A chemistry research team at Brock University has invented a new type of molecule that both glows and strengthens a property commonly used in chemical processes.<\/p>\n
Dubbed \u2018Janus,\u2019 the molecule builds on a class of molecules called the proton sponge, first discovered by UK researcher Roger Alder in 1968.<\/p>\n
A proton sponge is a molecule that attracts and retains a proton, a particle found in the nucleus of every atom that has a positive electrical charge.\u00a0A major benefit of the proton sponge is that it is a strong base. A base is an alkaline substance that, among other things, reacts with acid to form salts and promotes certain chemical reactions.<\/p>\n
Led by Brock chemistry researcher Associate Professor Travis Dudding, the research team of graduate students Lee Belding and Peter Stoyanov sought to create the next generation of proton sponge. More than a year ago, Belding and Dudding invented a compound they called \u201cDACN.\u201d Stoyanov then merged a piece of DACN into a piece of the original proton sponge.<\/p>\n
Proton sponges typically only pick up a single proton, but the molecule developed by the Brock research team is so strong that it can pick up two protons at the same time. Dudding says this new molecule is \u201ctruly a superbase,\u201d which is fundamental to physical organic chemistry and is valuable in organic synthesis.<\/p>\n
But the researchers made an even more interesting discovery: the new molecule is highly fluorescent.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can imagine so many applications of significance\u201d for the Janus molecule, says Dudding, suggested uses in places such as TV and computer screens, LED production, patio lanterns, and florescent dyes used in biological imaging.<\/p>\n
Dudding says an exciting aspect of the research is that it turns the theoretical into the practical.<\/p>\n
\u201cProton sponges are one of these very privileged scholarly topics,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019ve shown that they have really unique properties that are specific and that you can apply them.\u201d<\/p>\n