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Postdoctoral position in molecular chemistry

Employer
Global Academy Jobs
Location
France
Closing date
May 29, 2018

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Job Details

Post-Doc position - 18 months (Sept. 2018 - Feb. 2020)
 
Synthesis of molecular gears
Supervisors: Dr C. KAMMERER and Prof. G. RAPENNE (CEMES-CNRS and University of Toulouse)
 
In the NanoSciences Group at CEMES, one of the current projects deals with the synthesis of molecular machines.[1] We are particularly interested in molecules allowing to study and control the rotation movement at the nanometer scale.[2] In this context, we have synthesized a family of molecular motors,[3] whose directionality of rotation can be controlled by the tip of a Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM).[4]
As part of the European project MEMO (MEchanics with MOlecules, www.memo-project.eu), we currently aim at synthesizing molecules geometrically analogous to notched wheels, so as to obtain trains of molecular gears when positioning such molecules in a close manner. Up to now, all the gears studied as single molecules have been deposited directly onto the surface.[5] As a consequence, the molecules tend to diffuse, which prevents from propagating the rotation movement from one molecule to the other. It thus appears necessary to include vertical axles in the design of molecular gears, and two strategies are envisioned: a) using single atoms directly on the surface or b) exploiting the structure of the ruthenium complex already used in the motor, with the tripodal ligand to act as an axle and anchor the molecule on the surface.[6]


This post-doctoral position aims at the design and synthesis of a series of notched wheels adapted to each strategy. Ideally, all the scaffolds should include one group being slightly different in order to have a tag and to be able to follow the rotation by STM. The structures of these notched wheels will range from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (strategy a) to pentaarylcyclopentadienes featuring planar and sterically hindered end groups to be used as ligand in a Ru(II) complex (strategy b).


This project is strongly multidisciplinary: it involves mostly organic and coordination chemistry but also theoretical chemistry and surface physics in the frame of the MEMO project. This post-doctoral position, even though in strong interaction with the other fields, will be focused on the synthesis of several families of molecular gears by means of polyaromatic and porphyrin chemistry as well as organic and organometallic chemistry well known in the group.


The on-surface studies will be carried out in collaboration with the physicists in our European network.
 
[1] (a) V. Balzani, A. Credi, M. Venturi, Molecular Devices and Machines – A Journey into the Nano World, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, 2nd ed. 2008. (b) E. R. Kay, D. A. Leigh, F. Zerbetto, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2007, 46, 72.
[2] L. Grill, K. H. Rieder, F. Moresco, G. Rapenne, S. Stojkovic, X. Bouju, C. Joachim, Nature Nanotech. 2007, 2, 95.
[3] G. Vives, H.-P. Jacquot de Rouville, A. Carella, J.-P. Launay, G. Rapenne, Chem. Soc. Rev. 2009, 38, 1551.
[4] U.G.E. Perera, F. Ample, J. Echeverria, H. Kersell, Y. Zhang, G. Vives, G. Rapenne, C. Joachim, S.-W. Hla, Nature Nanotech. 2013, 8, 46.
[5] F. Chiaravalloti, L. Gross, S.M. Stojkovic, A. Gourdon, C. Joachim, F. Moresco, Nature Mat. 2007, 6, 30.
[6] C. Kammerer, G. Rapenne, Eur. J. Inorg. Chem. 2016, 2214.
 
Please send a CV, a cover letter describing research accomplishments and a list of publications to Claire Kammerer (kammerer@cemes.fr) and Gwénaël Rapenne (rapenne@cemes.fr).
The deadline for application is the 30th of may 2018, but a student could be selected before this deadline if (s)he fits all the criteria so please, do not hesitate to apply as soon as possible.

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