Combined high-pressure spectroscopy and crystallography of spatially isolated chromophores in metal-organic frameworks

When a chromophore is incorporated as a linker in a metal-organic framework (MOF), its photophysical properties may be influenced by geometric restrictions imposed by the framework structure or through the introduction of interacting molecules into the pores.

High-pressure studies enable the photophysical consequences of controlled, incremental changes in local environment or conformation to be observed and correlated with structural data.

The project will involve the measurement of absorption and emission spectra of MOFs as a function of pressure in a diamond anvil cell, and correlating these with X-ray structures determined under the same conditions.

The effects of controlled conformational distortion and chromophore-solvent interactions on photoismerisation (photoswitching) and the photophysics of molecular rotors will be investigated, in the context of sensing applications.