Materials Science Seminar: Synthetic Approaches to Harness Photophysical Properties of Chlorophylls for Engineering Functional Molecular Materials.

Join the Micron School of Materials Science & Engineering (MSMSE) for a seminar featuring Dr. Olya Mass an Assistant Research Professor at Boise State University.

Abstract:
Referred to as Colors of Life, chlorophylls in plants, algae, and phototrophic bacteria play an essential role in producing oxygen during photosynthesis. Due to their unique chemical structure, chlorophylls are able to absorb sunlight and transfer its energy to the reaction center. Our research aims to utilize the ability of chlorophylls to interact with light to create new functional materials. Using synthetic chemistry, we can tailor the structure of de novo chlorophylls (chlorins and bacteriochlorins) to enhance their chemical and photophysical properties at both the molecular and macroscopic material levels. Although natural photosynthetic antennas utilize proteins to template chlorophyll pigments, we favor DNA self-assembly for templating or promoting chemical reactivity. In this presentation, I will show our synthetic approaches to developing bacteriochlorin probes for detecting cell-free DNA and engineering chlorophyll excitons and exciton circuits that could potentially function as qubits in quantum computing.

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Co-hosted with: College of Arts and Sciences, College of Engineering

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