Multifunctional Nanoballs and Variable Length Ligands

This proposal builds on two recent breakthroughs. The first is a remarkable series of multifunctional molecular 'nanoballs' that show a wide range of properties, including absorption of hydrogen (for energy storage) and carbon dioxide (pollution control), selective gas sorption, size-selective catalysis, and switching between two magnetic states in response to temperature, light or absorbed guests. The potential of these new materials will be explored in detail. Secondly, a new class of bridging ligands, 'variable length ligands', are able to change their bridging length in response to guest species, and thus will be used to design new types of porous materials that can expand and contract post-assembly.