Topic: Geometry-Controlled Reactivity and Dynamics in Organic Molecules
Speaker: Professor Paul McGonigal, University of York (York)
Date and time: August 15, 14:30–15:30
Venue: Room 105, #5 Building of SPST
Host: Jiang Shan
Abstract:
It is well-established that strain arises in organic molecules as a result of non-ideal bond lengths, bond angles, and unfavorable non-bonded interactions. The constrained geometries of ring systems are particularly predisposed to creating strain. Our recent research balances strain relief and geometry constraint to “switch-on” dynamic processes. This talk will summarize our investigations of fluxional carbon cages, which can give rise to phenomena such as dynamic preferential crystallization and stimulus-responsive dynamic sp3-C stereochemistry. It will also describe our discovery of an aromatic-to-nonaromatic that emerges when the aromatic stabilization energy of a ring system is offset precisely by steric strain.
Biography:
Prof. Paul McGonigal conducts research into dynamic processes in organic functional materials, spanning topics as diverse as aromatic cation materials, solid-state luminescence, self-assembled soft surfaces and fluxional molecules. He is a current recipient of an EPSRC Fellowship and an ERC Consolidator grant at the University of York, where his group’s research has been recognised by the RSC Harrison-Meldola Memorial Medal (2022) and the Liebig Lectureship from the German Chemical Society (2023). He started his independent academic career at Durham University as an Assistant (2015) and Associate Professor (2021), before moving to the University of York as a Reader (2023) and then Full Professor (2024).