Functional Organic Chemistry Lab (Yamaguchi Lab)

AboutAbout the lab

Taking on the creation of advanced functional organic molecules

The Yamaguchi Lab focuses on "π electrons," which determine a molecule's color, light emission, and electrical properties, and creates organic molecules with new functions.
The lab values innovative molecular design that makes use of the properties of main-group elements such as boron and silicon.
It combines molecular design based on quantum chemical calculations, the synthesis of new skeletons, and the evaluation of physical properties with state-of-the-art instruments.
In addition to applications in organic electronics, the lab also takes on bioimaging, which uses luminescent molecules to observe the inside of cells.

ResearchResearch themes

Focusing on π electrons, which determine a molecule's color, light emission, and electronic properties, the lab pursues "how π electrons behave," such as the extent of π orbitals and interactions between molecules, in order to create organic molecules with advanced functions. Its four main themes are the synthesis of new π skeletons, the use of main-group elements, control of molecular arrangement, and fluorescence imaging.

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Creating new π skeletons↗

The lab synthesizes distinctive molecular skeletons, including five- and seven-membered rings such as thiophene, skeletons with strong antiaromaticity, and flexible eight- and nine-membered ring skeletons. It has produced highly soluble organic semiconductor materials and materials that emit near-infrared light.

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Making use of main-group elements↗

By incorporating main-group elements such as boron, silicon, phosphorus, and sulfur into π skeletons, the lab makes molecules with properties that are difficult to achieve with ordinary organic molecules. With boron-containing molecules, it works on creating functions for OLED emitting materials, liquid crystal materials, and sensing materials.

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Arranging molecules and linking them to function↗

When π molecules assemble, they show properties very different from those of a single molecule. In its research on precisely controlling how they assemble, the lab works in particular on "precision supramolecular polymerization," which controls the length of supramolecular polymers made of molecules arranged in one dimension.

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Transforming fluorescence imaging↗

The lab's challenge is to create new fluorescent dyes through original designs that exploit the properties of main-group elements, and to build them into molecular tools for observing cells. With a recently developed, highly photostable phosphorus-containing dye, it has made it possible to observe the structure of the inner mitochondrial membrane in living cells.

VoicesStudent voices

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