Dissertation Defenses

Doctoral Dissertation Announcement

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Candidate: Chun Wang

Degree of: Doctor of Philosophy

Department: Chemistry

Title: Synthesis and Characterization of Stilbenoids and Their Aza-analogues as Photoluminescence Materials for the Detection of Nerve Agents

Committee:
Dr. Ekkhard Sinn, Chair
Dr. Subra Muralidharan
Dr. Sherine Obare
Dr. Yirong Mo
Dr. Nora Berrah

Date: Friday, November 9, 2007 9:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
1710 Wood Hall

Abstract:
A novel series of stilbenoids and their aza-analogues were synthesized, characterized and used as anionic components in combination with a photoluminescent ruthenium complex. Their structure-property relationship was elucidated through UV-visible and fluorescence spectroscopy. The research in this dissertation is driven by the hypothesis that the two-block sensor system consisting of a receptor incorporated ruthenium complex and a fluorescence signal molecule of stilbenoids, is capable of detecting chemical warfare agents. The sensor anchored onto nanoparticles and subsequently the nanoparticles were arranged through mediated self-assembly. While photo-induced electron transfer is a well-known mechanism for sensor design, the described system showed that photo-induced electron transfer between the ruthenium complex and the anionic bonded stilbenoid was not promising for molecular sensor construction. On the other hand, the analogues of stilbene compounds, aza stilbenes are excellent receptor-signal integrated sensor materials. The described work will show that silica nanoparticle-promoted self-assembly of organic monolayers provides a method to study the photo physical properties of the organized structure.