A-PREACH · Asymmetric Photochemical Reactions in confined Chiral space
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2019-06-01 → 2021-05-31
- EU contribution
- €175,572
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF-EF-ST
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Results in brief
Asymmetric Photochemical Reactions in confined Chiral space
Light-driven molecular machines offer tremendous opportunities in the development of systems that can be operated with spatiotemporal precision at the nanoscale. Among these so called photoactuators, two main classes of compounds emerge. The former are the molecular photoswitches, systems able to interconvert between two (or more) states by the action of light (or thermal) stimuli. Light allows these molecules to escape microscopic reversibility and populate a metastable state, whose steric and electronic properties differ from the starting, stable, form. The main characteristic of photoswitches is the stochastic nature of their motion in the interconversion between one state and the other. On the other hand, photochemically-driven molecular motors based on overcrowded alkenes introduce point and helical chirality in their core structure and can perform a fully unidirectional 360° rotation about their axle, which is normally composed by a C=C double bond. Understanding and applying the same concepts that drive the unidirectionality of molecular photoactuators at the ground and at the excited state is a fundamental challenge in order to design novel, more efficient chemical structures that can be addressed by light, that can be applied in the context of smart materials, soft robotics and photopharmacology. Consequently, the goal of the action was to study the principles and processes that are at the basis of the chiral information transfer in supramolecular structures containing photoswitches and molecular motors, both to impart unidirectionality to otherwise achiral photochemical switches by means of external interactions with the chiral environment, and to exploit the chiral nature of the molecular motors to affect an (a)chiral environment.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
The stereochemical control of a reaction is a crucial goal that spans numerous fields of research, ranging from drug discovery to materials science. In this context, photochemistry will play a key role, given the variety of transformations it can afford. In particular, supramolecular photochirogenesis, hence the control of the chiral outcome of a photochemical reaction afforded by the weak non-transient interactions between the guest and its chiral host, represents a promising yet not fully explored field. The aim of the proposal is to deepen the knowledge on photochirogenesis from a theoretical point of view and apply this knowledge to develop novel asymmetric photochemical protocols. This will combine the advantages of photochemistry (access to thermally not allowed reaction pathways and generation of high-energy intermediates among many) with the ones enabled by supramolecular host-guest interactions (such as the presence of a confined chiral space, the stabilization of reactive intermediates and the possibility to use the host itself as an antenna to excite the guest for the reaction to occur). The final goal of the proposal is represented by the use of chiral molecular motors to control the stereochemical information of the host. In this way, dynamic control of the enantioselective outcome of a (photo)chemical reaction will be achieved.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- RIJKSUNIVERSITEIT GRONINGEN · GroningenCoordinatorNetherlands
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union