A synthetic organic approach to uniform carbon nanotubes: Significant progress toward two armchair targets

ORGN 311

Edward A. Jackson, jacksoed@bc.edu, Department of Chemistry, Boston College, Merkert Chemistry Center, 2609 Beacon Street, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467-3860 and Lawrence T. Scott, lawrence.scott@bc.edu, Department of Chemistry, Boston College, Merkert Chemistry Center, 2609 Beacon Street, Chestnut Hill, MA, 02467-3860, Merkert Chemistry Center, 2609 Beacon St., Chestnut Hill, MA, 02467-3860, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467-3860.
Carbon nanotubes exhibit extraordinary tensile strength. This has been demonstrated using the products of current nanotube growth technologies; however, the specific electronic properties of individual nanotubes remain untapped on the industrial scale. Carbon vaporization and “flame” methods produce nanotubes as mixtures of various chiralities and diameters. Although progress has been made, separation techniques are still limited. Currently, the organic synthesis of a hydrocarbon template is the only approach that promises significant access to the exceptional electronic characteristics of select nanotube topographies without the need for separation. The [5,5] and [10,10] nanotube endcaps are excellent examples of such templates. With six five-membered rings, these endcaps each form a hemisphere on which repetitive Diels-Alder/dehydrogenation, or some comparable process, could be used to achieve nanotube growth. Efforts towards the stepwise synthesis of these endcaps have been extremely fruitful.

 

Heterocycles and Aromatics
8:00 AM-12:00 PM, Tuesday, March 27, 2007 McCormick Place Lakeside -- Room E350, Level 3, Oral

Division of Organic Chemistry

The 233rd ACS National Meeting, Chicago, IL, March 25-29, 2007