Date Thesis Awarded

5-2015

Access Type

Honors Thesis -- Access Restricted On-Campus Only

Degree Name

Bachelors of Science (BS)

Department

Chemistry

Advisor

Robert D. Pike

Committee Members

Robert J. Hinkle

William R. McNamara

David S. Armstrong

Abstract

The copper(I) complex [Cu(NCMe)4]BF4 was reacted with several cyanoaromatic ligands to form metal-organic oligomers and polymers. The ligands used included 1,2-dicyanobenzene (oDCB), 1,3-dicyanobenzene (mDCB), 1,4-dicyanobenzene (pDCB), 4,5-dicyanoimidazole (DCI), 2,3-pyrazinedicarbonitrile (2,3DCB), 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-1,4-benzoquinone (DDQ), and 3-cyanopyridine (mCPy). Five novel crystal structures were solved: dimeric [Cu2(PPh3)4(oDCB)2](BF4)2 and [Cu2(PPh3)4(oDCB)2](BF4)2·0.5CH2Cl2, polymeric [Cu2(PPh3)4(mDCB)2(BF4)]n and [Cu2(PPh3)4(pDCB)2(BF4) ·CH2Cl2]n, and trimeric [Cu3(PPh3)6(mCPy)3]3(BF4)3. The potential of [Cu2(PPh3)4(oDCB)2](BF4)2 as a chemical sensor for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) has been tested through film casting. Exposure to acetone, ethyl sulfide and ether produced no change to the emission of the films. Also, exposure to acetonitrile, morpholine and tetrahydrothiophene quenched the fluorescence. However, exposure of the remaining films to VOCs resulted in emission wavelengths in the blue-green and yellow-orange ranges.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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