This CAREER award to Omar Yaghi at Arizona State University is supported by the Advanced Materials Program in the Chemistry Division. The research is aimed at developing and understanding new synthetic methods for the construction of crystalline solid-state materials from purely inorganic building blocks. The research will focus on utilizing transition metal and main group oxide cages and cage aggregates in polymerization reactions to produce porous materials that have diverse pore size, shape and function. Cationic, anionic and neutral, open-frameworks will be synthesized having channels where guest molecules may reside. Molecular aggregates will be used as guests to prevent interpenetration of porous networks. The presence of weak interactions with the aggregates will facilitate evacuation of the channels, leading to high mobility of the guest species. Zeolites and other porous materials have had an enormous impact on the global economy, for example in catalysis and separations. This study will advance our understanding of inclusion phenomena and lead to diverse compositions with larger channels and enhanced properties. Through the CAREER plan, undergraduates, graduate students and precollege teachers will participate in the above research with specific projects directed at their needs and experience. Emphasis will be on solution and solid-phase synthetic techniques, computer graphics and literature searching. An introductory level course will be developed using case studies as a teaching tool to highlight chemical concepts. An industrial exchange program will also be instituted which will permit up to three students per year to work with a company having interests in porous solids.
