Leaps-MPS: synthesis of photoactive manganese complexes with carbene ligands

This Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation (CFDA 47.049 - Mathematical and Physical Sciences) provides $249,972 to Kalamazoo College to support a research project led by Professor Daniela Arias-Rotondo and her students. The project aims to design, prepare, and study manganese-based compounds that could have potential applications in converting solar energy into electricity. The focus is on synthesizing manganese coordination complexes with carbene ligands and characterizing their photophysical properties through a combination of experimental and computational techniques. The project will also incorporate the research compounds into the inorganic chemistry teaching lab at Kalamazoo College to provide students with a more hands-on, research-like learning experience. This award runs from September 1, 2023 to August 31, 2025.

Abstract

In this project managed by the chemistry division at NSF, professor daniela arias-rotondo and her students at kalamazoo college will design, prepare, and study manganese-based compounds that could have potential applications in converting solar energy into electricity. Manganese is a low-cost, low-toxicity alternative to the materials currently used for these applications. Students of varied backgrounds will work on this project, closely mentored by prof. Arias-rotondo, who will also establish peer-mentoring opportunities for the project participants. Additionally, prof. Arias-rotondo will RE-design the laboratory portion of the inorganic chemistry course offered at kalamazoo college to give students a research-like experience in the class. To accomplish this goal, some of the compounds developed in this research project will be incorporated into the inorganic chemistry teaching lab. The photophysics of manganese coordination complexes is an underexplored research area, as is the organometallic chemistry of manganese in low oxidation states. Prof. Arias-rotondo and her students aim to synthesize carbene ligands to coordinate to manganese in several oxidation states and characterize the resulting compounds through a combination of NMR and optical spectroscopy, x-RAY diffraction, and electrochemistry. Computational modelling will be used to aid the interpretation of experimental data, creating a more thorough description of the molecular and electronic structure of these coordination complexes. The PI seeks to synthetically modified ligands to study the effect of substituents on the properties of the MN compounds. This project could potentially yield robust photoactive manganese complexes with charge-separated excited states that can be accessed with visible light as well as design principles to prepare other MN compounds and tailor their properties. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.