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A modular approach that involves selective polymer modification reactions with organometallic reagents was employed to prepare a new class of highly fluorescent triarylborane polymers from trimethylsilyl-substituted polystyrene. The photophysical properties of the new class of polymers indicated electronic communication between the chromophores attached to polysterene, which were exploited for the efficient probing of fluoride and cyanide in the micromolar concentration range.

The solid-state transformations under heating of cis-[Ir(CO)(sub 2)C1(C(sub 5)H(sub 5)N)] are examined by integrating infrared spectroscopy, conventional and bidimensional X-ray diffraction, thermal analysis, and hot stage optical microscopy. The structural changes associated with the solid-state transformations of organometallic compounds can be successfully achieved by integrating different investigation techniques.

A suitable combination of a cobalt polypyridine complex and an organic sensitizer is selected for developing dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) with cobalt-based mediators with efficiencies surpassing the record for DSCs with iodide-free electrolytes. The optimization of DSCs sensitized with a triphenylamine-based organic dye in combination with tris(2,2E-bipyridyl)cobalt(II/III) has produced solar cells and excellent performance is observed under low light intensity indoor conditions.

Millimeter-sized single MOF-5 crystals are used as chromatographic columns to separate mixtures of organic dyes. The separations have occurred over a distance of only a few hundred micrometers that is confirmed by fluorescence confocal microscopy, which is due to the nanoscopic pore dimensions and the molecular-level interactions between the migrating molecules and the metal-organic framework (MOF) scaffold.

Photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy was used to characterize nanoscale ZnO impurities, amine-donor charge-transfer exciplexes, and framework decomposition in samples of MOF-5 prepared by various methods. The results demonstrated the application of PL as a tool for characterizing MOF purity possesses advantages such as simplicity, speed, and sensitivity over currently employed powder XRD MOF characterization methods.

The metal-organic frameworks MIL-47 and MIL-53 are capable of separating ethylbenzene and styrene and despite their identical building schemes the preferential adsorption of styrene compared to ethylbenzene is different for the two frameworks. The adsorption mechanisms are in line with the affect of temperature on the separation factors derived from pulse chromatography and the separation factors are independent of temperature for MIL-47 but have varied with temperature for MIL-53.

Single-molecule fluorescence microscopy has provided information about the real-time distribution of chemical reactivity on silicon oxide supports at the solution-surface interface. Chemical reactions on the surface are uncorrelated, that is, the chemical reaction of one metal complex did not influence the location of a future chemical reaction of another metal complex.

The effect of structural disorder on the X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectrum of a heme protein is examined by using the dynamical description of the system derived from molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The combined use of XANES and MD is a novel strategy for increasing the resolution and reliability of the structural information obtained on metalloproteins, which has made the combination these methods powerful for examining metalloproteins.

Infrared (IR) absorption spectroscopy measurements of molecular hydrogen in MOF-74-M (M = metal center) are performed as a function of temperature and pressure to examine the nature of [H.sub.2] interactions with the unsaturated metal centers. The studies have shown that the vibrational shifts have not correlated with binding energies and are very sensitive to the environment, which has complicated the use of variable temperature IR methods to calculate adsorption energies of specific adsorption sites.

A novel method is developed for determining the fraction of initiated catalyst by using standard gel-permeation chromatography (GPC). The polymer-bound label is quantified as a function of polymer molecular weight by using a GPC with a UV detector and simultaneous RI detection has allowed both the extent of monomer conversion and the molecular-weight distribution to be established.

A new phosphorescent material of cyclometalated alkynylgold(III) complex is prepared, studied and its device performance is examined. The studies have shown that the alkynylgold(III) complex is a good phosphorescent material in terms of both efficiency and thermal stability, with the additional advantages of its inexpensive cost and low toxicity.

The upconverted fluorescence signal is produced by conjugated supermolecule ruthenium(II)[15-(4' -ethynyl-(2,2E;6' ,2' -terpyridinyl))-bis[(5,5E,-10,20-di(2E,6E-bis(3,3-dimethylbutoxy)phenyl)porphynato)zinc(II)]ethyne][4' -pyrrolidin-1-yl-2,2' ;6' ,2' -terpyridine] bis(hexafluorophosphate) ([Pyr.sub.1]RuP[Zn.sub.2])-sensitized triplet-triplet annihilation (TTA) photochemistry. The molecular components of the near-infrared (NIR)-to-vis upconverting compositions have shown that substantial anti-Stokes energy gained via a TTA process can be realized.

The conjugates of gold nanorods and the model drug, fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC), embedded inside polyelectrolytes are prepared for analyzing kinetics of FITC under femtosecond near-infrared (NIR) laser irradiation. The results have shown that the multiple releases of paclitaxel (PTX) from the conjugates are controlled by laser irradiation within a long period of time.