9403497 Nolen Colgate University With funding from the Organic Dynamics Program Professor Nolen of Colgate University will construct using self-assembly procedures structurally well-defined supramolecular complexes based upon triply hydrogen bonded associations. A primary goal is the synthesis of a self-assembled macrocyclic structure containing six components that is called a supramolecular hexnut. Undergraduates will be involved in the synthesis and characterization of these compounds and their properties will be studied by NMR, UV/vis, fluorescence,vapor phase osmometry, and gel-permeation chromatography. A variety of large, complex organic compounds will be made that have the unique properties of association by interactions that are called non-covalent bonds. These structures will mimic the behavior of molecules like DNA that also associate through non-covalent bonds. An understanding of this non-covalent interaction will allow scientists to design new compounds that can self replicate and enhance understanding of biochemical processes including energy transfer, replication, and enzyme catalysis.
