Research Summary
Coordination-driven self-assembly is a synthetic methodology capable of delivering diverse, tunable architectures, yet is currently underdeveloped as a tool to address the chemistry of energy conversion. In particular, the ability to independently design molecular subunits with specific properties which can combine into multifunctional scaffolds provides a method to generate functionally complex yet synthetically facile materials. The Cook Group exploits coordination-driven self-assembly to explore energy-relevant materials with modular photo-, redox- and catalytically active building blocks that can rapidly incorporate new molecular discoveries relevant to energy harvesting, storage, and use.

Our research program is rooted in fundamental structural, photophysical and electrochemical characterization techniques applied towards discrete supramolecular coordination complexes (SCCs) formed using the principles of molecular self-assembly and coordination chemistry. Primary thrusts include:

(1) Light Harvesting Metallacycles and Cages via Self-Assembly

The efficient capture of solar energy requires materials that strongly absorb across the visible spectrum so as to effectively match the solar flux. Chemical approaches to new light harvesting materials often rely on the organization of molecular units, inspired by nature’s photosystems. The precedent for strongly absorbing metal and organic-based molecules motivates our design of discrete supramolecular coordination complexes containing complementary chromophores.