J. Fraser Stoddart - US grants

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).

The Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program in the Chemistry Division at the National Science Foundation supports a proposal from Professor Fraser J. Stoddart of Northwestern University. This proposal, submitted in response to solicitation NSF 08-602: International Collaboration in Chemistry between US Investigators and their Counterparts Abroad (ICC), is a collaboration with Alexandra M Z. Slawin at St Andrews University in Scotland. The team will develop the chemistry of mechanically interlocking molecules (MIMs) into higher ordered network materials and characterize these materials by a range of physical techniques, most importantly, single crystal X-ray crystallography. The structural results will be used to inform the development of the chemistry as the results are fed back into the design and synthesis of the new materials. The combination of these two teams to tackle the development of multi-dimensional mechanically interlocking molecules represents a significant advance in the area and will be of benefit and interest to a wide range of academics working in the area of supramolecular chemistry. The resultant materials obtained will have enormous potential in a variety of industrial applications.

The broader impacts will present an opportunity for students to work on highly interdisciplinary research that enables the pursuit of grand scientific challenges. There is a well-planned and extensive program for exchanging students between Northwestern University and St. Andrews University, as well as regular cross-institutional visits by the PIs that will be aided by state-of-the-art communication aids, e.g., video conferencing, teleconferencing, and web-based data-sharing. Both PIs support their institution?s initiative to bring students into the classrooms from underrepresented groups. At Northwestern University, Professor Stoddart runs a research group focused on synthetic and physical organic chemistry with postdoctoral fellows drawn from all around the world, currently including Canada, China, Germany, India, Lebanon, Mexico, Scotland, and Turkey as well as the US. His present graduate students include Asian and Hispanic Americans, as well as women from the US and abroad. At St. Andrews University, Professor Slawin runs a world-class X-ray diffraction facility with unique support activities (e.g., Automated Crystallization Facility) in a highly interactive manner with postdoctoral, graduate and undergraduate students from the UK, the EU, and non-EU countries. The value-added and enhanced experience, for research performance and academic quality and for the education and training of students in both groups, will be at a remarkably invigorating level because of the complementary skills that will be gained through collaboration between these two very different laboratories.

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).

With this award from the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program, the Chemistry Department at Northwestern University will acquire a gas chromatograph time-of-flight (GC-TOF) mass spectrometer for use in teaching and research. A variety of research projects will be investigated including: 1) Organo-f-Element Chemistry - Integrated Synthetic, Mechanistic, Catalytic, and Thermochemical Studies; 2) Enzyme Mimics Based on Supramolecular Coordination Assembly; 3) Reticular Networks Forged for Dynamic Processes; 4) Unlocking the Synthetic Potential of N-Allylhydrazones; and, 5) Molecular Spintronics.

Mass spectrometry (MS) is used to identify the chemical composition of a sample and determine its purity by measuring the mass of the molecular constituents in the sample after they are ionized and detected by the mass spectrometer. Chromatography is an isolation technique that precedes the mass spectrometry analysis. It separates a mixture into its constituent chemicals which are then analyzed by the mass spectrometer. These are analytical techniques widely used to characterize the chemical composition of a sample. The mass spectrometer will be used by undergraduate and graduate research students and in undergraduate laboratory classes.

With this award from the Chemistry Research Instrumentation and Facilities: Multi-user (CRIF:MU) program, Professor Mark Ratner and colleagues Joseph Hupp, Tobin Marks, SonBinh Nguyen and J. Fraser Stoddart from Northwestern University will acquire a 400 MHz spectrometer. The proposal will enhance research training and education at all levels, especially in areas of study such as (a) unlocking the synthetic potential of n-allylhydrazones, (b) bimetallic ethylene polymerization: integrated synthetic, mechanistic, and polymerization studies, and photonics, plasmonics and molecule-based nanomaterials, (c) molecular logic for nanoelectronics, (d) synthesis and characterization of metal-organic frameworks from start to finish, (e) characterization of the surface of colloidal quantum dot (QDs) and its correspondence to their electronic and optical properties, and (f) design and synthesis of novel catalysts for green chemistry and environmental remediation.

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is one of the most powerful tools available to chemists for the elucidation of the structure of molecules. It is used to identify unknown substances, to follow the progress of chemical reactions, to characterize specific arrangements of atoms within molecules, and to study the dynamics of interactions between molecules in solids and in solution. Access to state-of-the-art NMR spectrometers is essential to carry out frontier chemistry related research and to train students in modern research techniques. The results from these NMR studies will have an impact on organic, materials, electronics, environmental and bioorganic chemistry research at Northwestern University. The instrument will be available to users at other institutions including Harold Washington College and Roosevelt University. The resources will be used not only for research activities but also for research training of undergraduate and graduate students including those from underrepresented groups.

In this project funded by the Macromolecular, Supramolecular and Nanochemistry Program of the Chemistry Division, J. Fraser Stoddart of Northwestern University will develop the chemistry of artificial molecular machines (AMMs) that (1) are capable of moving away from thermal equilibrium under the influence of a stimulus and (2) can perform work. Initial investigations will focus on devising a prototypical supramolecular system that can consume fuel, resulting in the relative unidirectional motion of its constituent parts. Some of the energy output of such a system may be captured by developing a way to trap the components in a high energy state. The approach to this objective involves capturing a ring component around a molecular thread and then using the stimulus to move the ring along the thread. By embedding such a "molecular pump" into a membrane, an artificial transmembrane ion pump potentially could be developed, which would perform a function reminiscent of the cellular membrane transport of nature's molecular machines. The broader impacts involve giving the project participants an opportunity to work on highly interdisciplinary research that enables the pursuit of grand scientific challenges. Undergraduate students will benefit from exposure to the interdisciplinary science under the tutelage of experienced researchers.

This research aims to produce molecular scale systems that can perform work on their surroundings, or rather, "artificial molecular machines." Outside of biological systems, which can perform very sophisticated functions, there are presently few examples of such molecular machinery. This project will increase our knowledge about how to design complex molecules that can use chemical energy to perform useful functions. Such research holds the key to devising new types of molecules that can behave like muscle fibers or enzymes, addressable nanomaterials, nanorobots, and possibly more.