Developing methods for growing single-chirality carbon nanotubes and other aromatic systems

The work described herein stems from an effort to develop a method for growing single-chirality carbon nanotubes from small hydrocarbon templates using a Diels-Alder cycloaddition/rearomatization strategy. Current technologies are incapable of producing significant amounts of homogeneous carbon nanotubes; therefore, much research has been put into the development of aromatic templates (belts and bowls), from which one type of nanotube might be grown (Chapter 1). Since no such functional template had yet been synthesized, the work in this dissertation developed reagents and methods for forming new benzene rings on aromatic test systems that would be analogous to the rim of a growing nanotube (Chapters 2 and 4).;Theoretical investigations relating to nanotube dimensions (Chapter 3) were undertaken and paired with experimental work that would take into consideration the changing properties of growing tubes (Chapter 5). The test systems used for discovering new reagents for growth also became functional platforms for studies of new reactivity of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), such as bay-region oxidation (Chapter 6) and progress toward the synthesis of soluble graphene ribbons (Chapter 7). This PAH work also resulted in the observation of unique solid state properties in the crystal form (Chapter 8) and novel reactivity, generating five-membered rings by Scholl reactions of tethered PAHs (Chapter 9). Additional considerations for future nanotube templates and fullerene precursors also bore scrutiny (Chapter 10).