The department is involved in various areas of polymer research, which include the synthesis of block and graft copolymers, applications of anionic polymerization, polymer materials with non-linear optical and/or electroluminescent properties, etc. The department has extensive facilities for polymer synthesis (see facilities listing below). These resources allow students to conduct polymer synthesis using state-of-the-art techniques. New methodologies involve the synthesis of different nonlinear block and graft architectures, electroluminescent polymers and oligomers, and polymers containing transition metal complexes for non-linear optical and biological applications.

We have assembled in the chemistry department one of the best polymer characterization facilities in the country. Students have hands-on access to these state-of-the art facilities for characterizing polymer molecular weights, molecular sizes, and thermal properties. These characteristics determine the properties and thus the potential applications of these polymers. We utilized the Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization (MALDI) time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometry methods to characterize various synthetic polymers produced in our laboratories. We are continuously developing new methodologies for analysis of polymer molecular properties combining synthesis of model polymers and determining structure-property relationships.

Metallacrown Ethers

These are extremely interesting materials for use as catalyst in industrially important reactions such as alkene hydroformylation that use carbon monoxide as a reactant. The metallacrown ethers contain a number of different groups that are capable of interacting with the carbon monoxide and increasing both the activity and selectivity of its reactions. This research involves 1) the synthesis and characterization of a variety of metallacrown ethers, 2) studies of the properties of these materials that could affect their ability to function as catalysts and 3) evaluation of the metallacrown ethers as catalysts.

Poly(alkylene phosphonate)s

This project involves the synthesis, characterization and functionalization of poly(alkylene phosphonate)s, a class of polymers similar to DNA and RNA with phosphorus esters in the polymer chain. These polymers are of interest because they are readily prepared from inexpensive starting materials and they should be readily hydrolyzed to biocompatible products in vivo. This could make them extremely interesting materials for the controlled release of bioactive materials both because it should be possible to attach a variety of these materials to the phosphorus and because it should be possible to vary the hydrolysis rates of these polymers, and thus the release rates of the bioactive materials, by changing the alkylene group.

Third-order nonlinear optical materials are of interest for use in power limiters for protecting biological systems and sensitive detectors for exposure to high intensity laser light. These materials also have potential applications in all-optical computers. Collaborative research has demonstrated that transition metal complexes can exhibit third-order optical nonlinearities that are nearly as large as those of conjugated polymers (currently the best third-order nonlinear optical materials). Mixed valence complexes are molecules containing at least two metal ions in different oxidation states, which are significantly coupled to each other. As a consequence of the electronic coupling between the metal ions, electrons can be delocalized between them to varying degrees. Mixed valence complexes are therefore ideal candidates for the preparation of new nonlinear optical materials because they are intrinsically highly polarizable molecules. In addition, their properties can be easily tuned by substituting metal ions, varying their oxidation state, and adjusting the electronic coupling between them. We are currently preparing various mixed valence complexes and studying their nonlinear optical properties. Our goal is to both discover new and efficient nonlinear optical materials and determine correlations between their properties and structure.