Manipulation of Self-Assembly by Vibrational Excitation

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K19085
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 34:Inorganic/coordination chemistry, analytical chemistry, and related fields
• Research Institution: Hokkaido University
• Principal Investigator: Hirai Kenji 北海道大学, 電子科学研究所, 准教授 (10754400)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-06-29 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 配位高分子 / 自己集合 / 振動強結合 / 光共振器

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Vibrational strong coupling (VSC) has recently emerged as a novel method for modulating molecular and material properties. It was recently reported that VSC of solvent molecules influences the kinetics of chemical reactions. This suggests that VSC can be used to control other solution-based processes such as crystallization from solution, though they have not been explored yet. As a model system, we investigate the effect of VSC of solvent molecules in crystallization of metal-organic frameworks, namely pseudopolymorphism between ZIF-8 and ZIF-L. ZIF-8 was selectively obtained under VSC of the OH stretching vibration in water, whereas mixtures of ZIF-8 and ZIF-L were obtained without VSC. This work demonstrates that tuning the quantum electromagnetic environment of solutions can bias molecular self-assembly leading to macroscopic material outcomes.

Free Research Field

錯体化学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

同一の構成要素から複数の結晶構造が得られることを結晶多形という。例えば、抗炎症薬であるインドメタシンは結晶多形であり、３種類の結晶構造が存在するが、結晶構造の違いによって薬効が変化する。結晶多形を制御することは重要な課題である。本研究では、光共振器中で結晶化を行うことで、結晶多形のうち選択的に片方の結晶構造を得る方法を開発した。本手法は材料合成や創薬における新たな結晶化方法となることが期待される。