This award in the Inorganic, Bioinorganic and Organometallic Chemistry program supports Professor Daniel Reger at the University of South Carolina to design new types of multi-metallic coordination compounds that have highly organized structures in the solid state and exhibit unusual electrical, photophysical, and magnetic properties. These complexes will be prepared using a series of new ligands that are specifically designed to bond to more than one metal and contain functional groups designed to support supramolecular structures. New host/guest chemistry based on assemblies formed by unique tripodal ligands such as 1,3,5-(CH3)3C6[CH2OCH2C(pz)3]3 (pz=pyrazolyl ring), and metal complexes of new bitopic ligands, such as Fe[C5H4CH(pz)2]2, that are based on the semi-flexible nature of the ferrocene core, will be targeted. Particularly important systems that will be investigated are spin-crossover Fe(II)N6 complexes, which are complexes with switchable domains, that open new possibilities for the development of novel memory devices. New types of multi-metallic coordination compounds will be synthesized that have highly organized structures in the solid state and exhibit unusual properties. This research will lead to the syntheses of new ligands that are specifically designed to bond to more than one metal and to develop the growing knowledge of the relationship between supramolecular structures and optical and magnetic properties. Such materials may have a significant potential impact by forming the basis for novel memory devices. This research is attractive for cultivating broadly trained specialists at various educational levels. Indeed, the PI has a tradition of diverse human resource and education development.
