Dr. Kazunori Sugiyasu, National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), Tsukuba, Japan
When some idea developed in different research fields meet, we may expect something new
to emerge. I have been interested in designing and synthesizing molecules. To explore the
potential of molecules, we learn from the concepts developed in supramolecular and polymer
chemistry (Figure). By molecular design, we can control properties, functions, and behaviors
of molecules. For example, we have recently succeeded in “living supramolecular
polymerization” through a careful molecular design (and fortuitous finding which gave me some
inspiration). We found that a subtle structural modification in the monomer significantly
influenced the final outcomes, yielding one- and two-dimensional supramolecular polymers[1].
I would like to discuss with you what we have done in the last 10 years in NIMS.
[1] T. Fukui, S. Kawai, S. Fujinuma, Y. Matsushita, T. Yasuda, T. Sakurai, S. Seki, M. Takeuchi,
K. Sugiyasu, Nat. Chem. 2017, 9, 493-499.