Molecules and Materials for Life
The programme focuses on the research of new chemical technologies that would address contemporary challenges and needs of the society, emphasizing environmental protection and development of new medical preparations as tools for improving the quality of life. Increasing accents on the environmental protection require introduction of more efficient chemical technologies, in which selective catalytic systems would play a decisive role by decreasing the energy consumption and thus enable more efficient use of natural resources.
Project of our Institute: Interaction of Inorganic Clusters, Cages, and Containers with Light
Contact person: Michael Londesborough
Underpinning all life on Earth is the absorption of light by molecules that store this energy via chemical or physical transformation. Nature uses organic and organometallic chemistry to achieve this feat, the results of which are the incredible biodiversity and resources of our planet. This Research Theme from „Molecules and Materials of Life“ harnesses expertise in the synthesis and study of novel photoactive inorganic cluster, cage and container molecules and assemblies with the aim to fabricate new molecular devices that enhance our lifes. The boron hydride cages and clusters, octahedral clusters of transition metals, and phosphinic acid-based MOF containers under study have molecular geometries that represent an architectural “bridge” in the structural continuum that stretches from the highly condensed atomic assemblies adopted by the late transitional metals to the open chains and ring formations found in the hydrocarbons. As chemical and physical behaviour is a function of structure, then these inorganic species have, with their unique molecular geometries, large potential for novel properties. We aim for innovation in the fields of lasers and optics, (radio)luminescence, and photobiology.
Workshop “Interaction of Inorganic Clusters, Cages, and Containers with Light”, 4th-6th December 2019, Château Liblice, Czech Republic. Please find more information here.