The syntheses, structures, and luminescence properties of a series of copper(I) halide coordination polymers, prepared with mono- and bidentate N-heteroaromatic ligands, are reported. These metal-organic coordination networks form [CuIL] for bidentate ligands (where L = pyrazine (1), quinazoline (2)) and [CuIL] for monodentate ligands (where L = 3-benzoylpyridine (3) and 4-benzoylpyridine(4)). Both sets of compounds exhibit a double-stranded stair-CuI-polymer, or "ladder" structure with the ligand coordinating to the metal in a bidentate (bridging two stairs) or monodentate mode. The copper bromide analogues for the bidentate ligands were also targeted, [CuBrL] for L = pyrazine (5) with the same stair structure, as well as compositions of [CuBr(L)] for L = pyrazine (6) and quinazoline (7), which have a different structure type, where the -Cu-Br- forms a single-stranded "zigzag" chain. These copper halide polymers were found to be luminescent at room temperature, with emission peaks ranging from ∼550 to 680 nm with small shifts at low temperature. The structure (stair or chain), the halide (I or Br), as well as the ligand play an important role in determining the position and intensity of emission. Lifetime measurements at room and low temperatures confirm the presence of thermally activated delayed fluorescence, or singlet harvesting for compounds 1, 2, and 7. We also investigated the nonlinear optical properties and found that, of this series, [CuBr(quinazoline)] shows a very strong second harmonic generating response that is ∼150 times greater than that of α-SiO.

Surface attachment of the manganese-oxo cluster known as Mn-12 provided aqueous solution stabilization that allowed investigation of the use of the cluster as an MRI contrast agent.

Hybrid nanobeads containing either a manganese-oxo or manganese-iron-oxo cluster have been prepared via the miniemulsion polymerization technique. Two new ligand substituted oxo clusters, Mn(12)O(12)(VBA)(16)(H(2)O)(4) and Mn(8)Fe(4)O(12)(VBA)(16)(H(2)O)(4) (where VBA = 4-vinylbenzoate), have been prepared and characterized. Polymerization of the functionalized metal-oxo clusters with styrene under miniemulsion conditions produced monodispersed polymer nanoparticles as small as ~60 nm in diameter. The metal-oxo polymer nanobeads were fully characterized in terms of synthetic parameters, composition, structure, and magnetic properties.

The self-assembly of thiophene-containing dextran and cyclodextrin derivatives on gold surfaces was investigated. Morphological studies (AFM) and the elemental characterization (XPS) of the surfaces show that the carbohydrate derivatives form either aggregates or uniform films depending on the structure and the solvent used. The real coverage of the surface, and hence the amount of unmodified free gold, was examined by a "titration" of the surface with a carboxyl-terminated SAM (11-mercaptoundecanoic acid, MUA) and with Mn-12, a manganese oxocluster. Each carboxyl group reacts with one acetate ligand of the manganese cluster, with each Mn-12 cluster capable of binding multiple MUAs, leading to defined manganese-functionalized surfaces. The weight percentage of manganese and consequently the coverage area of the carboxyl-terminated SAM is examined by XPS.