Uwe H. F. Bunz Professor Office: MS&E 1282 Phone: 404-385-1795 Fax: 404-894-7452 E-mail Uwe H. F. Bunz *Dr Bunz is currently on leave from GT at the U. of Heidelberg: Bunz Heidelberg Website

Dipl. Chem., Ludwig-Maximilians Universität München, 1987; Dr. rer. nat., Ludwig-Maximilians Universität München, 1990; Postdoctoral, University of California @ Berkeley, 1991; Dr. rer. nat. habil., Gutenberg Universität Mainz, 1997

Camille Dreyfus Teacher Scholar - 2000; NSF CAREER Awardee - 1999; Heisenberg-Fellow des Deutschen Volkes - 1997; DFG Scholar - 1994; Liebig Scholar - 1992; EFG Postdoctoral Scholar - 1991.

Research Interests

Research in the Bunz group is concentrated on conjugated molecules. All aspect of conjugated, i.e. unsaturated, carbon-rich compounds are covered.

• Investigation of the electronic properties of conjugated polymer, oligomer, or molecular materials, for applications in novel semiconducting devices, such as light-emitting diodes, photovoltaic components, or field-effect transistors.
• Carbon rich organometallics: Utilizing ferrocene and cyclobutadiene(cyclopentadienyl)cobalt nuclei as center a series of highly alkynylated, nanoscopic and fully unsaturated compounds were prepared. Some of these compounds give novel carbon materials upon pyrolysis.
• Polyaryleneethynylenes (PAEs): In recent years, we have made inroads into the effective synthesis of PAEs utilizing either acyclic diyne metathesis (ADIMET) or Pd-catalyzed couplings of aromatic diynes to aromatic diiodides. The PAEs have a range of different but very attractive chromic, conducting, optical, and emissive properties. These properties that can be harnessed in modern device applications that include but are not restricted to thin-film transistors, light-emitting diodes, and sensory gadgets.
• Physical Characterization and materials science: An important aspect of our work is the understanding of the structure property relationship of the PAEs we make. Characterization by powder diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetry and UV-vis and fluorescence spectroscopies are standard and performed by us. In collaborations with engineers and physicists device applications such as LEDs and TFTs are developed.
• Biogenic polyaryleneethynylenes: Bioterrorist threats necessitate new and simple analytical tool for the detection of pathogenic substances, bacteria, and toxins. The dramatic chromicity of the PAEs makes them an excellent platform for the attachment of biomolecules such as sugars, small peptides, and oligonucleotides. The resulting PAEs are highly sensitive in the detection of complementary biogenic molecules and the extension of this concept will result in applications beyond the detection of disease agents and will furnish nano-architectures that are otherwise not accessible.

Recent Publications

"Forced agglutination as a tool to improve the sensory response of a carboxylated poly(p-phenyleneethynylene)," Kim, I.-B.; Phillips, R.; Bunz, U. H. F., Macromolecules; 2007, 40, 814-817.

"PAEs with orange, yellow, green and blue solid-state fluorescence," Wang Y., Park J. S., Leeche, J. P., Miao, S. B., Bunz, U. H. F., Macromolecules; 2007, in press.

"Use of a folate-PPE conjugate to image cancer cells in vitro," Kim, I. B., Shin, H. S., Garcia, A. J., Bunz, U. H. F., Bioconjugate Chemistry, 2007,accepted.

"A thiadiazole-fused n,n-dihydroxyquinoxaline: antiaromatic but isolable," Miao, S. B., Schleyer, P. V. R., Wu, J., Hardcastle, K.I., Bunz, U. H. F., Org. Lett. 2007, in press.

"Controlling polymer properties through dynamic metal-ligand interactions: supramolecular cruciforms made easy," Gerhardt, W. W., Zucchero, A. J., South, C. R., Bunz, U. H. F., Weck, M., Chemistry Eur. J., 2007, in press.

"1,3-dipolar cycloaddition for the generation of nanostructured semiconductors by heated probe tips," Bakbak, S., Leech, P. J., Carson, B. E., Saxena, S., King, W. P. Bunz, U. H. F., Macromolecules 39. 6793-6795, 2006.

"Cruciforms as functional fluorophores: response to protons and selected metal ions," Zucchero, A. J., Wilson, J. N., Bunz, U. H. F., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 128. 11872-11881, 2006.

"Side chain vs main chain. Who dominates? A polyester-grafted poly(p-phenyleneethynylene) with two different morphologies," Jiang, Y. F., Perahia, D., Wang, Y. Q., Bunz, U. H. F., Macromolecules 39. 4941-4944, 2006.

"Reduced fluorescence quenching of cyclodextrin-acetylene dye rotaxanes," Park, J. S., Wilson, J. N., Hardcastle, K. I., Bunz, U. H. F., Srinivasarao, M., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 128. 7714-7715, 2006.

"Supramolecular cruciforms," Gerhardt, W. W., Zucchero, A. J., Wilson, J. N., South, C. R., Bunz, U. H. F., Weck, M., Chem. Commun. (20): 2141-2143, 2006.

"Breath figures as a dynamic templating method for polymers and nanomaterials," Bunz, U. H. F., Adv. Mater. 18, 973-989, 2006.

"Modulating the sensory response of a conjugated polymer by proteins: an agglutination assay for mercury ions in water," Kim, I. B., Bunz, U. H. F., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 128, 2818-2819, 2006.

"Synthesis of a peralkynylated pyrazino[2,3-g]quinoxaline," Miao, S. B., Smith, M. D., Bunz, U. H. F., Org. Lett. 8, 757-760, 2006.

"Derivatives of octaethynylphenazine and hexaethynylquinoxaline," Miao, S. B., Bangcuyo, C. G., Smith, M. D., Bunz, U. H. F., Angew. Chem. 45, 661-665, 2006.

"Chromicity in Poly(aryleneethynylene)s," Bunz UHF, Wilson JN, Bangcuyo CG, In Chromogenic Polymers (Eds. Jenekhe, S.; Kiserow, D.), ACS Ser. 2005, 888, 147-160.

"Templated ceramic microstructures by using the breath-figure method ," Englert BC, Scholz S, Leech PL, Srinivasarao M, Bunz UHF, Chemistry Eur. J., 2005, 11, 995-1000.

"A study of molybdenum catalysts in the polymerization of 2,5-didodecyl-1,4-dipropynylbenzene," Bly RK, Dyke KM, Bunz UHF, J. Organomet. Chem., 2005, 690, 825-829.

"Mannose-substituted PPEs detect lectins: A model for Ricin sensing," Kim IB, Wilson JN, Bunz UHF, Chem. Commun., 2005, 1273-1275.

"Switching of intramolecular charge transfer in cruciforms: Metal ion sensing," Wilson JN, Bunz UHF, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2005, 127, 4124-4125.

"Synthesis and structural characterization of five new coordination polymer chain structures using a new, Z-shaped ligand, 2,2 '-bis-(4-pyridylethynyl)tolane," Fiscus JE, Pschirer N, Hipp RE, Goforth AM, Chapman C, Shotwell S, Layland RC, Smith MD, Bunz UHF, zur Loye HC, J. Chem. Crystallography, 2005, 35, 125-134.

"How are alkynes scrambled?" Bunz UHF, Science, 2005, 308, 216-217.

"Cobalt-carbon spheres: Pyrolysis of dicobalthexacarbonyl-functionalized poly(p-phenyleneethynylene)s," Scholz S, Leech PJ, Englert BC, Sommer W, Weck M, Bunz UHF, Adv. Mater., 2005, 17, 1052-1055.

"Synthesis and Structures of PAEs," Bunz UHF, Adv. Polym. Sci., 2005, 177, 1-52.

"Click chemistry as a powerful tool for the construction of functional poly(p-phenyleneethynylene)s: Comparison of pre- and postfunctionalization schemes," Englert BC, Bakbak S, Bunz, UHF, Macromolecules, 2005, 38 5868-5877.

"Photophysics of poly[p-(2,5-didodecylphenylene)ethynylene] in thin films," Bunz UHF, Imhof JM, Bly RK, Bangcuyo CG, Rozanski L, Vanden Bout, DA, Macromolecules, 2005, 38, 5892-5896.

"Sensing of Lead Ions by a Carboxylate-Substituted PPE: Multivalency Effects," Kim, IB, Dunkhorst A, Gilbert J, Bunz UHF, Macromolecules, 2005, 38, 4560-4562.

"Self-diffusion of poly(p-phenyleneethynylene)s in dilute solution determined by pulsed-field-gradient NMR," Zhao T, Beckham HW, Ricks HL, Bunz UHF, Polymer, 2005, 46, 4839-4844.

"Channel-containing structures generated from linear coordination polymer chains containing N,N'-bidentate ligands and Cu-Cu dimetal units," Goforth AM, Gerth K, Smith MD, Shotwell S, Bunz UHF, zur Loye H-C, Solid State Sciences, 2005, 7, 1083-1095.

"Multitopic third generation tris(pyrazolyl)methane ligands built on alkyne structural scaffolding: first preparation of mixed tris(pyrazolyl)methane/tris(pyrazolyl)borate ligands," Reger DL, Gardinier JR, Bakbak S, Semeniuc RF, Bunz UHF, Smith MD, New J. Chem., 2005, 29, 1035-1043.

"Non-specific interactions of a carboxylate-substituted PPE with proteins. A cautionary tale for biosensor applications," Kim IB, Dunkhorst A, Bunz UHF*, Langmuir, 2005, 21, 7985-7989.