Prof. Thomas Baumgartner, York University, Toronto, Canada

(Un)usual Phosphorus-based Concepts for Organic Materials

Recent research in the area of functional pi-conjugated materials has shown that the incorporation of heteroelements - main group elements such as B, Si, Se, Te, and P in particular - is an efficient strategy to obtain organic materials with intriguing properties for a host of different practical applications.
My group’s research program overall deals with the development of fused phosphacyclic compounds that have attracted significant attention due their unique electronic properties. Our multi-pronged approach addresses their intrinsic properties, such as electronics and photophysics, but also some extrinsic properties by design that have opened up a path to utilizing these functional building blocks for the generation of highly ordered, smart nano/microstructures via different phosphorus-based strategies. This presentation will highlight our recent efforts in designing new ring-fused organophosphorus building blocks that leverage phosphorus-specific chemistries to explore their suitability as functional materials for a variety of practical applications.