Novel reactivity of materials from porphyrins, and highly conjugated scaffolds

The study of photo responsive compounds is of immense importance to many fields of chemistry and materials development. As the need for green chemistry grows, light is an ever more attractive reagent. Light functions as a nondestructive, noninvasive implement in sensing systems. Light emitting materials have found extensive use in electric materials as devices are developed that require greater energy efficacy and flexibility. This dissertation covers the authors work in the synthesis and characterization of highly conjugated organic systems, and resulting interaction with light. Chapter 1 gives a brief overview of all projects explored in this dissertation. This summary includes the previous work and remaining challenges of each topic. Chapter 2 describes the development and utilization of texaphyrins as photo-catalysts in the break down of natural products. Chapter 3 describes our work toward photo activated hydrogels for targeted drug release. Chapter 4 describes the development of novel BODIPY systems for metal and fullerene binding. Chapter 5 describes the development of electroluminescent materials. Chapter 6 details the synthesis and characterization of compounds discusses in this dissertation.