A Coordination Chemistry Approach to the Design of Boron-Doped Conjugated π-Electron Materials

 

A Coordination Chemistry Approach to the Design of Boron-Doped Conjugated π-Electron Materials

 

Date: 25^th March, 2025 (Tuesday)

Time: 5 - 6 pm (HKT)

 

Venue: Lecture Theatre T4, Meng Wah Complex

 

Prof. Robert J. Gilliard, Jr.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

 

Prof. Robert J. Gilliard, Jr. is the Novartis Professor of Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Prior to joining MIT, he was a member of the faculty at the University of Virginia. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in chemistry at Clemson University where he was an undergraduate researcher in the laboratory of Prof. Rhett C. Smith. He earned his doctorate in chemistry at The University of Georgia with Prof. Gregory H. Robinson. Gilliard was a Merck Postdoctoral Fellow and a Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow where he completed his studies working jointly at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zürich) with Prof. Hansjörg Grützmacher and at Case Western Reserve University with Prof. John Protasiewicz. Gilliard is currently an associate editor at the Journal of the American Chemical Society, has served on editorial advisory board of Angewandte Chemie, and is currently on the advisory board of Chemical Science, Chemical Communications, ChemistryEurope, Chem Catalysis, and Inorganic Chemistry. His awards and honors include: Chemical and Engineering News Talented 12 Scholar, Research Corporation for Science Advancement Scialog Collaborative Innovation Award, National Science Foundation CAREER Award, Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow, Organometallics Distinguished Author Award, Beckman Young Investigator Award, Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering, Lloyd N. Ferguson Award for Excellence in Research, ACS Harry Gray Award for Creative Work in Inorganic Chemistry, Presidential Early-Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, and a NIH Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award.

 

The incorporation of boron into conjugated organic molecules has emerged as a useful strategy to elicit valuable optical and electronic properties which cannot be observed with the analogous all-hydrocarbon systems. Therefore, these types of molecules are currently being studied for various optoelectronic applications, including organic light-emitting diodes. We have synthesized, structurally characterized, and assessed the aromaticity and optical properties of unusual borafluorene and borepin cations, radicals, and anions. Our primary goal has been to isolate molecules in rare electronic states and to provide a link between structure and function. We have now initiated efforts aimed at understanding the chemical reactivity of these boron-containing rings, including their reactivity with energy-relevant small molecules. Recently, we discovered that borenium ions can be tailored such that the serve as viable stimuli-responsive materials, possessing thermochromic and/or luminescent properties. This lecture will cover our most recent results in these research areas, including new studies on boraacenes and π-extended multi-boron-doped systems. If time permits, other research areas will be discussed, such as our efforts in heavy group 15 element bond activation chemistry.