New Frontiers in Photocatalyst Design and Photocatalysis
Eli Zysman-Colman
Organic Semiconductor Centre, EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, University of St Andrews
In this talk I highlight some of our recent work in sustainable photocatalyst design, covering photocatalysts using Earth-abundant metals and those based on organic dyes. I will also discuss new innovations in photoreactor design.
3-Coordinate Organoboron Compounds Light the Way: Cell Imaging, Biomolecule Sensing, and Other Optical and Optoelectronic Applications
Todd B. Marder
Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, and Institute for Sustainable Chemistry & Catalysis with Boron,
Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074 Würzburg, Germany
Three-coordinate boron, with a vacant pz-orbital and isoelectronic with a carbonium ion, can conjugate with organic π-systems as a strong π-acceptor in the excited state. Most 3-coordinate boron compounds are Lewis acidic, bind Lewis bases which disrupt this conjugation, and are sensitive to hydrolysis. Bulky substituents on B, such as mesityl (mes) and aryl rings containing ortho-CF3 groups, provide steric protection of the vacant p-orbital without disrupting the electronic communication with a π-system, resulting in compounds which are usually air and water stable. By suitable modification, they can also be made water soluble. We focus on the synthesis of dipolar, quadrupolar, and octupolar compounds containing B(Ar)2 groups, including those containing new π-acceptors considerably stronger than B(mes)2, and their linear and nonlinear (TPA and TPEF) optical properties, issues concerning TADF and room temperature phosphorescence (RTP), and their various applications which include cell imaging, ad DNA/RNA/protein binding, and OLEDs.