Design, synthesis and investigations of fullerene based nanomolecular machines

The proposed project describes design, synthesis and characterization of fullerene based nanomolecular machines. This program has numerous objectives that are summarized as follows: 1) the investigation of synthesis and self-assembly of fulleropeptides as prime components of nanomolecular machines; 2) the design and synthesis of nanomolecular machines having non-fullerenic subunits such as molecular tweezers, baskets and molecules beyond rotaxanes and catenanes; 3) the incorporation of fullerenes into nanomolecular subunits for obtaining hierarchically ordered supramolecular materials; 4) the preparation and study of fullerene and steroidal derivatives as rotaxane stoppers; 5) the investigation of structure-property relationships and the application of quantum-mechanical calculations for designing novel structures, capable of assembling into useful and functional materials; 6) the characterization of synthesized compounds by means of numerous spectroscopic methods (IR, UV-Vis, MS, NMR, 2D NMR with range and spatial polarization transfer experiments); 7) the study of supramolecular organization of synthesized compounds, their intermolecular as well as intramolecular non-covalent interactions; 8) the examination of the conformational dynamics of nanomolecular machines and their components under various conditions; 8) the investigation of potential biological activity of the prepared supramolecular aggregates.