Freshman Monroe Scholars Summer Research Projects
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Cyanopyridine Study part 2
2NCPy CuI Products
Thus far I have characterized what I think to be 5 different compounds from 2NCPy. Since none of the compounds have had their formulas confirmed, they will be known by the color they luminesce under blacklight. These compounds are orange, yellow, green, and brown.
For the few days I worked with Polyacrylonitrile as a potential substrate for work with CuI. The most promising results came from stirring the suspended PAN in a 5M KI solution with CuI dissolved within. AA results from this study gave a maximum coordination of active sites by copper at around 2%. These numbers were so meager that we decided to discontinue our efforts on that portion of the project.
CuI forms photo-luminescent “cubane” structures when exposed to certain organic compounds (see Figure 1), an example of which is N-methylpyridine—a functional group found in virtually all opiates. These photo-luminescent structures emit a unique wavelength upon exposure to UV light. The purpose of this project is to maximize the response of this photo-luminescent response. Moreover, this project’s larger purpose is in analyzing the viability of this reaction as a means to detect opiates in criminology and pharmaceutical settings. To acheive this goal, first, methods to facilitate the reconstruction of the unbound 3-dimensional CuI lattice into the Cu4I4 “cubane” clusters will be explored through experimental and computational means. Next, this project will explore the use of carrier solvent to enhance the transfer of the 1-methylpiperidine from the sample being tested to the CuI substrate. Additionally, this project will test the limits of detection by diluting the 1-methylpiperidine to lesser concentrations in a transfer solvent. To confirm our findings, x-ray powder diffraction and other analytical methods will be used to determine the extent to which my peer advisor and I were able to reconstruct the unbound CuI into the desired Cu4I4 “cubane” clusters.
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