Synthesis, Study and Applications of High Spin Molecules

高自旋分子的合成、研究及应用

• 批准号: RGPIN-2018-04255
• 负责人: Pilkington, Melanie
• 金额: $ 3.5万
• 依托单位: Brock University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2020-01-01 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=711955
• 关键词: Synthesis; Study; Applications; Spin; Molecules

Our research aims to apply the chemistry of metal ions with unpaired electrons to develop high spin molecules for quantum computing applications, and as temperature sensitive contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We will develop two strategies to prepare and characterize single molecule magnets (SMMs) exhibiting quantum phenomena that make them suitable as quantum bits (qubits), the processing elements in quantum computers. Firstly, we will use chiral ligands together with transition metal and lanthanide ions to assemble polynuclear cluster-based SMMs. Secondly we will use two families of macrocycles to prepare mononuclear lanthanide SMMs. This is a very active field of research at the interface between chemistry, physics and materials science. It will therefore provide excellent interdisciplinary training for HQP in the emerging field of quantum computing in which Canada is currently internationally leading, through companies such as D-Wave, who provide quantum computers to Google and NASA. A key component of our studies is to make and study multifunctional SMMs, where their magnetic properties are combined together with a second property (e.g., electronic or optical), that can give rise to new phenomena which can be used to read-out the properties of the individual molecules. Our research will reveal new insights into the unique properties of these compounds and provide a way forward to commercial applications. MRI is the medical technique used to acquire 2- and 3-D images of tissues and organs in the body. High spin molecules known as contrast agents are often administered to improve the quality of the MR image, and over 1.7 million Canadians benefit from this technology in medical diagnosis every year. Recent advances in this field have been to explore MRI as a non-invasive technique to determine the temperature of tissues and organs in the human body, known as MRI thermometry. This is particularly important for therapies where physicians use heat to treat or destroy small tumours, or for targeted temperature management which improves survival and brain function following resuscitation from cardiac arrest, or the blockage of an artery from a clot due to a stroke. Conventional MRI agents are not particularly sensitive to temperature changes which make certain targets (e.g., fatty tissue and the heart) difficult to accurately image at low concentration. We will therefore develop a new family of temperature-sensitive contrast agents and encapsulate them within a liposome (a tiny vesicle made out of the same material as a cell membrane) to reduce their toxicities and further increase their sensitivities to broaden the clinical applications of MRI thermometry, improving the future healthcare of all Canadians.

我们的研究旨在将金属离子与未配对电子的化学性应用于量子计算应用的高自旋分子，并将其作为磁共振成像（MRI）的温度敏感对比剂。我们将制定两种策略来准备和表征具有量子现象的单分子磁铁（SMM），使其适合于量子位（Qubits），即量子计算机中的处理元素。首先，我们将使用手性配体以及过渡金属和灯笼离子来组装基于多核簇的SMM。其次，我们将使用两个大环的家族来制备单核灯笼SMM。这是化学，物理学和材料科学之间界面上非常活跃的研究领域。因此，它将通过诸如D-Wave之类的公司（例如向Google和NASA提供量子计算机）等公司（例如D-Wave）提供量子计算的新兴领域，为HQP提供出色的跨学科培训。我们研究的一个关键组成部分是制造和研究多功能SMM，其中它们的磁性特性与第二个特性（例如电子或光学）结合在一起，可以引起新现象，可用于读取单个分子的特性。我们的研究将揭示有关这些化合物独特特性的新见解，并为商业应用提供了前进的道路。 MRI是用于获取体内组织和器官2和3-D图像的医疗技术。经常使用称为对比剂的高自旋分子来提高MR图像的质量，每年在医学诊断中受益于170万加拿大人。该领域的最新进展是探索MRI作为一种非侵入性技术，以确定人体中组织和器官的温度（称为MRI温度法）。这对于医生使用热治疗或破坏小肿瘤的疗法尤为重要，或者对于因心脏骤停复苏或由于中风而导致的动脉阻塞后改善了生存和大脑功能的靶向温度管理。 常规的MRI药物对温度变化并不是特别敏感，这些变化使某些目标（例如脂肪组织和心脏）难以准确地在低浓度下进行图像。因此，我们将开发一个新的一系列温度敏感对比剂家族，并将它们封装在脂质体（由与细胞膜相同的材料制成的微小囊泡中）中，以降低其毒性并进一步提高其敏感性，以扩大MRI热量表的临床应用，从而改善了所有加拿大人的未来医疗保健。