Discipline: Chemistry and Chemical Sciences
Subcategory: Chemistry (not Biochemistry)
Aleah Wordsworth - North Carolina Central University
Co-Author(s): Marcus Brackeen and MonomerChem, North Carolina Central University, Durham, NC
The development of renewable energy has been an ongoing problem. The use of perovskite structures in solar cells is a means of addressing this issue. Perovskites have a high conversion efficiency due to their Highest Occupied Molecular Orbital-Lowest Unoccupied Molecular Orbital (HOMO-LUMO) gap and band gap. The inorganic perovskite materials are expensive and merging them with organic molecules is a way of reducing the cost and tuning the band gap. We have designed and synthesized a series of phenyl oligomers with one or two terminal amine functional groups. The oligomers were in general made from the suzuki coupling reaction of aryl bromides and boronic acids, using tris(dibenzylideneacetone) Pd(0) and tricyclohexyl phosphine catalytic system with a 1:3 ratio of water to dioxane. A base of potassium phosphate was used to assist the production of product, which was followed by TLC. Depending on the availability of the starting materials, a nitro group was introduced to either the aryl bromide or the boronic acid and facilitated reduction to an aryl amine. Subsequently, the compound is converted to a salt. This general procedure has been used to produce a triphenyl amine (C18H15N). It was confirmed by LC-MS using a 95:5 acetonitrile to formic acid solvent system where the M+ ( 287.0 m/z) peak eluted in 7 minutes. Four other oligomers are in the process of being prepared and are at various stages of analysis. The materials will ultimately be tested in the perovskite materials with MRSEC collaborators at Duke University.
Not SubmittedFunder Acknowledgement(s): NSF MRSEC (DMR-1121107)
Faculty Advisor: Darlene Taylor, dtaylor@nccu.edu
Role: I completed the syntheses of all of the phenyl based oligomers. I also completed the troubleshooting process in order to determine the best conditions for the synthesis of the oligomers. The TLC assay and characterization by LC-MS were also completed.