This award in the Inorganic, Bioinorganic, and Organometallic Chemistry Program supports research on heterocyclyne complexes by Drs. Claire A. Tessier and Wiley J. Youngs of the Chemistry Department, University of Akron. New complexes will be prepared by incorporating heteroatoms such as Si, Ge, B, Al, Ga, In, P, As and Pt into the cyclic structure of the complexes, and by associating transition metals with available C-C multiple bonds in the ring. Special emphasis will be placed on preparing rings containing two heteroatoms, on synthesis of dipocket heterocyclynes that contain both a Lewis acid and a Lewis base, and on using larger diynes to create larger pockets. The non-linear optical, conducting, and liquid crystal characteristics of some platinum chain complexes will be determined. Attempts will also be made to build complex tube-like polymer structures that may have interesting electronic features. Multinuclear NMR is an important analytical tool in this work. Heterocyclynes are cyclic polyalkynes that, in addition to carbon, contain a different element, or heteroatom. The system investigated here contains three alkynes linked together with three spacers--one of which is the heteroatom--to form a planar 11-membered ring. The cavity of this ring, or pocket, varies in size as the heteroatom changes. More elaborate structures can be formed by linking heterocyclynes together, so that they contain up to four pockets. The compounds can be made in a controlled way and built up to larger structures that have conducting and liquid crystalline properties.
