Prof. Thomas Baumgartner

Professor Baumgartner will give the 1^st Liebig-College seminar and lectures on 

Conjugated Organophosphorus Materials - Some New Tricks for Old Dogs

Abstract:

Recent progress in the area of functional pi-conjugated materials has shown that the incorporation of heteroelements - main group elements such as B, Si, Te, and P in particular - is an effective strategy to obtain organic materials with intriguing properties for a host of different practical applications.

My group’s research program deals with the development of fused phosphacyclic compounds that have attracted significant attention due their unique electronic properties. The first lecture will highlight our efforts in systematically developing new, viologen-related organophosphorus building blocks, and exploring their suitability for advanced functional materials, particularly with a focus toward highly sought-after electron-acceptor materials and their application in electrochromic devices and batteries. The second lecture will showcase our multi-pronged approach to utilizing the unique phosphorus chemistry toward functional building blocks for the generation of highly ordered, smart nano/microstructures that exhibit a variety of functional properties, such as liquid crystallinity and/or multi-stimuli-responsive behavior.