Photochemistry is an inherently interdiscplinary field where very large energies are leveraged for the making and breaking of bonds. My work has broadly dealt with various strategies to control how energy delivered by light can be channeled into useful functions. I developed a strategy to control the chemo- and stereo-selectivity of a cross-[2+2] photocyloaddition reaction by pre-organizing the reactants in a host-guest complex prior to irradiation. In collaboration with a team of materials scientists, I investigated new ways to control the behaviors of nanomaterials such as quantum dots and two-dimensional semiconductors by functionalization with photoreconfigurable ligands. With a separate interdisciplinary team of physicists, I am exploring how photochemistry is modified by strong light-matter coupling within specially fabricated optical cavities. Finally, I propose a method to accelerate photochemistry through the unique optical properties of microdroplets. Through my work I have demonstrated the remarkable utility of photochemistry in enabling new organic transformations, creating new reconfigurable materials, and probing fundamental light-matter interactions.

Creator

• Eckdahl, Christopher Todd

DOI

• https://doi.org/10.21985/n2-j9zn-8g22

Subject

• Organic chemistry

Language

• en

Alternate Identifier

• etdadmin_upload_910914
• http://dissertations.umi.com/northwestern:16124

Date created

• 2022-01-01

Resource type

• Dissertation

Rights statement

• In Copyright