteristics of the porphyrin phases will be altered by changing the identity of the metal ion located within the porphyrin ring, and by electrochemically controlling the oxidation state of the metal center. Other potential applications include polyaromatic hydrocarbon analyses and peptide separations. In recent years, a new type of chemistry has been developed based on the discovery of the fullerenes. These are compounds with a framework based only on carbon atoms and which have symmetrical structures, for example, the soccer ball-shaped C60. These compounds show a great deal of promise as new materials with unique properties, e.g., lubricants. This research, supported by the Chemistry Division, will allow these new materials to be characterized in much more detail. These studies will potentially allow for the isolation of large quantities of these unique species, which is critical for the development of new materials based on these compounds.
