Organic Chemistry Seminar

     It remains difficult to assemble molecular and polymeric compounds predictably, yet such control has strong implications for the properties of bulk materials and molecular interfaces. For example, the continuing development of inexpensive organic semiconductors will bring about efficient solar cells, flexible displays, ubiquitous radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, improved lighting technologies, and more sensitive chemical sensors. These materials must achieve long-range overlap of their molecular orbitals to transport excitons or charge efficiently. I will describe our efforts to functional building blocks into covalent organic frameworks (COFs) that have two-dimensional layered morphologies ideal for energy storage and conversion devices. I will also describe a modular strategy to functionalize graphene noncovalently with multivalent tripodal binding motifs. Finally, I will present progress towards the bottom-up synthesis of narrow strips of carbon known as graphene nanoribbons.