ON THE SYNTHESIS, MEASUREMENT AND APPLICATIONS OF OCTANUCLEAR HETEROMETALLIC RINGS

Abstract

On the Synthesis, Measurement and Applications of Octanuclear Heterometallic Rings: A thesis submitted to The University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences.Inorganic macrocycles have stimulated interest in recent years for their magnetic properties, their associated host-guest chemistry and their aesthetically appealing structures. These characteristics have led to suggestions that they could be exploited for the purposes of ion recognition, catalysis, as single molecule magnets, MRI agents, antibacterial agents and as part of larger architectures in a molecular machine.This thesis explores the properties of a group of chromium(III) macrocycles, with functionality tailored towards different pursuits. Firstly the magnetic properties of a newly synthesised family of ring dimers are investigated. The nature of magnetic exchange within each ring leads to a net electronic spin which, it has been proposed, could represent a quantum binary digit within a quantum information processing system. By linking together pairs of rings, the degree of inter ring communication can be determined. Such interactions are important for the correlation of spin as initiation of quantum entanglement, a pre-requisite for quantum computing.The rings can also act as fluoro-metallocrowns, hosting the molecule which templated their formation. A range of rings with different guests are synthesised and their solid and solution state structures are explored. On templating about bulky dialkyl amines hybrid organic-inorganic rotaxanes are formed where the guest is fixed. In contrast when using small amines and alkali metals, exchange of guests is possible. The dynamics of all of these systems are investigated with proton NMR, quite remarkable for such highly paramagnetic complexes.

Date of Award	1 Aug 2012
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The University of Manchester
Supervisor	Richard Winpenny (Supervisor)