Molecular Horizons Seminar - Dr Carol Hua

The development of real-time, highly sensitive chemical sensors for the detection of biologically and environmentally relevant analytes is of great interest given their wide applicability to healthcare and environmental monitoring. Our group is currently developing fluorescent chiral chemical sensors for the detection of biological analytes. The application of luminescent, stimuli-responsive materials as chemical sensors for analytes of relevance for the environment may provide a powerful strategy to enhance the sensitivity and accuracy of sensors particularly in complex sample matrices. 

Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) are crystalline materials containing inorganic nodes bridged by linkers. The high tunability of MOFs enable the systematic modification of pore chemistry and size. This presentation will detail our latest results in the design of chiral chemical sensors and stimuli responsive materials. The chiral sensing properties of two BINOL-based Zn MOF systems will be highlighted, with varying degrees of fluorescence quenching. The switchable and chemical sensing properties of an isostructural series of lanthanoid MOFs containing a redox-active viologen ligand will also be presented.