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Toyota Lab
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The lab creates new molecular shapes by combining aromatic rings.
AboutAbout the lab
Designing aromatic ring arrangements to create new structures and functions
The Toyota Lab studies how to make new organic molecules with unusual structures and properties by combining aromatic rings such as benzene and anthracene.
The structures and properties of the molecules it makes are clarified using spectroscopic and theoretical methods.
Its targets include molecules with large internal spaces, such as ring- and cage-shaped molecules, as well as helical molecules and supramolecules, which are assemblies of molecules.
With free-thinking ideas, the lab creates and studies interesting molecules and molecular assemblies that have not existed before.
Key terms
- Aromatic ring
- A stable structure, typified by benzene, in which carbon atoms are connected in a ring. It serves as a building block of organic molecules.
- Supramolecule
- A large assembly in which multiple molecules are held together by weak interactions. It shows properties as an assembly.
- Circularly polarized luminescence
- Emission of light whose direction of oscillation rotates clockwise or counterclockwise as it travels. It is seen in helical molecules, among others.
NewsLab news
A student's research results accepted by Chem. Eur. J.
Research results selected as one of the most-read papers in Chem. Eur. J.
A doctoral student's research results accepted by ChemistryEurope
A master's student won a poster award at the Symposium on Organic π-Electron Systems
A master's student's research results accepted by Org. Lett.
ResearchResearch themes
The lab designs new organic molecules with unusual structures and electronic states by combining aromatic rings such as benzene and anthracene, and elucidates their structures and physical properties using spectroscopic and theoretical methods. Using these molecules, it also deepens understanding of stereochemistry, chiroptical properties, intermolecular interactions, and molecular recognition.
*Illustrative imageRing- and cage-shaped molecules
The lab found that a disk-shaped molecule made of anthracene units linked in a ring captures a spherical fullerene to form a complex it calls a "nano-Saturn." Cage-shaped molecules bind the fullerene even more strongly.
*Illustrative imageHelicenes: helical molecules
Linking anthracene units at their edges gives a helical molecule. Attaching bulky groups to both ends made it possible to separate the right-handed and left-handed forms at room temperature, and these forms were found to strongly emit light that matches their direction of twist (circularly polarized luminescence).
*Illustrative imageRubicene, a red aromatic compound
Rubicene is an aromatic compound with a ruby-like red color. The lab developed a simple method to synthesize rubicene at room temperature using inexpensive reagents, and is now working to develop nanographenes that contain five-membered rings.
*Illustrative imageSupramolecules: assemblies of molecules
The lab works with molecular assemblies held together by weak interactions. By building the principle behind the structure of natural viruses into tweezer-shaped molecules, it created unprecedented ring-shaped and spherical assemblies.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Toyota Lab consist of faculty, researchers, and doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- ProfessorShinji ToyotaPublications ↗
- Assistant ProfessorMasahiro YamashinaPublications ↗
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Anthracen” H. H. W. Preuß / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Ring- and cage-shaped molecules: “Buckminsterfullerene-3D-balls” Jynto (talk) / CC0 (cropped)
- Helicenes: helical molecules: “Hexahelicene-3D-balls” Jynto (talk) / CC0 (cropped)
- Rubicene, a red aromatic compound: “9,10-Bis(phenylethinyl)anthracen” Heiko4 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Supramolecules: assemblies of molecules: “Molecular Paneling Method” Nanorexray / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
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小野研究室): “Cucurbit(6)uril-(top)-3D-spacefill” Jynto (talk) / CC0 (cropped)
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