Anion Binding and Sensing With Self-Assembled Metallo-Supramolecular Assemblies. Anions are of particular significance in several areas relating to the day-to-day lives of Australians; for example as contaminants in waterways and nuclear waste streams, as indicators of chemical weapons, and as antagonists in biological systems. The proposed research programme will investigate a relatively unexplored approach to binding and sensing anions. This will further research in the area of supramolecular ....Anion Binding and Sensing With Self-Assembled Metallo-Supramolecular Assemblies. Anions are of particular significance in several areas relating to the day-to-day lives of Australians; for example as contaminants in waterways and nuclear waste streams, as indicators of chemical weapons, and as antagonists in biological systems. The proposed research programme will investigate a relatively unexplored approach to binding and sensing anions. This will further research in the area of supramolecular chemistry, providing additional research expertise in this rapidly progressing area of the chemical sciences. In terms of Breakthrough science the targeted assemblies will shed further light on self-assembly processes involving ligands with different domains, placing Australian research at the forefront of such investigations.Read moreRead less
Internally decorated discrete Metallo-supramolecular Assemblies and infinite Metal-Organic Frameworks as molecular containers. In the macroscopic world, containers are used to hold, provide physical protection, or create a modified environment for their contents. This project will result in the synthesis of novel molecular container materials that provide decorated internal surfaces capable of selectively binding chemical species. In addition to the breakthrough scientific benefits of establish ....Internally decorated discrete Metallo-supramolecular Assemblies and infinite Metal-Organic Frameworks as molecular containers. In the macroscopic world, containers are used to hold, provide physical protection, or create a modified environment for their contents. This project will result in the synthesis of novel molecular container materials that provide decorated internal surfaces capable of selectively binding chemical species. In addition to the breakthrough scientific benefits of establishing the fundamentals of these systems, the binding of chemicals, which are environmental contaminants, will provide the grounding for applications that will contribute to the national priority of 'Frontier technologies'. Furthermore, this research will lead to the training of the next generation of Australian scientists by quality international researchers.Read moreRead less
New Chiral Metal Catalysts; Going Beyond the State of the Art. The synthesis of both natural and unnatural organic compounds in optically active form is a central challenge in chemistry. Because the most important molecules in nature are chiral and of specific handedness, there exists a growing need to access any given organic compound in its optically pure form. Asymmetric catalysis offers the most elegant way to solving this problem and this project will target some of the difficult challenges ....New Chiral Metal Catalysts; Going Beyond the State of the Art. The synthesis of both natural and unnatural organic compounds in optically active form is a central challenge in chemistry. Because the most important molecules in nature are chiral and of specific handedness, there exists a growing need to access any given organic compound in its optically pure form. Asymmetric catalysis offers the most elegant way to solving this problem and this project will target some of the difficult challenges in realising asymmetric synthesis, building new, privileged chiral ligands, opening new catalytic pathways for constructing chiral compounds and understanding the intimate catalytic pathway that enables reactivity and selectivity. This will generate applications across the chemical industries.Read moreRead less
Functionalised nanomaterials for application as multimodal cancer imaging agents. Nanomaterials offer exciting opportunities for emerging diagnostic applications targeted to specific diseases. In this project, cutting-edge fundamental scientific developments will be pursued that will advance the application of nanomaterials in the diagnosis of cancer, a disease that accounts for over 40,000 deaths in Australia annually.
Utilising nature's complexity - understanding fundamental organometallic binding modes of furans and coordination of bioderived furans. The earth's decreasing reserves of fossil fuels has prompted an intense push to utilise the renewable bioresources to replace the many products and fuels derived from petroleum. One of the promising developments is the production of so-called Furanics, useful molecules produced easily from carbohydrates found in waste materials from the sugar, corn and forestry ....Utilising nature's complexity - understanding fundamental organometallic binding modes of furans and coordination of bioderived furans. The earth's decreasing reserves of fossil fuels has prompted an intense push to utilise the renewable bioresources to replace the many products and fuels derived from petroleum. One of the promising developments is the production of so-called Furanics, useful molecules produced easily from carbohydrates found in waste materials from the sugar, corn and forestry industries. Given Australia's wealth of agricultural resources, discovering the full power of these potentially useful furanic compounds should be a major priority. This research aims to link Australia's biomass potential with the plastics, pharmaceutical, fine and agrichemical industries.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE180100462
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$364,975.00
Summary
Molecular complexity through multi-bond forming reactions. This project aims to develop techniques for the synthesis of many, highly valuable natural and designed molecules which are too complex to be synthesised on scale with current methodologies. The project aims to develop new strategies for the simultaneous construction of several chemical bonds, with a focus on molecular scaffolds that can be readily converted into pharmaceuticals, potential drug candidates, chiral ligands, and agrochemica ....Molecular complexity through multi-bond forming reactions. This project aims to develop techniques for the synthesis of many, highly valuable natural and designed molecules which are too complex to be synthesised on scale with current methodologies. The project aims to develop new strategies for the simultaneous construction of several chemical bonds, with a focus on molecular scaffolds that can be readily converted into pharmaceuticals, potential drug candidates, chiral ligands, and agrochemicals. This will ultimately lead to advancements in both the production and application of organic molecules in these fields.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE100100109
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$530,000.00
Summary
Small molecule X-ray molecular structure elucidation facility. X-ray diffraction plays a key role in identification and molecular characterisation. X-ray techniques are the single most widely used analytical resource in structure determination and provide invaluable information for scientists working in the fields of synthesis, nanotechnology, polymer chemistry, and protein chemistry, amongst many others. The facility brings together a multidisciplinary team of scientists and provides state-of-t ....Small molecule X-ray molecular structure elucidation facility. X-ray diffraction plays a key role in identification and molecular characterisation. X-ray techniques are the single most widely used analytical resource in structure determination and provide invaluable information for scientists working in the fields of synthesis, nanotechnology, polymer chemistry, and protein chemistry, amongst many others. The facility brings together a multidisciplinary team of scientists and provides state-of-the-art research and training facilities for these techniques.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE130100186
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Base stabilised dicarbon as a new building block for supramolecular organometallic chemistry. Diamond, coal and graphite are the forms of carbon ("allotropes") found in everyday life. The discovery of two further allotropes of carbon, the fullerenes and graphene both led to Nobel Prize awards. We have identified a method to stabilize another form of carbon, dicarbon, and will harness its properties for the formation of new materials.
Organometallic Transformations of Organic Compounds. The program will develop new metal-based catalysts for two main purposes (i) transforming basic hydrocarbons eg. natural gas and low-molecular-weight petroleum products into more advanced compounds (such as alcohols, alkenes and carboxylic acids); and (ii) converting nitrogen gas into nitrogen-containing compounds eg. ammonia or ammonia derivatives. In both projects, the aim is to take readily available and abundant starting materials that ar ....Organometallic Transformations of Organic Compounds. The program will develop new metal-based catalysts for two main purposes (i) transforming basic hydrocarbons eg. natural gas and low-molecular-weight petroleum products into more advanced compounds (such as alcohols, alkenes and carboxylic acids); and (ii) converting nitrogen gas into nitrogen-containing compounds eg. ammonia or ammonia derivatives. In both projects, the aim is to take readily available and abundant starting materials that are currently difficult to utilise and to design and develop specific reagents to convert them to "value-added" products. The program will also explore the mode of action of metal-based reagents leading to better reagent and catalyst design.Read moreRead less
C-H to C-F using electrochemistry and gold catalysis. Gold offers great potential in chemical catalysis and this project will use a fascinating new class of gold compounds discovered by the CIs, to develop novel catalysts. Using this chemistry a series of gold(III) compounds with fluoride ligands will be prepared. The catalytic properties of these molecules will then be explored, with a particular focus on adding value to arene hydrocarbons. The ultimate goal of the project is development of new ....C-H to C-F using electrochemistry and gold catalysis. Gold offers great potential in chemical catalysis and this project will use a fascinating new class of gold compounds discovered by the CIs, to develop novel catalysts. Using this chemistry a series of gold(III) compounds with fluoride ligands will be prepared. The catalytic properties of these molecules will then be explored, with a particular focus on adding value to arene hydrocarbons. The ultimate goal of the project is development of new catalysts for the formation of carbon-fluorine bonds and the selective fluorination of organic
compounds. Fluorinated organic molecules are of critical importance in medicinal chemistry and new catalysts of this type offers the potential for better synthesis of medicines and diagnostic agents.Read moreRead less