Our chemistry in pictures
Parallel galaxies
These pyrrole and oligopyrrole products fluoresce under a 365 nm ultraviolet lamp as they swirl in their vials. Postdoc Yogesh Kumar Maurya and PhD student Liliia Moshniaha in the Stępień Lab at the University of Wrocław synthesized these products using a series of organic transformation reactions. Each colorful product shown may have its own structure and could possess unique properties in the areas of absorption, emission, and quantum yield that researchers can tailor for various applications, Maurya explains. The products are of interest as functional chromophores, charge storage materials, organic materials for energy and electron transfer and photodynamic therapy.
Credit: Yogesh Kumar Maurya and Liliia Moshniaha
Sea flower
Grad student Joanna Hager and postdoc Yogesh Kumar Maurya were inspired when they saw the bright red fluorescence of a compound they were working on in Marcin Stępień’s lab at the University of Wrocław. The group explores the properties and potential uses of novel and complex aromatic systems, in this case, a pi-extended pyrrole. The pyrrole sitting in its filter funnel bathed in blueish light reminded them of the pistil of a flower floating in water. So they grabbed some other compounds from around the lab and arranged this photo. The researchers say they want to dedicate the photo to “every chemist and researcher, for brightening our day with their creative minds.”
Credit: Joanna Hager and Yogesh Kumar Maurya
Glow from a Distant Planet
This picture demonstrates green-glow fluorescence, which arises from a pyrrole-based chromophore and resembles a wildfire on an exoplanet. Daniel Matuszczyk, a graduate student in the Stępień research group at the University of Wroclaw, is working on the various π-extended chromophores of the azacoronene family, an emerging class of nanographene analogs. While purifying one of his precursors with column chromatography, he obtained a fraction that shows a beautiful emission, even in the solid state, under UV light. Such pretty, fluorescent colors are seen in the Stępień Lab in #everydayfluorescence photos from our daily synthesis reactions.
Credit: Daniel Matuszczyk
Ripple Visuals
This picture shows the theme of ripple visuals in the solution of fluorescent compounds kept in the petri-dish. The orange and yellow fluorescent compounds give the impression as they are fading out as the ripples move away from the center point. Yogesh and Liliia decided to make a Fluorescence Friday picture when they saw a seemingly slow water drop falling on the colored solution filled petri-dish.
Credit: Liliia Moshniaha and Yogesh Kumar Maurya
