Research

Topological and Topographical Organic Materials. The group's research explores the effect of topography and topology on the properties of organic molecules and materials. We design, synthesize, and study organic compounds with unusual shapes that allow us to understand fundamental concepts in chemistry and discover new phenomena that emerge as a consequence of the three-dimensional arrangement or curvature of these molecules. 

Our current efforts revolve around covalent organic cages and macrocycles with built-in photo- and redox-active units that also possess voids in their structure. We use these compounds to investigate the effect of charge delocalization and electronic coupling on charge transfer/transport and to make functional porous materials for sensing, energy storage applications, or photocatalysis. We also explore novel topologies in molecular nanocarbons to create new stimuli-responsive materials. In addition, these systems provide us new insights into topics such as chirality and aromaticity.  

Our work typically combines multi-step organic synthesis, quantum-chemical calculations that we use to predict our synthesis and understand the experiments. We constantly strive to learn new techniques to unlock new possibilities in our research.